Evening star., 1949-03-03
A Monumental Job Well Done

AS the Hoover Commission prepares to
end its activities, the enormity OF the loo
it has done during the past nineteen
months is just becoming apparent. Only
half of the eighteen reports which it has
drawn up have been submitted to Congress
to date, yet 1t Is evident from what has
been disclosed that former President
Hoover and his able associates have SUB
jected the executive establishment to the
most intensive and comprehensive scrutiny
ever undertaken. The Government long
has been in need of such a critical survey
and no person was better qualified to con-
duct 1t than Mr.. Hoover. L.
The standing vote of tribute which the
members of the commission, Democrats
and Republicans alike, gave their chair
man at the final general meeting this week
was q recognition of the remarkable lead
ership given them by their energetic chair
man. Despite his seventy-four years, Mr..
Hoover not only attended every meeting OF
the commission but played leading role
in organizing the task forces suggesting
subjects for special study and assisting
In the formulation of final recommends
tions
This was indeed labor of love for Mr.
Hoover. First as Secretary of Commerce
in the tWentieS then as President and as
an "elder statesman since his retirement
from public service, he had become pain
fully aware of the inconsistencies and in
adequacies of the outmoded machinery OF
government. He had seen his own reor-
ganizational efforts and those of his sue
cessors in Office frustrated by bureaucratic
resistance, partisan preSSures and legisla-
tive fumbling. He once had remarked that
proposals for reorganization always prove
to be signal for the mobilization OF
opposition from all quarters which has de-
stroyed the possibility of corrective action"
Despite the sad experiences of the past,
Mr.. Hoover gladly accepted the oppor-
tunity to lend his aid in another deter
mined effort to rid the Government OF
overlapping agencies, duplicated functions
and general administrative waste and IN
efficiency Appointed by Republican Con-
gress, he nevertheless has had the contin-
ued support of President Truman and OF
an extraordinarily competent bipartisan
group of public officials and private citi-
gems. None of the nine reports so far made
public has contained hint OF PARTISAN
ship. There have been disagreements
among the commissioners, but the divi-
sions have not been along political lines
Nine more reports are due and there is
good reason to expect that they will be as
informative and as constructive as the
ones already received at the Capitol.
The studies made by the Commission on
Organization of the Executive Branch of
the Government will have long standing
value Some good is bound to come of this
far-reaching and authoritative criticism Of
the sprawling administrative setup. The
work will have the advantage of the weight
Of Mr. Hoover's prestige as selfless and
tireless public servant. That should help
to smooth the way for favorable consid-
Grafton and effective action by Congress
and the President. But whatever the ulti-
mate fate of this latest all-out attempt
to put the Government on more busi-
nesslike basis, the work already done will
be lasting monument to the country'S
only living former President.