Relation of the Federal Government to Research 



139 



dent of the Senate and three Representatives, ap- 

 pointed by the Speaker of the House,^^ which was 

 directed to make a survey of the administrative 

 services of the government for the purpose of se- 

 curing all pertinent facts concerning their powers 

 and duties, their distribution among the several execu- 

 tive departments and their overlapping and duplica- 

 tion of authority; also to determine what redistribu- 

 tion of activities could be made among the several 

 services with a view to the pi'oper correlation of the 

 same and what departmental regrouping of services 

 should be made to the end that there shall be achieved 

 the greatest possible measure of efficiency and economy 

 in the conduct of the Government business. 



The work of this committee resulted in tlie prepara- 

 tion of an extensive report setting forth the existing 

 organization of the administrative branch with a 

 scheme for its complete reorganization, the holding 

 of extensive hearings, the published report of -which 

 constitutes a valuable contribution to the subject, and 

 a report by the committee giving its consideration of 

 the problem and its recommendations for action. The 

 report on the existing organization, with suggestions 

 for changes, tliough taking the form of a letter from 

 the President to the chairman of the committee, was, 

 in fact, prepared by the latter, Mr. Walter F. Brown, 

 who was the President's representative on tlie commit- 

 tee, and submitted by him to the President for submis- 

 sion to the members of the Cabinet. Due to this pro- 

 cedure the document has the value of representing the 

 opinion of the President in respect to the reorganiza- 

 tion that ought to be effected. Following are the titles 

 of these three documents : 



1. Reorqaiiization of the Executive Departments. — Letter 

 from the President of the United States to Walter F. Brown, 

 chairman of the Joint Committee on the Reorganization of 

 Government Departments, transmitting a chart exhibiting in 

 detail the present organization of the Government departments 

 and the changes suggested by the President to the Cabinet 

 (S. Doe. 302, 67th Cong., 4th sess., 1923). 



2. Hearings : Reorganization of Executive Departments, 68Ui 

 Cong., 1st sess.. 1924. 



3. Report of Joint Committee (H. Doc. 356, 68th Cimg., 1st 

 sess., 1924). 



Although it proved impossible to get through Con- 

 gress any general reorganization bill, certain specific 

 changes in line with the recommendations of the Pres- 

 ident and the committee were subsequently effected by 

 law. 



The subject of the reorganization of the adminis- 

 trative branch of the Government continued to be rec- 



"As has been pointed out in our consideration of the different type.s 

 of agencies created by Congress for the performance of research work, 

 this Commission had afterward added to it a representative of the 

 President, who became Its chairman. 



ognized as one of major importance by both Congress 

 and the Executive. In 1937 both branches of Congress 

 inaugui'atod efforts with a view to action. The Senate 

 created a Select Committee on Investigation of Execu- 

 tive Agencies of the Government; the House a Select 

 Committee on Government Organization and the two 

 Houses, acting jointly, a Joint Committee on Govern- 

 ment Organization, while the President, acting under 

 his general powers, created a Committee on Adminis- 

 trative Management. 



The work of this latter commission, though not an 

 example of research on the part of Congress, is of im- 

 portance from the standpoint of the present study since 

 the recommendations contained in it were made the 

 basis of the more important bills for the reorganization 

 of the administrative system that have actually re- 

 ceived the attention of Congress. The committee was 

 composed of Louis Brownlow, chairman, Charles E. 

 Merriam, and Luther Gulick. Its report, entitled: 

 Presidenfs Committee on Administrative Management: 

 Report of the Committee with Studies of Administra- 

 tive Management in the Federal Government (G. P. O. 

 1937), was transmitted to Congress by the President 

 with a message luging action upon its recommendations. 

 In addition to the report proper were included a num- 

 ber of special studies, the contents of the report thus 

 being as set forth below : 



Letter of the President. 



Part I. Report of the President's Committee. 

 Part IL Studies of Administrative Management in the Federal 

 Government. 



1. Personnel Administration in the Federal Service, by 



Floyd W. Reeves and Paul T. David. 



2. Financial Control and Accountability, by A. E. Buck. 



3. The General Accounting Office, by Harvey C. Mansfield. 



4. The Problem of the Independent Regulatory Commissions, 



by Robert E. Cushman. 



5. Departmental Management, by Arthur W. Macmahon. 



6. Executive Management and the Federal Field Services, 



by James W. Fesler. 



7. Government Corporations and Independent Supervisory 



Agencies, by Herbert Eramerick. 



8. The exercise of Rule-making Powers, by James Hart. 



9. The Preparation of Proposed Legislative Measures by 



Administrative Departments, by Edwin E. Witte. 



The congressional committees enumerated are in ex- 

 istence and still functioning as this rejjort is being 

 written. They have held hearings and made reports 

 on various bills having for their purpose to put into 

 effect the recommendations contained in the report of 

 the President's Committee on Administrative Manage- 

 ment. The Senate Select Committee has also published 

 a report reproducing the reports made to it by the 

 Brookings Institution which was employed by the com- 

 mittee to act as its technical aid in the making of 

 searches into the organizational problems of the ad- 



