The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1942-01-02

1S- =. sfftVl safe llle Cdplldl
ks-saGZ llsssSa for the m s
exodus of gov
Washington ernmentai civil
servants. TIL e
latter aren't leaving because they
want to go. They're being crowd
ed out. "Banishments' the cor
rect word for IL. ! shouldn't, how
ever, have called increases in the
war and navy departments STATS
accretons. see by the dictionary
that accretion is "a gradual nat
ural growth" This pair OF
growths are about as gradual as a
streak Of lightning and as alb
normal as Russia in the world
democratic alignment.
They already have progressed at
such a rate that President Roose-
Welt simply had to issue his order
Of Dec. 10 moving a dozen or Is
civilian agencies, with an aggre-
gate personnel Of approximately
10000 from Washington to cities
like New York. Chicago. st. Louis
and elsewhere. Otherwise a cor
responding number Of defense or
ganizers literally couldn't have
squeezed into the District OF Co
lumbia. and it's deemed essential
TO have officialdom Of their ilk on
the job right here.
But heck! That was only the
beginning. Today's figuring is
that, by next July, Wen have ex-
panded the army and navy outfits
Il mean the headquarters units,
right here in town. by 10000
more. In other words, the initial
10000 exiles in the civilian CLASH
fcations, amounted to only a quar-
ter Of those who finally will have
to 60.
They Don't Like It
The average civil servant, Of
long standing in the capital, howls
like sixty at being ordered to mi
CRATE on short notice. He's used
to things here. He may have local
property and kids in school. There
are many cases Of chaps in various
governmental berths, who have
wives drawing salaries in bureaus
other than their own. The plant
is that their families are broken
up, II hubby's bureau is trans
ferred away elsewhere, with
wifeys transferred some place else
or left here.
From the standpoint of the gov
eminent itself the decentralization
program promises to develop seri-
Gus complications. A cabinet de-
partment's central Offices can't but
remain in the District. Its head
has got to be on hand for confabs
with other cabinet heads and at
the White House, frequently on
few minutes notice, and almost
daily or oftener. Now, it's pretty
difficult for a cabinet member,
everlastingly tied up in the capital,
to boss the activities Of quite a
multiplicity Of subdivisions Of his
department, scattered, hither and
yon, all over the United States.
There are others than govern
ment servants who are emitting a
doleful wall over the decentraliza-
ton order
IllustTatively, patent lawyers al
ways have done business exclusive
ly in Washington. They've as
sumed It as certainty that here'd
be the fountainhead OF patent is
suances forever. and were dug in,
on the theory that they were where
they'd belong in perpetuity Now
the patent Office is ordered to Man
haitian, and they find 'emselves Just
where they don't belong.
Plenty Of practitioners before
other bureaus are in the same fix.
Some of EN- are lobbyists, who,
perhaps. don't deserve much SYM
pathy, but they yell with anguish,
nevertheless.
Tough on Visitors, Too
And suppose an out-of-town In
dustrialist heads into Washington,
after an emergency contract.
Hitherto he's had TO scout all over
the District to-fnd-the right func-
tionary to see. He's been bothered
but, at worst, his directions and re-
directions have Involved him only
in a succession Of aggravating taxi
rides. Under decentralization he's
liable TO be told to visit San Fran
cisco, and perhaps, on his arrival
there, he finds that Pittsburgh OF
Kalamazoo was his proper destina.
ton.
Director Harold D. Smith Of the
Budget Bureau, who's superintend.
Ing the scatteration, tries to take