Evening star., 1943-02-16
Agency Law
Now Fought
By Riders
Nation Witnessing
Congress Move
To Regain Power
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
What the country is witnessing
today is an evolution Of the Amer
icsn constitutional process to the
point where the legislative branch
of the Government is looking ask
ance st the assumed power of the
executive agencies to make laws.
To offset this, the Congress is
beginning to- put riders" on other
legislation so as to checkmate the
tendency toward government by
directive" which recently has been
manifested.
The officials Of the executive
agencies are crying out against the
criticism that is coming their way
because of the complexity OF the
regulations and the bewildering
effects Of suddenly announced rules.
But these same officials do not seem
to realize that when Congress makes
the laws, the people have an oppor-
tunity to present their suggestions
and criticisms while the bill is in
committee, Sometimes the sugges-
tions are disregarded but, every now
and then, the bugs" are taken out
of q particular proposal when the
measure Is before the committee.
Anyway, the public gets ample notice
and, II revision or amendment is
desirable the process winds up with
an adjusted bill that often prevents
a serious miscarriage of justice.
But when the small coterie of ex-
ecutive officials make the laws, they
do 1t In secret. None of the in
terested parties, as a rule, is brought
In and, after many conferences of
secret nature, the proposal, no
matter how far-reaching, is abruptly
launched on an unsuspecting public.
Manpower Case in Point.
The manpower order is a case In
point. The subject has been under
consideration a long time. At one
stage 1t was thought that legislation
by Congress would be sought, but
suddenly the executive officials de-
cided that 1t would be risky to ask
Congress to debate the measure and
that 1t would be much easier to pick
out some vague phrase in an exist
ing statute and claim that the new
authority stemmed from such a
phrase.
But, IN announcing the new man
power order, evidently no considera-
ton was given to the many in
Justices that are inflicted by the
blanket rule. To these protests the
answer Is made that there will be
exceptions and exemptions. No worse
way to secure uniform compliance
or to assure national unity could be
suggested than for the executive
authorities to make the American
people the guinea pigs of their ex-
periments.e To proclaim faulty rule
and then try to apply It and finally
to amend 1t by trial and error, when
few days of consultation in adj
vance with the parties at. interest !
would avoid these pitfalls, is but
another way of arousing antago-
nism and multiplying difficulties OF
enforcement or compliance.
1t may take slightly longer to let
Congress make the laws. but it's
better in the long run, because the
people then have the feeling they
have had something to say about it.
They just don't like executive-made
laws because they have had no part
In making them. Certainly anything
that affects a mans job and rates of
pay and anything that involves for
many industries and businesses an
increase in pay OF about 80 per cent
Is important enough to lay before
Congress and let labor and manage
ment have their say. Out Of the
variety of views a better rule could
have been adopted that would have
saved the business and labor unions
of the country from the confusion
they find themselves in today.
'Rider" Method.
Congress has decided to assert It's
prerogatives in some things. Thus,
salary and wage limitation was only
vaguely defined by the last anti
imitation law, but the Executive went
far beyond the general language and
wrote limitations which, in the de-
bate. Congress was assured would
not be imposed. Now the Congress
Is tacking a rider" on a bill having
to do with public debt authorize
tions. The rider" really has moth
ing to do with the legislation it.
sef, but, unless this method Is util-
ized, the President could exercise
his veto power and make it neces-
sary for two-thirds vote to be
marshaled to override his veto.
This would mean that a simple ma
1orlty could not use Its prerogatives
TO prevent the Executive from tack
ing riders on to statutes expressed
IN general terms.
1t is likely, too, that the power
OF the purse" long the safeguard
used by legislative bodies to fight
encroachment by the Executive, will
come into play and that the funds
requested by the Executive will not
hereafter be voted with blank checks.
but with definite prescriptions as to
the Use that can be made of such
funds.
The Congress elected last No
Vemoer has, OF course. the most re-
cent mandate from tho y>eorla o,.I