Evening star., 1947-08-10
A Disuppointino Veto

One unQS IL OlIucult TO contemplate
without misgiving the Presidents veto Of
the bill which would have set up the
National Science Foundation-an agency
designed to serve vital need in keeping
this country abreast of developments in
pure science.
Mr.. Truman made it clear that he came
to his decision to veto the bill reluctantly,
but that does not alter the fact that the
veto means there will be no Science Foun-
dation in 1e47 and quite possibly none in
1e4S. When this result is weighed against
the objections made by the President to
the bill as it was passed by Congress, it is
difficult to avoid the conclusion that the
national interests would have been better
served had Mr.. Truman approved the
measure, relying upon the legislators to
make such changes as experience might
show to be necessary.
The Presidents criticism of the bill rested
upon two main grounds. First. he con-
tended that the organizational structure
provided for In the bill would lead to such
CONFLICTS and confusion that the founda-
ton could not be properly administered
His principal objection, however, was di-
rected to the provision adopted by the
House at the request of Senator Taft which
would divest the President of power to
appoint the director of the foundation.
A fair observer would have been hard
pressed to find much merit in the Taft
proposal when it was advanced, his prin-
cipal concern apparently being that ap-
pointment of the director by the President
would make political department" of
the foundation. Evidently the Senate was
not greatly impressed by this argument
for 1t rejected the proposal when it first
passed the bill, and did not adopt it until
required to vote on conference report
containing the House version.
But If Senator Taft's argument was not
Impressive, neither Is that advanced by
the President on this point, especially in
view of the fact that Mr.. Truman's view
has prevailed only at the price of killing
the bill
The President says that the foundation,
under the terms Of the bill as passed by
Congress, would be divorced from control
by the people to an extent that implies
distinct lack Of faith in democratic
processes" That condemnation has a GER
tain ring to it, but the separation of the
agency from popular control would not
have been as complete as the veto message
implies In the first place. the bill pro-
vided that the twentyfour members Of
the committee controlling the foundation
would have to be appointed by the Presi-
dent and confirmed by the Senate. The
bill also provided that this group would
select the director. So at the least, the
President would appoint the men who, in
turn, would select the director. An addi-
tional point is that the foundation, being
entirely dependent on Congress for funds,
could not wander very far afield from the
restraints of the democratic process.
On balance. 1t seems fair to say that the
President has somewhat the better of the
argument with Senator Taft. It is also
fair to say, however, that the case against
the bill as enacted is not strong enough to
justify veto, with the accompanying risk
that Republican Congress, having been
rebuffed by the President, will refuse to
adopt any new legislation setting up a
Science Foundation. It Is in this respect
that Mr.. Truman's decision Is disappoint-
ing