Milford chronicle., 1956-02-03
Me HOOVER REPORT AGAIN

Ask the next 10 taxpayers you meet Whe-
ther they favor more efficient and economical
government and you'll get 10 enthusiastically
affirmative answers. But ask for specific sug-
gestions as to where, how, and to what ex-
tent changes should be made, and you'll get
all kinds of conflicting ideas. When 1t comes
to government economy, as in so many other
matters affecting human beings, much de-
pends on whose OK is being gored.
This truism helps to explain why reforms
proposed by the second Hoover Commission
which, it is estimated, would reduce fed
eral spending by $4,000 100000 to S8,O0O,-
100000 a year if adopted in toto-are find
ing the going hard. Various of the proposals,
of course, are Of a routine and essentially
non-cOntr0versial nature, and these are grad
ually being adopted. But the big, basic rec
concentrations, concerning the Defense and
State Departments, the Veterans Admins
tration, government lending activities, wa
ter and power policy, and so on, are In very
different category.
On top of that, some serious misunder-
standings of the philosophy which underly
the recommendations have gained wide cur
rency. The reports run to thousands of
printed pages Few people have read them.
So there has been. plenty of room for mis-
conceptions.
John Chamberlain, in a series of articles
appearing in The Wall Street Journal, has
attempted to clear the air and wlnnow fact
from prejudice. The Commission, he OBJ
serves, ''has been accused of trying to turn
the clock back past Coolidge's time to Nc
Kinley's." 1t is said that it wants to cut
government spending arbitrarily, no matter
who gets hurt. AS matter OF fact, Mr.
Chamberlain points out, nowhere has the
Commission attacked spending as SUCH I"
1t is not against the governments social
service and general welfare activities. In
a number of cases the Commission advocates
very substantial increases in government
spending. Fields of which this is true in
clude the civil service, basic research In the
Department Of Defense, and basic medical
research.
The Commission did recommend cuts,
some heavy, where, in its opinion, the cost
is too high for the services rendered where
something can be done better for less money,
where there is needless duplication of effort,
or where private enterprise can fill the re-
Quirement efficiently and economically. 1t
found, to take random examples, that there
are 26 different federal departments and
agencies mixing in health activities; that
simplificatiOn in paper-WOrk can save $685.
100000 a year; that there is widespread un-
justified competition with the banks and
other private lending agencies; that the
Treasury could save S151, 600, 900 year by
better traffic management; that improved
methods Of disposing of surplus property
would net the government billions over a
period of years, and that modernized budget
and accounting practices would save huge
sums.
The Commission, in other words, did not
set its face against change, nor against the
growth of government. What it did is sum
med up by Mr.. Chamberlain in these words
"In running its survey lines through the for
est of Big Government, the Commission turn.
ed UP vast areas where dead wood abounds
and saplings are starved for sunlight. But
sensible conservation practices have cleaned
up many a forest, and could be applied tt
this one"
GeS0&G
TAX RATES ARE TOO HIGH