Evening star., 1942-01-14
Decentralization
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directed to move under the provi-
sions of said order, and that exc
cution Of any such order be delayed
until the Congress shall have made
inquiry into the reasons therefor
pursuant to the foregoing resolu-
ton"
"As Rapidly as Possible"
The moving of the Patent Once
will be completed "as rapidly as pos
sible." Mr.. Coe said in his announce
ment setting the January 81 date.
Under the present program. the
Patent Office will be divided between
Washington and Richmond. Ap-
proximately 1900 employees will be
transferred to the Virginia capital.
The headquarters of the Office, the
search rooms. most of the files and
records and many divisions will re-
main In Washington.
The decision to move on January
81 followed word from the engineers
that the new building in Richmond
would be ready for occupancy on
that date.
The decentralization service of the
Procurement Division. Mr. Coe said,
would shortly make known what al
lowances would be given to per-
sonnel transferred to cover their
moving and travelling expenses.
Norris Hits Procedure.
Senator Norris. independent, Of
Nebraska contended during the
Senate debate that, since the
McCarran proposal is only q
Senate resolution, not requiring
House action or the signature OF
the President, 1t would have no
binding effect. If the decentraliza-
ton issue is one Congress should
consider, it should be presented in
the form of legislation, the Nebrask-
an argued.
= Minority Leader McNary said he
favored decentralizing the Govern
ment. but at the same time agreed
that the Senate should request the
budget director to give the District
Committee the data he failed to sub
NIT last week.
Accordingly, he asked Senator Nc
Carran to eliminate from his resolu-
ton the "whereases' that place the
Senate on record against moving the
bureaus and conflne it to a request"
for information instead of a direc-
ton to submit information.
Senator McCarran replied, how
ever, that the committee already had
tried requesting the information
without results.
BarkIey Opposes Resolution.
Senator McCarran also charged
during the debate that there are
those in this country who want to
tear down this Government and set
up a super-government." Decen-
tralizing bureaus and departments
is one, of the steps that would bring
that about, he asserted.
Majority Leader Barkley an
nounced his opposition to passage Of
the resolution as soon as debate on
it began. He questioned the juris-
diction of the District Committee to
deal with the issue.
When Senator McCarrar1 asked
what committee would have juris-
diction. the majority leader said it
may be a matter for several COM
mitteeS, since the laws creating
Various Government bureaus came
out of different committees.
Chairman Maloney of the Sem
ate Public Buildings and Grounds
Committee came to the support Of
Senator McCarran. He suggested
that if the Government is going
to rent private property in other
cities to house these agencies, it
would be wiser to take over private
buildings in Washington rather
than scatter the Government.
Calls Transfer Expensive.
Senator Maloney mentioned the
Smithsonian Institution and COM
mercial buildings occupied largely
by lobbyists" as illustrations of how
NlOTc SpdCc COulU UC OUCdAlCO AclC
during the emergency.
Senator Tydings, Democrat, Of
Maryland, who assisted Senator Nc
Carran in holding hearings on the
removal program, told the Senate it
would be "a grievous error to let the
decentralization order be carried out
without further study" He cited
figures developed by the committee
to show it would cost approximately
as much to move 400 900 square feet
of Government activity elsewhere
and house the employees as it would
cost to provide the added temporary
space here.
Entering the debate for the second
time, Senator Barkley said: 1T is
unfortunate that so soon after get
ting into this war we are questioning
the authority, If not the good faith,
of the President. I realize 1t Is in
convenient for Government en-
ployes to move but 1t also is incon-
venient for men to be drafted into
the Army"