Evening star., 1948-09-19
Controversy Develops
In Hoover Commission
Some Members Favor, Some Oppose,
Increased Cabinet Powers
By Gerard d. Reilly

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By Gerard d. Reilly
One Of the major items on the legislative
calendar Of the Eighty-f1rst Congress when 1t
convenes next January will be the long.
awaited proposals of the Hoover Commission
for reforming the cumbersome character of the
executive branch Of the Government This Is
the commission created by the Lodge Brown
bill and headed by the former President.
In addition to the ex-President, the per.
sonnel of the commission includes Dean Ache
son. former Undersecretary of State, Arthur
Flemming, who recently resigned from the
Civil Service Commission; James Forrestal.
Secretary of Defense; George H. Mead, manu-
facturer; Senator George D. Aiken, chairman
of the Senate Committee on Executive Ex-
penditures; Senator John L. Mcclellan of Ar.
kansas; Joseph B. Kennedy, former chairman
OF the Securities and Exchange Commission;
James X. Pollack professor of the University
Of Michigan James H. Rowe, jr, former AS
sistant Attorney General and one Of the first
three administrative assistants appointed by
President Roosevelt under the reorganization
of 1898; Representative Clarence j. Brown Of
Ohio and Representative Carter Manasco OF
Alabama.
In discussing the problems the commission
the, difficulties any incumbent of the White
House has in giving any degree of supervision
to his vast domain of responsibility In addi.
ton to the 10 executive departments of the
Government, the heads of which attend'cabinet
sessions, there are some so independent agen-
cies and boards in the executive branch.
Obviously the President does not have time
to confer regularly with more than handful
of these agencies Frequently he has only the
vaguest knowledge Of their duties. This was
illustrated by Mr. Truman's recent letter criti-
cizing Senator Taft in which he asserted
hands-off policy in NLRB affairs, thereby
failing to distinguish between the board menu
bers whose functions now are purely judicial
and the general counsel, who is o prosecutor.
OF course, the deliberations Of quasijudicial
bodies should be free OF interference but 1t
has never been supposed that either the Presi-
dent or Congress should profess indifference as
to whether a prosecutor is enforcing the law.
Mr. Hoover indicated that the best method
of providing the President additional knowledge
of these agencies would be to create operating
vice presidents to exercise general supervi-
sion over their affairs and report to him.
Unfortunately, the public has confused this
suggestion with proposals to Gov. Dewey for
deegating certain powers to Gov. Warren If
the Republicans carry the national elections.
What Mr.. Hoover had in mind was not vice
president for whom the Constitution itself
prescrbes certain duties, eg, presiding over
the United States Senate. He was referring
to title used by corporate management to
designate the heads Of certain divisions Of
manufacturing or mercantile company. Should
this recommendation be adopted 1t would
mean the Jumping of various independent
agencies into new executive departments and
the creation of additional Offices Of cabinet
rank.
A controversy has been going on inside the
commission over the question OF increasing
the responsibilities of the Cabinet. At the
present time cabinet departments include only
a segment OF the executive branch. One group
of commissioners, including Secretary Forrestal,
regard this as serious mistake. They believe
that even such agencies as the Bureau OF the
Budget and the Civil Service Commission,
which now report directly to the President,
should be placed within the framework OF
department
Such recommendations were also made to
President Roosevelt in 1887, but he was opposed
to transacting the entire business OF the execu.
tive branch through cabinet officers. The orea.
ton of a corps of administrative assistants at
the White House and an independent Bureau
of the Budget with an administrative manages
ment division, were the products OF his think
ing. His successor has carried this trend even
further by enlarging the White House stan and
turning over the entire State Department.
Building to the Bureau Of the Budget and
independent overall planning agencies like the
National Resources Council.
Unless Mr.. Hoover's speech last week Is eV'
dence Of a changed attitude, 1t has generally
been believed that the commission chairman
is not sympathetic to the Forrestal approach
1t has been the experience OF most Presidents
that inasmuch as a cabinet ofticer Is In ire
uuent contact with the standing committees OK
Congress dealing with matters germane to his
department, he tends to accommodate his
policy to those committees rather than to any
co-ordinated program Of the President. Hence
the White House has come TO regard the
Bureau of the Budget and the administrative
assistants as necessary aides In keeping tne
executive departments In line. This has been
an abundant source OF friction. Few ofncias
OF cabinet stature welcome advice or lnstruc"
tons from subordinate personnefin IN the budget.
Another matter which has produced serious
division in the commission has been the scope
of its report. The chief selling point OF the
Lodge Brown resolution was that the recom'
mendations of the commission could be
means of achieving great economies, thus
affording some prospect Of additional tax
reduction. The commission has discovered,
however, that procedural reforms and console
dations can bring about only minor savings.
approximately 30 per cent OF the $4,000
100000 now being spent annually by the Fed
eral Government can be charged to national
defense (this includes ECA as well as the mil.
itary establishments and the liquidation OF
past wars (servicing the bonded debt, vet
erans benefits, disability payments and the
like).
Most of these expenditures are considered
frreducible This means that such economies
as can be made will affect the agencies dealing
with domestic affairs-whose costs OF opera
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