Evening star., 1945-07-17

lministrator form Of organization.
Mr.. Gillette also advocated re-
moyal of SPB from control of the
ONCE Of War Mobilization and Re-
conversion, holding that the agency
lacked freedom of action and should
be responsible only to Congress. A
bill proposing such a divorce has
been introduced by Senator Stewart,
Democrat, of Tennessee.
Surplus goods now are selling at
the rate of $50, ,000, 900 a month, with
the Government recovering some
thing less than IS per cent OF its
costs. However, the inventories of
surpluses on hand are mounting
steadily, and returns to the tax
payer are expected to drop the
longer goods are held.
Action After Recess.
House leaders said the Presidents
recommendation will not be acted
upon until after that chamber re-
turns from a summer recess. prob
ably early in October.
The text of the Presidents mes
sage follows:
"On October 8, 1914, the Congress
enacted the Surplus Property Act of
1914, a comprehensive scheme for
the declaration, handling and dis
posai Of all types of surplus prop
erty.
"The operations of the three-man
Surplus Property Board created by
that act have been marked by sub
stantial achievements. It has set in
motion the disposal machinery
which Congress authorized and it
has begun to implement the stand
ards which Congress laid down for
the disposal of surplus property.
Regulations already promulgated or
in the process of adoption cover the
most important types Of property
consumer goods, plant equipment,
industrial plants and farm lands.
The emphasis. in, the boards task
will then shift from the promulga-
ton Of policy to the effectuation of
basic policies already established.
Task Getting Harder.
"The task of administration be-
comes increasingly difficult as the
rate of surplus declarations rapidly
rises. That rate is rising sharply
now. To dispose of this growing
volume of surplus property in a
manner that will fully achieve the
objectives declared by Congress will
require the most efficient possible
administrative machinery.
while the present Surplus Prop
erty Act was under consideration
by the Congress the then director
of war mobilization and reconver-
sion, Mr.. Byrnes, recommended the
provision for single administra-
tor. I think. experience has proved
him right.
I'm a field which calls for quick
and decisive action, 1t is undesir-
able to dilute responsibility for the
disposal of surplus property. Adj
ministration by q multi-member
board has complicated day-to-day
operations under the act.
More recently the retiring chair
man Of the board has stated to the
Congress that although he originally
shared the view that q three-man
board was appropriate, his expert
ence also led him to the belief
that the act can best be administered
by a single administrator.
II am convinced that the effective
/ performance of the vast administra-
4 tive tasks remaining for the disposal
of the surplus property imperatively
requires that authority to make de-
cisions and responsibility for those
decisions should be centralized in a
single official Such an official
j should operate, as do all other ex-
ecutiye agencies, under the general
authority conferred by the President
and the Congress on the Office Of
1 War Mobilization and Reconversion.
Accordingly, 7 request the Congress
to amend the Surplus Property Act
of 1884 by substituting q single ad-
ministrator for the present Surplus
II nne v~d