Evening star., 1945-08-26

pass that Wnen war was thrust
upon us. plans which played
vital part in our achievement of
victory lay at hand - prepared
to the last detail and ready to
be put into execution"
In the First World War the Com
mittee of Imperial Defense was ab-
sorbed into the war cabinet, but re-
verted to its original status after
the fighting was over. Its sponsors
felt its function then was more i'm
portant than ever before, for mod
ern war between sovereign powers
is an affair of whole nations
it demands the mobilization Of en-
tire national resources-human, ma
terial, industrial and economic, "
with the fighting forces merely the
cutting edge" of defensive mech
anism which includes every activity
of government.
During the past war the war cab
met in Britain again became the
supreme executive authority Of the
central government, responsible
only to Parliament. But its powers
were exercised, broadly speaking, in
two categories-military conduct Of
the war and what we have come to
speak of now as the home front. Un-
der the war cabinet the defense
committee ran the military show
and the lord presidents committee
directed the civilian effort.
There are counterparts Of such
agencies in our Government. The
vital part of the machinery, which
the British have developed after
some 40 years of effort, and which
we lack almost entirely, is the CO.
hesive agency which develops
smooth coordination between all
the various committees and sub
committees which formulate the
common policy that is administered
by Britain's executive departments
enabling them to operate without
serious duplication or overlapping
in accordance with a single we'll
defined policy.
Secretariat Spreads Information.
This machinery, in England, is
the secretariat, or cabinet Office
housed in one building under one
directing head. It handles the
routine business of the Prime Min
lister, of the war cabinet, of the
chiefs of staff, the defense COM
mittee, the lord presidents COM
mittee and others. A decision made
in one part of the government is
made known Immediately through
this secretariat to all other agencies
concerned. 1t does not transmit
every decision throughout the gov
ernment, however. In fact, there
is one section of the secretariau
charged with matters affecting Sc
curity. But the top men of the cab
met Office know what decisions on
policy or other matters are to be
distributed generally and which
ones should be confined to a few
agencies.
The secretariat in itself has no
executive authority. 1t does not it,
self carry out decisions reached by
the war cabinet or other commit
tees. The duty of its staff members
is to bring the right matter to the
immediate attention of the proper
committee or individual. They also
arrange intercommittee conferences,
obtain from the proper agency Ger
tain data needed by the war cab
met or committees on which deci-
sions are to be based, prepare tho
agenda for conferences, keep all the
minutes and other records and see
that they are properly distributed.
The members of the secretariat are
carefully chosen, not for their spe-
cialities but for their ability in ef-
fecting liaison and coordination
They are respected civil servants.
career men whose continuity in Of
flee is not affected by changing ad-
ministrations.
Enyious Of Accomplishments.
Without becoming too technical
IN q description of this agency, it
is easy to understand the envious
regard, by many Americans, of the
way it functions. Something of
the sort is definitely needed as an
adjunct to the executive offices of
the President. For while many
things can be done to reshape the
pattern Of our executive branch, by
reorganizations along functional
lines which absorb independent
agencies into established depart
ments, or which create new depart
ments, their administration OF gov
ernment still will be disorderly to
q certain extent unless there is an
agency, under the President, whose
sole function is to bring about the
necessary coordination.
What we need, in other words, is
more Of what the military people
have been able to develop by their
stan work in establishing recognized
chains of command and the main
tenance OF close touch between the
various parts Of the whole organi-
ration. This does not mean, OF