Evening star., 1951-02-05
Dispersal Need
Set at 20 Miles
From District
Assistant Director
Of Budget Cites
A-Tests in Nevada

1lCCO Vi ItOVlIlS NIOVCI CIuIIl6llU dSGIl'
cies at least 20 miles from down.
town Washington in the dispersa
program.
Roger w. Jones, assistant di.
rector of the Budget, said that l.
it is possible for windows to b'
broken hundred miles from tn,
Atomic Energy Commissions tes
center in Nevada, 1--WE feel NOR
than ever the necessity of goins
at least 20 miles out"
He said the proposed dispersa
would be for protection agains
the blast of an atomic bomb ane
also against what he referred tt
as blast panic"
Opposes More Than 20 Miles.
Mr.. Jones testified before thu
Public Buildings subcommittee o1
the House Public Works Commit
tee. The subcommittee opened
hearings on the Governments $19C
million plan to move agencies with
10000 employees to sites in Subur-
ban Maryland and Virginia. The
agencies would be housed in six
permanent buildings on as many
sites and two semi finished struc-
lures.
Mr.. Jones said it was felt that
If dispersal went beyond 20 miles
"you will lose the advantage of
effective control that can be main
tanned at that distance"
He was questioned about the
Governments decentralization
program. that is the moving of
agencies with $4,000 employees to
distant cities.
Specifications Not Desired.
Mr.. Jones asked that Congress
not specify which agencies are tc
be moved and where they are tt
be located.
"The program is in a state o1
f1ux," he said. IF Congress spell:
out which agencies are to go anc
where they are to be it will make
it inf1exible."
He said that while the decen-
tralization it to be permaners
there will be no guarantee that
the agencies are to remain in
places to which they are first
assigned. He said that in deciding
on the removals it is intended not
to transfer agencies into critical
target areas. Also, he said, consid-
erations of office space and living
accommodations. make it neces-
sary to pick a general idea into
which an agency is to be moved
rather than to pinpoint the place
Interlocking Tasks Cited.
eff, for example," Mr.. Jones
said. Congress says that the
Navy's Office of Historical Records
is to move to Toledo. then there
is no leeway. 1t must move there
and nowhere else"
In further discussion of decen-
tralization Mr.. Jones said it is
"next to impossible" for the reg
ulatory commissions to operate If
they are widely separated because
their work interlocks. He OBJ
served that the operation of the
Federal Trade Commission could
not be separated from that of the
Securities and Exchange Commits
sion or the Food and Drug Ad-
ministration.
In response to a question Mr.
Jones said he did not see why
most of the Federal Security
Agency could not operate at dis.
tance from Washington. But, HI
added, the Public Health Service
has to be in day-to-day contac
with other Government health
agencies to know what they art
doing. Representative Scudder
Republican, of California asked i
any thought had been given tx
eliminating some agencies entirely
and suggested the Farm Credi
Administration might be done
away with.
Now Down to $50 Workers.
Mr.. Jones said the Budget Bu-
reau continually reviews the
status of agencies and whether
they are needed. He said the Farm
Credit Administration was moveo
to Kansas City in World War I.
when it had 1,073 employees. Now
it is down to $50. He added thai
it was brought back to Washing
ton because Congress demanded
1t.
Col. Ramsay D. Potts, jr., as
sistant to w. Stuart Symingtor
of the National Security Re-
sources Board, reviewed for the
subcommittee the consideration!
which led to the dispersal plan.
None of us know that We viii
be attacked" he said. "But WI
know that atomic weapons ant
other weapons of mass destruc
ton are in the hands Of an enem!
and that that enemy has man,
planes. We know that in an at
tack some of those planes will
get through to the target"
Bikini Bomb Half Mile Off.
In fixing on the distance of q
miles from downtown Washing
ton for dispersal, Col. Potts salt
those making the plans figured
the aiming point in an attacl
would be in a circle within mil
and a half radius from the zer'
milestone. Then, he said, the,
made allowance for an error il
aiming. He said that the atomi
bomb dropped in Bikini tests wa
a half mile off the target poin
because of an error in the en-
gineering of the bomb, itself. H
said also considered were the fac
there are bombs of new types, tina
there may be multiple drops, ant
that there may be delivery o
bombs other than by air drops
He said consideration was givel
to the possibility of delivery al
atomic bomb by guided missil
from a submarine