Evening star., 1948-11-20
Public Apathy Blamed
II Official Pledges Are
Broken With Impunity
Trumun Should Heorken
To Hoover Commission
Report on U. S. Economy
Bv Frank r. Kent

For example, consider the presen
state of our national finances. Th'
enormous cost Of our foreign com
mitments is sure to increase in thu
coming year. New decisions run
ming into additional billions already
press on the newly elected President
OF course, there should be no retrea
from the foreign policy on which w
have started. On that road there /!
but one way to go and that Is Tor
ward. Nevertheless, greatly In
creased expenditures in both foreign
and domestic fields for 1949-195O al
once raise the question OF how fal
we can go without wrecking our owr
internal economy, already straininf
under an unprecedented budget ane
an undreamed-of debt.
It is not too much to say that or
the solidity of that economy hinges
tlse health Of the world. If it totter'
or even partially collapses, genera
chaos will ensue. No one knows this
better than our potential enemies
who for a decade have pushed III
toward greater expenditures anc
extravagance. Clearly, these fact!
make it the first duty OF the tri'
umphant Mr.. Truman to buttress
our Federal fiscal structure WIFI
more revenue.
Further Deficit Perilous.
Further deficit financing is too
perilous to contemplate calmly
There are but two ways to raise
reyenue-one, by increasing taxes;
the,other by reducing expenses. Al
ready, the Truman aides are fore
casting sitter taxes on corporations
and high-bracket incomes. But. 1t Is
admitted that If this step Is too
drastic it will slow down business,
and might bring on the dreaded de-
preston. Under such conditions one
would think administration eyes
would turn to the other alternative
economy. But only a vague ana
feeble interest Is exhibited in that
subject and concrete proposals for
reduction are viewed with active
disfavor. This, Of course, Is not only
bad faith but stupidity.
For the way to save money with
out impairing efficiency has been
clearly pointed out. A long time ago
Senator Harry Byrd asserted that a
reduction of 80 per cent in the job
holding army Of more than 2,300,-
900 could be made without Grip
pling q single vital Federal agency.
Such q cut. he insisted-and with
out contradiction-would save 81
900 900 900 annually of the present
$1,000, 600 900 pay roll. 1t seems al
most unbelievable that q President,
under such necessity for revenue as
Mr.. Truman, could refrain from en-
thusiastic grasp of this chance
particularly as Senator Byrd's state
ment gets such overwhelming sup
port from the report of the Hoover
Commission on Reorganization OF
the Executive Department., to be
submitted on January 13-and to
which Mr.. Truman Is already COM
mitted.
This commission was created
nearly two years ago by a joint
resolution Unanimously passed. :,
sponsored by Representative Clar-
ence Brown Of Ohio and Senator
Henry Cabot Lodge. 1t is . COM
pletely bipartisan body and Mr..
Herbert Hoover was drafted as It's
head. The commission enlisted as
Q task force" more than q hundred
outstanding men Of ability and
experience who, uncompensated
and without stint, have given Of
their time and energy. The report,
the most complete and comprehen-
sive ever presented, will reveal
many startling facts and propose
q reduction of this vast, swollen,
utterly absurd Federal bureau-
cracy to manageable proportions,
to a size where it can function with
Q semblance Of efficiency and a
cost that will not break our backs.
As recently explained by Mr..
Hoover, the proposed reorganiza-
ton of the Post Once Department
will not only vastly facilitate de-
nveries and take the whole busi-
ness out Of politics but also save
approximately $500, ,o00,000 a year.
Clearly the Last Chance.
The unanimity with which Con-
gress asked the commission to dc
this job; the high character and
unSelfishneSs of its members and
of its task force; the acute need
for retrenchment, plus the fact
that if this, clearly the last chance.
fails the bureaucratic growth will
continue unchecked until the great,
monstrous machine bogs down
under its own weight-all these
things ought to put behind the re-
port the full weight of the White
House and the leadership of both
parties in Congress. That Is what
ought to happen; but, unless some
how the American people shake OF
their lethargy, it will not happen.
Already-and before they know its
contents-the labor and left-wing
allies of the administration are
putting out adverse propaganda.
The silly cry is raised that any
plan to abolish duplication and
eliminate waste is an attempt to
repeal the New Deal" The union
bosses want the Labor Department
expanded, not curtailed. Liberal
spokesmen insist that the people
ordered otherwise" which Is to say
that they voted against any effort to
tighten their burdens. Thus, they
play into the hands of the powerful
jobholders' lobby and its political
sponsors, who will fight like tigers to
keep their constituents on the pay
roll. 1t would be fine If an aroused
public sentiment could convince
such sponsors that that kind of fight
involved personal danger. It woulc
be fine, too. II Mr.. Truman, disre.
garding political counsel, should give
1t wholehearted instead of merely
perfunctory support. 1t also would be
fine If Congress, which unanimous.
ly asked that the job be done, shoule
accept the product of its request ir
the same spirit. That would be con.
sistent: that would be good faith
that would be good sense. On,
political miracle occurred in the re.