The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-04-06

done goes back to 1863 when the National Academy of Sciences was given a federal charter in which 1t was stipulated they should give advice whenever needed.
 The four-dollar, polysyllabic, po- litical science name for this sort ot thing Is functional group repre- sentation." It was rather slow to catch on but from number of quarters it is advocated there should be more functional group represen- tation to correct whats wrong with your government. Labor organiza- tions keep needing for more of it and so do the business and farm pressure groups.
 The Joint Committee to Study Reorganization of Congress, headed by Senator Bob LaFollette and Congressman Mike Monroney, may even hear proposals that Congress should have some of these advisory committees hanging around to give free advice when called on. The theory behind this is that while CongresSmen come from all over and give the country good geographic representation, there are too many lawyers in Congress and this is SUD- posed to work to the detriment of the doctors, merchants and chiefs, as well as to the butchers, bakers nd candlestickmakers. In a perfect state, it is argued, these and all others should be represented pro. portionately in government.
 TRIED OUT BY EUROPE
 European countries have experi- mented with this type of thing in various ways, France, CzechoSlo- vakia and even Germany under the Weimar Republic had such a set- up. In Italy 1t was highly developed under the cooperative state.
 Growth of the idea from 1863 on has been slow but steady. Up to War One only 60 such advisory groups had been created. Bernard Barucb is the real daddy of the modern In. duStry Advisory Committee. He cre- ated some 400 of them when he was Chairman of the War Industries Board in 1917 and IS. They passed out of the picture after the Armis- tice, though many people thought they should have been maintained. They were revived as code author itieS in the blue eagle MIRA days, passed out again when the National Industrial Recovery Act was de- clared unconstitutional.
 But in 1883 a Business Advisory Council of businessmen was organ ized for the Department of Com merce. It is still functioning. It was responsible for the creation of the Committee for Economic Develop ment, admittedly the best of the postwar planning agencies. Just after he was named Secretary of Commerce, Henry Wallace put the Council to work on the problems of small business.
 OTHER JOBS WELL DONE
 Foreign Economic Administration has a Trade Relations Staff which has done much to keep Americas exporters and importers alive dur. ing the war years.
 Surplus War Property Admins tration is geared to use many of the WIPE Industry Advisory Commit tees.
 Board of War Communications is made up of representatives from telephone, telegraph, cable and radio companies, to coordinate war communications problems for the government military services.
 The Petroleum Industry War Council took in the whole oil pro- duction, refining and marketing in- dustrieS in tight little organiza- tion under Petroleum Administra- tor for War Harold Ickes. Such an organization would not be permit ted for a minute in peace times under the antitrust laws, but here 1t Is wartime phenomenon, func- tional group representation in gov ernment developed to its possibly highest degree.
 That raises the big controversial question on this whole issue. Are government advisory groups demo- cratic? Do they bring government. closer to the people and vice-versa? Or do they merely give vested in- terests legal standing by inviting their lobbyists right into the coun- Gil chambers of government?