Evening star., 1949-02-13
Party Lines Erased by Hoover Report
Aims at 'FooIproof'
Executive Branch
of Government

Of Government
known-states, the Federal Gov
ernment has become the most gi-
gantic business on earth. In less
than 20 years its civil en- oloyes
have increased in number from
$4,000 to over 100000. Annual
expenditures have increased from
SO 900, 100000 to $4,000. .000, 900.
It has been a saying among busi-
nessmen that a Chief Executive of
the United States never had to
meet a payroll" Perhaps not, but
the American people today have to
meet a Government payroll that
staggers the Imagination - and
they have to meet it through the
taxes taken from their earnings.
Certainly if the American people
have any realization of the situa-
ton, they will back to the hilt the
Hoover Commission in it's present
program.
The program, in the main the
work of a former Republican Pres
ident and now backed by a Demo-
cratic President whose job it will
be to ',ut it into execution. should
have great popular appeal-and
have nonpartisan consideration in
Congress-. 1t will not be accom-
plished quickly. The commission
is making Is separate reports to
Congress, and many of it's pro-
posals will require separate legisla-
tive action and change of existing
statutes, as we'll as an overall au-
thorization of power to the Presi-
dent to reorganize the Govern
ment agencies. Already in the bill
for authorization, as it passed the
House, six or seven agencies have
been given special exemption
which is the kind of thing that
will hamstring efforts to bring
about the necessary reshaping of
the executive structure. One of
those exemptions relates to the
armed services - including the
work of the Army engineers
which overlaps that of the Recla-
nation Service and vice versa
and the vast rivers and harbors
and dam projects upon which hun
dreds of millions of dollars are
expended.
Wanted to Help Country
Mr.. Hoover. since he took over
the craftsmanship of the COM
mission. has made it a practice
to spend four days of each week
in Washington at the Offices OF
the commission here and three
days in New York, where he works
equally hard on reorganization
matters. The assembling of facts
is only the beginning. Confer
ences day and night, at break
fast. at lunch and at dinner
that might have worn down an
ordinarily strong man, have been
an essential part of the work. with
conflicting opinions to be ironed
out. The task forces have worked
with a tree hand. given them by
Mr.. Hoover. Their reports anc
recommendations have then beer
sifted by the commission itself
And now the whole picture is
beginning to unfold.
To get exercise. Mr.. Hoover
walks to and from his Office daily
His recreation is usually more
work. A devotee of fishing, his
angling nowadays is confined
to three weeks a year in Florida
where he goes bone f1shing-a
keen sport-of the Keys. He gets
as a rule, a two weeks period OF
relaxation when he attends the
High Jinks of the Bohemian
Club in California. He is host
there to many of his friends.
The problem-what to do with
ex-Presidents of the United States
has never kept Mr.. Hoover
awake at nights. He has always
had something to do. He took
his present job-as he has taken
many others-because he wanted
to do something for his country,
However, if Congress should ever
get around to taking steps to give
former Presidents a seat on the
floor and a voice in the Senate,
no man could fill such a position
more adequately than Mr.. Hoover
In the last half century the only
ex-President, outside of Mr..
Hoover, who has been called back
into the country's service was
William Howard Taft, who be-
came Chief Justice.