Evening star., 1962-09-30
Agriculture Reform
After Estes Case
BY CECIL HOLLAND
star staff Writer

star StA1x Writer
If nothing else, the Billie Sol
Estes congressional hearings, now
in recess, have served one useful
purpose. In q devastating way
they have focused attention on
the difficulties of administering
the sprawling Agriculture Depart
ment with its multiplicity of farm
programs involving hundreds of
millions Of dollars.
Intensive investigations by
Senate and House subcommittee
so far have turned up no evi-
dence Of corruption in the ham
ding of the Estes case. But they
have revealed, without dispute,
administrative failures Of an
astonishing degree.
To their credit, Secretary of
Agriculture Freeman and his
chief assistants have acknowl-
edged the shortcomings. They
are taking steps. they have said,
to correct conditions which led to
charges that Billie Sol. the West
Texas wheeler-dealer, received
favored treatment in his dealings
with the department.
What success they viii have
must remain a matter of conjec-
ture possibly even for them. With
more than 100000 employees the
department is so big (the third
largest in the Government) and
its responsibilities so widespread
the task viii not be an easy one.
Little Heed to Mornings
50 The problems are not new. For
several years the House Govern
rnent Operations subcommittee
now headed by Representative
Fountain. Democrat of North
Carolina, and its counsel, James
Naughton, have been warning
about weaknesses in grain stor-
age and other operations.
Little heed was paid to them.
just recently Representative
Z Fountain noted that former Sec
retary of Agriculture Benson re-
peatedly turned down invitations
to appear before the subcommit-
tee to discuss the departments
administrative problems.
In an appearance not long ago
before the House group, while
acknowledging his responsibility
for the present, Secretary Free
man said:
~ when I took office 90 months
ago I found that the ad-
ministrative vitality Of the De-
partment of Agriculture had suf-
fered because of inattention or
lack of concern on the part Of
an administration that sought to
minimize or eliminate agriculture
programs"
Whether this Is q valid criti-
cism or not, the fact remains
that the Agriculture Department
has developed into something of
q bureaucratic monstrosity. Sue
cessive farm programs have been
piled up one on another. Agencies
within the department have ex-
panded willy-nilly. Many Of the
separate divisions within the de-
partment have operated almost
autonomously and, according to
evidence piled up by congressional
investigators, the communica-
tions among them, even on re-
lated problems, left much to be
desired.
Three Inquiries at Once
e7 AS an example, there were
three separate investigations Of
the Estes case going on at the
same time. Information regarding
the operations of the indicted
Pecos (Tex0 plunger were avail
able in one office but was not
transmitted to another making
decisions in the case. Orders and
decisions made in the department
. here found their way torturously
down to the field offices. if they
reached there at all.
With surprising candor Under
secretary of Agriculture Charles
s. Murphy in testimony on the
Estes case before the Senate
Investigations subcommittee said
it was surprising that the depart
ment has functioned as well as
it has. Like Mr.. Freeman, he ad-
mitted there were weaknesses
which should be corrected.
But it would be amiss, it would
seem. to blame the Department.
woes on administrative difficult
ties, formidable as they are. 1t