Evening star., 1943-07-04
U. 5. Foees Defect
On Home Front
BY John II. Cline.

By John II. Cline.
Despite the efforts Of some omcials TO
minimize the deterioration Of the home
front by accusing the press Of making
mountains out of molehills. 1t Is per-
fectly evident that the state Of Affairs
prevailing in Washington today gives
very real cause for concern. The SIM
pie fact Is that We are faced with
crisis In our conduct Of the war on the
home 'front.' crisis which cannot re-
main static, but which inevitably will
grow worse unless determined and In
telligent measures are taken to elm
mate the causes Of the trouble.
Broadly speaking. the dlmculties now
harassing the Government have their
origins In two areas. The first and the
primary trouble area Is In the executive
branch Of Government, where poor ad-
ministration has produced an appalling
compound Of confusion and conflict.
The second area encompasses the rela.
tions between Congress and the Presi.
dent. To some extent the troubles IN
this field may be traced to m ailing ex.
ecutive establishment.
The chaotic conditions prevailing IN
the executive branch are the direct re-
suit of q persistent refusal to gear the
Governments administrative machinery
to the demands Of total war. And the
responsibility for this failure rests with
the President After the start Of the war
in Europe, but before Pearl Harbor, Mr..
Roosevelt told the country that our
defense program could be carried through
without impairment Of social gains by
superimposing the defense establishment
on the framework Of normal industry. We
were going to have guns and butter, too.
although that assurance then was hardly
less realistic than it would be today. In
fairness to the President, he has long
since ceased to talk In terms OF social
gains. There Is no longer any suggestion
that we can enjoy the good things Of life
and also produce the facilities that We
must have to fight the war. But granting
this, the fact remains that Mr.. Roose-
welt has not yet been willing to 60 all
the way down the line in converting the
administrative branch Of the Govern
ment from q peacetime to q wartime
establishment. He lacks the time or the
temperament, or maybe both, to get down
to the tiresome and detailed Job Of per-
sonally administering the executive
branch. And he has not been willing to
delegate this onerous task to capable
subordinates endowed with adequate
and clear-cut authority.
This weakness in administration first
showed itself when the President set
agement under the joint direction Of
william Knudsen and Sidney Hillman.
Neither man was to have final author
ity, the President said, but were to work
together as partners. Presumably they
were never to disagree, but, Of course,
they did, and within a short time the
OPM disappeared in the first of a be-
wildering series of reorganizations which
has brought forth a long list Of alpha
betical combinations, a few good men
and q patchwork Of executive orders
that would drive jigsaw puzzle fan to
distraction. It Is only natural that there
should have been q scramble for power
In this legalistic no-man's land on the
part OF ofncials who seldom knew where
their authority began or ended. And 1t
is not surprising that the term bureau
crat, as employed by a bewildered citi-
zenry, has taken on a connotation that
is something less than complimentary
Had he been willing to do so the
President at any time could have slashed
clear path through this maze, or he
could have commissioned some one to do
1t for him. But he has preferred to reor-
ganize and improvise, shufding agencies
and faces but never getting down to the
unpleasant business Of throwing out the
incompetents and turning the job OF
running the administrative branch OF
Government, and the necessary author.
ity, over to the best available men, re-
gardless of their predictions for OF
against the New Deal. The result is q
state OF generalization at the seat OF
Government which forces into the oper
such feuds as that between Vice Presi.
dent Wallace and Secretary of Com.
merce Jones. What are the people to
think when nothing Is done about Z
complaint from the Vice President that
cabinet oficer is obstructing the wa,
effort by operating an utterly inexcus-
able form Of bureaucracy at its worst"7
The complaint is either true or not true
If it is true, Mr.. Jones has no right to
continue in office, and if it Is untrue
the Vice President should be called to
account. But there is not the slightest
indication that anything will be done
about the matter.
In addition to its adverse effect on
the people, this state of affairs has
helped to widen the breach between the
President and Congress at a time when
they should be working in closest har-
mony. Not all of the Presidents differ
ences with the legislators are due to
sincere conflicts Of opinion. Some are
inspired In part, at least, by narrow
political considerations in the House and
| Senate, but In the main the so-called
legislative 'revolts" are genuine mani
festations Of concern at the turn from
bad to worse which our domestic affairs
have been taking. Congress is close to
the people. Every two years all of the
members of the House and third ~