The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1942-10-29
Economic . .
oM9hA9hA
National and international Problems
Inseparable from Local Welfare

In the view of many writer's, one of
the obstacles to the swift and efficient
of the war is what might
be termed the 'WashingtOn mentality"
1t is an insidious form of disease
which seems to strike a great many
government workers, both the i'm
portant and the obscure. The symp-
toms are an ever-eXpanding bureauc-
racy which is bound lock, stock and
barrel in miles of red tape.
In a recent column, Dorothy ThOmp-
son touched on this trouble. I'm Wash
ingtOn," she wrote, the facts of life
are the government itself. Therefore
all the struggles of life occur inside the
government In normal city there
is a constant interplay of interests, and
one meets, day by day, industrialists,
artists. officials, teachers, physicians,
and all sorts and conditions of men,
so that there is a constant correction
and adaptation of one viewpoint to an
other viewpoint. In Washington, since
there is no normal intercourse, the
world enters in the form of lobbyists
ambassadors from groups in the ma
ton to the capital E. And eventually
the domestic life of the nation becomes
as complicated as foreign policy"
In Washington, in short, thousands
of people are continually striving for
political or economic power of some
sort. The big men in the government
his cabinet, the heads of
ma jor departments-are surrounded by
YES men who are seeking to curry
favor in high places. AS Il result, many
to criticism. They lose touch with the
country. Often they are tremendously
overworked, and their energies are de-
voted to routine matters which could
and should be done by underlingS.
There is Il tremendous waste of time
and effort in making decisions on mat
ters of major policy.
The lack of cohesion in the seat of
our government has been shown many
times. 1t has become commonplace
for top officials 40 make opposed
declarations on the same subject. The
rubber problem is the prime example
of that-practically everyone in Wash
Iington has had his say about it, and
less confusion in the public mind.
Selectivc Service policy is still another
example. Every few days a new dictum
lis handed doWn-and very often it is
greatly at variance with the one which
preceded it. General Hershey says one
thing, the state draft directors say an
other, some spokesman for the Man
power Commission or the War Labor
Board says still an0t her-and then the
local draft boards, Which are laws unto
90 DlitAely ahead and do
what they please.
According TO capital veterans, some
Iof the ablest men in the country have
gone to WaShingtoIl-and unconscious,
lily become victims Of the "WaShington
mentality" AS the old proverb has it.
they can't see the forest because of
the trees. They TOO are enmeshed in
red tape, and they too tend to regard
criticism rs Il sort of treason. And in
the meantime, the bureaucracy grows
bigger and better entrenched, and the
wheels move slower and slower.
Dorothy Thompson believes that the
lanSWcr, in part is to "decentraize Oul
bureaucracy - dccentraliZe it to the
4, t,.I,,, ,,1n h1 =
been laid down, decisions can free re
ISponsible officials of routine paper
work so that they can lay down clear
policies. And Il third essential is t,
stick 10 policies once they are made
and to keep thrd-string officials from
bcdevling the public with confused anC
contradictory statements.
Any major change in Washington
must be made by the President him
lself, The most important bureaus ar,
under the control of the Executive
branch, rather than Congress. He
lmakcS all the important appointments
lof personnel, and he has the power /,
IClean house whenever he wants TO ant
'lN dN llt W tli'S w. "a
Iagrcc that among the many men h'
has brought to Washington, there are
numerous top rate ones. But it is fell
| that in many cases these men have no
been given sufficient authority To adc
Iqualcly perform their jobs. And il
many other cases these men have un
consciously tended to become compla
cent, and they need shaking up.
| x X X
I'VE are still losing the war" sai'
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Bard
recently. And we should damn wei
understand it," Lieutenant Genera
Somervell struck Il similar note whel
| he said 'lf we continue to lose Il little
|While longer, it will be too late to save
ourselves, America and civilization"
| Anyone who will take the trouble t.
compare IL world map of today will
a world map of 1910, will agree will
those authorities. The United Nations
are in danger of becoming the have
mot powers The Axis dominates ;
|larGc part of the worlds most vita
Inatural resources All the Axis lack
in quantity is oil--and we have no
IypI made thr Middle East which