Imperial Valley press., 1944-10-16
caPEoI 1alk
--by-
Peter Edson

Sizable cuts in the number OF
federal employes-poW varlously
estimated as 2,938,OO0 by the Civil
Service Commission and an all
time high of 3.113,000 by Senator
Byrd's economy ccmmittee-are
expected to be announced soon by
the Bureau of the Budget. The cuts
may come before election, but the
real impetus behind them will be
couple of other factors; first, the
federal employees overtime pay act
which requires every government
agency to review its personnel re-
uuirementS every three months;
second, President Roosevelt'S mid
September directive to Budget Di-
rector Harold d. Smith. ordering
him to make immediate plans for
liquidating wartime agencies and
reducing others to peacetimc levels
when the war is ended.
Cn receipt cf that order. Smith
instructed all federal agencies to
make reports within 30 days on how
personnel might be reduced, and
these reports are now coming in and
being reviewed by Budget Bureau
examiners. Concurrently, every gov
ernment department receiving
congressional appropriation is now
bringing in its estimates on funds
required in the next fiscal year be-
ginning July /, 1945. These are the
estimates that will be reported 10
the annual budget message next
January and thev are being pre-
pared now to meet three possible
situations, assuming continuation
of the war throughout the year, end
of the war in Europe, end of the
war in Japan.
GENERAL HOUSECLEsSING
IN ORDER
All this reviewing of the programs
should give the government good
look at its hand to see what kind
of a general reorganization can be
offect.d d vixen the war is over. Re-
gardleSs of who gets elected in No
vember. this thorough overhauling
of government agencies should have
top priority for the new admins
tration.
At present the authority to reor-
ganize the government rests largely
in the hands of the President who,
since 1899, has put through two
broad rcorganizations and numer-
Gus shifts in the war agencies. On
Capital Hill, however, there has
teen increasing agitation for re-
organization of the executive branch
of the government by Congress, and
something like this may happen in
the next four years.
There have been all kinds of Sug-
gestionS as to how the government
should be reorganized, and no two
| reople familiar with Washington
| can agree on what should be done
with any given agency. AS first
step in trying to pull all the con-
flicting proposals together, the Git
! izeno' National Committee, a pri-
vateiy financed research and analy-
sis group, has Just issued a sum-
mary of all the official and unoffi-
ci9l suggestions that have been made
| for the adjustment of war and
non-War agencies, and for regroup-
ing or changing of status OF the
agencies which most authorities
would be willing TO leave in the
executive Set-up In all, it lists l2C
government agencies which have
! been nominated for abcliShment OF
/ transfer of functions.
IT'S A BIG JOB
This list is only the first part OF
the recearch job which the Citizens
National Committee hopes to do in
presenting information for public
| discussion en- this whole qucctior
of government reorganization. To bC
/ issued soon is a research study OF
all the Federal Agencies, listing fol
the first time some 400 government
departments, bureaus and corpora
tions, together with their authGriza
ton, budget functions and number
of employees. With their subagencics