The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1955-07-01
HOOVER Plan
WOULD COST
TAXPAYERS MORE

in which business men can roll VI
profitsl That sums up the recon-
mendations of report made this
week by the "Hoover Commission, =
headed up by former President Her
bert Hoover. The majority of the
commission made such proposals as
these:
CLOSE up and junk all navy
wards. fire all their employees, and
hand over all navy ship building and
repair to private yards. To do that,
Congress would have to repeal the
old law which requires half of the
navy's ships to be built in govern
ment yards. That law was passed to
provide cost "yardstick," and thus
hold down profiteering by private
shipbuilding companies.
WOULD HURT FARMERS
END all chemical research by
the Tennessee Valley Authority in
Guiding its program which has inn
proved fertilizers and lowered their
cost to farmers. This proposal brought
dissents from two members of the
12-maH Hoover Commission-Con-
gresham Chef Holifield (DCalif.)
and former Postmaster General James
A. Farley.
The latter pointed out that ''the
IVA has made an outstanding con-
tribution, not only in developing
fertilizers, but also in providing
experimentation and demons tration
which have been of great benefit to
farmers and to conservation of our
soiI.''
abolish Uncle Sans Postal
Savings system and give a monopoly
to private bankers.
Hand over all hotels, cabins and
other public property in the national
parks to business men concession
aires" for their private profit.
5-Close Army, Navy and Air
Force 'commissaries and post ex-
changes" That would end the present
system under which the post exchange
profits are used TO provide recrea-
ton and other benefits for the en-
listed men who do the buying.
CAN'T ESTIMATE SAVINGS
There are many other such pro-
posals in the report, but it also makes
some recommendation which are less
One is that parcel post |
rates be raised to pay the full cost of |
the service. Another is that the armed |
forces stop operating laundries and |
other shops which now tie up many
officers and enlisted men on nom
jobs.
The Hoover Commission admitted
it could make no estimate of how
much money, if any, might be saved
for the taxpayers if its proposals
were adopted. --==-
Senator Lister Hill DALAI de-
Jared that "the Hoover Commissions
for the adjustment
If TWAS chemical research activities
S a blow to national defense and the
armers."
In addition to dissenting on the
IVA proposal, Holifield registered a
General dissent. In part, he said:
"The government will be confront
d with much bigger budget" if
services are handed over
o private business as the Hoover
eport urges. That has been proved
Y recent experiences. For example,
Tolifield said, "the cost of filling
ms with government owned grain
as more than doubled IN the past
ear" since grain handling was
lrned over to private interests.
Also, Holifield said, "the decision
of the present Administration to 9
order contract with the Dixon 6
Yates firm, for construction of
private electric power plant to I
serve IVA, will cost the govern
ment from $50 million TO $40 /
million more than the cost of IVA q
produced power"
After giving other examples, Holt q
ED said he cited these cases to
low the falsity of Hoover's theory
lat government enterprise is in {
.rently bad and private enterprise !
inherently good"
------------------- q