Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1947-07-25
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THE NEWS dispatches refer al
most continuously to the "Inde-
pendent Agencies of the Govern
ment." Few, if any, American citi-
zens, including members of con-
gress, could provide full explana-
ton of that term. We have not
known the number of these "inde-
pendent agencies; we have not
known how, or for what purpose,
many of them were created; we do
not know what they accomplish, the
number of people they employ, or
the cost of their operation.
A recent report of the Citi-
zen's National committee, nom
partisan organization, lists "a Of
the "independent agencies"
These agencies have no connec-
ton with the vast number Of
bureaus, administrations, Of
fees and what have you, that
are directly connected with,
and report to, the 10 cabinet de-
partments. They are exclusive
of the executive Offices of the
President, and they are not a
part Of, or connected with,
emergency war agencies, of
which seven are still in exist
ence. They are just what the
term implies, "independent' of
all other government organiza-
tons.
Some of these ''independent agen-
cles' were created by congress,
and in few cases their existence
dates back many years. Others,
perhaps most, are the product of
executive orders, issued by the
President, and date back no farther
than 1882. These were the creation
of Pres. Franklin Roosevelt.
What purpose do they serve?
Many of the independent agen-
cies" duplicate the work of other
agencies or other departments of
the government.
SAVE TWO BILLIONS
l do not know what the cost of
maintaining these "a independent
agencies amounts to for a fiscal
year, but if we discontinued all of
them, the saving would be much
more than two billion dollars a
year. 1t will be less for the present
year, because congress cut the ap-
preparations heavily, but not nearly
enough.
The total number of EMPLOYEES of
these "a independent agencies"
was, in February, 1947, 1886, 647. OF
that number 1884 were EMPLOYED
in Washington, and the other 313, 1903
were distributed throughout all the
48 states in branch offices of the
"agencies" maintained outside of
Washington. In numbers thew rem
resent one fifth of all the civilian
employees of the federal govern
ment.
1t is this close to one half mil
lion employees of the "inde-
pendent agencies" that Senator
Byrd and his committee have
been attempting to radically re-
duce during the past three or
four years. The efforts of that
committee have induced con-
gress, in few cases, to with
hold appropriations. Doing that
took but few, if any, off the gov
eminent payroll. The "inde-
pendent agency" for which an
appropriation was refused, was
but transferred to some one of
the cabinet departments, and
the pay of all continued.
10 accomplish a real result would
mean thorough overhauling of our
vastly expanded and widely rami-
fled operations of the federal gov
eminent. That is easier to talk
about than to do. Political patron
age plays big part in the picture.
Jobs mean votes, and as long as the
job exists whichever political party
may be in administrative control
can fill that job.
Those independent agencies"
constitute an expensive, cumber-
some and confusing mess, but they
do produce votes.
W.T.