Evening star., 1949-07-21
Passion Seen Growing
For Concentration Of
"
Government Power
'Unificotion' Declared
Possible in Several
Federal Departments
By David Laurence

SSSsS
BY David Laurence
The passion for bigness in Gov
ernment and concentration Of
power in the hands Of a few
persons is growing.
The idea Of unifying the three
armed services under q Secretary
Of Defense now has been Endorsed
in. principle by both houses of
Congress. It means that. so far
al the President Of the United
States is concerned, he will have
direct contact on military matters
with only one secretary instead Of
three secretaries.
The logic Of this step-if it's
really logic-would seem to call
for an examination Of the other
departments Of the Government
to see whether "unification" can
not be introduced there in much
tho same way. The question will
be- asked: Why not consolidate
the Departments of Commerce, OF
Labor, Of the Interior and Of Agri-
culture under the head Of Civil
ian Business Establishment" with
. secretary, of course. at the head
of each former department, but
with one man to act as chairman
of all four and to serve as the
principal adviser to the President
on these matters?
Some Names Obsolete.
Some Of the names Of the Gov
ernment departments are obsolete,
anyway. Few people understand
Just why there should be an In
terror Department. as there is
certainly nothing about that de-
partment which justifies that des-
ignation, inasmuch as the De-
pertments Of Labor, Commerce
ard Agriculture also deal prima-
riiy with internal or interior
affairs.
Then there is the Justice De-
partment which. Of course. has
long outlived its name. Many
people who are harassed by that
department would prefer to call
it the Department Of Injustice. :"
anyway. The title Of Depart
ment of Law Enforcement" would
probably be more satisfactory for
all concerned.
The name Department Of the
Treasury" has long ceased to de-
scribe what goes on in that de-
partment. The Treasury does not
house the money Of the Govern
ment, as virtually all Of this is
deposited In banks throughout the
country or is buried at Fort Knox
in Kentucky.
Most governments in the world
nowadays use the title Depart
ment Of Finance" which more
accurately describes the present
functions Of the Treasury Depart
ment. But here too. there is q
question that might be asked
about "un1fication." Why should
there be 20 many financial agen-
cies scattered around the Govern
ment? Thus. there is the Recon-
struction Finance Corp. the Hous-
ing and. Home Finance Agency,
the Federal Reserve System, the
Export Import Bank and a; host
Of other financial agencies which
really haye no reason for separate
existence II specialized organiza-
tions like the. Army, the Navy and
ths Air Force are to be consoli-
dated in one department.
There is really no need either
for q separate department to be
known as the Post Office Depart
ment. because the letter-carrying
function is really a business BY
itself and could be put in with the
civilian business establishment"
Remedy for Executives.
There are, of course, executives
in these various departments,
particularly the cabinet officers.
who would not like such a setup,
but there is a remedy for that.
From all parts of the country
have come suggestions that what
is needed in order to achieve "uni-
fication" is to knock heads to-
gether." Secretary johnson goes
. step farther. He thinks that
when the heads of the armed serv-
ices, meet at some swanky hotel
over q week end and play golf
and relax, that's the way to get
"uuification." There are doubt
less cabinet officers who would
like to do the same thing at Gov
ernnent expense. So. If it is as
SIMPLE as all that, "unif1cation"
might really be achieved in a
short time by a few weekend
parties.
"Unification" could perhaps be
carried too far. There are some
people who might begin to look
askance at the fact that there
are two houses of the national
legislature, where there might
just as well be only one. In fact,
in. some parts of the world they
dispense altogether with the ma
tional legislature and merely have
one man at the head of the whole
government. Hitler combined the
army, navy and air force and put
them all under Goering. He also
unified" his national legislature.
AS. a , blueprint Of efficiency, it.
could satisfy the passion for uni
fcation," but it would take all
the JOY out Of Washington life.