398 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIII. No. 1374 



Economies can be accomplislied from a 

 public point of view by an elimination of the 

 overlap in tbese different units of adminis- 

 tration tbrough unification into groups of 

 similar purpose. The real economy to the 

 nation, however, does not lie here, however 

 great this may be, but it lies in their more 

 effective functioning in their daily relation 

 to the public. The extra cost imposed upon 

 business in general in the determination of 

 the relation of any particular business to the 

 different functions of the govenment, with 

 the unnecessarily duplicating interferences 

 and demands is a real charge on national 

 wealth, probably as great in some directions 

 =is the actual costs of the administrations 

 Sliemselves. 



Of equal importance with economy is to 

 secure effective concentration of government 

 3ffort into service to the community. No 

 eonstructive vision or policies can be built 

 around a national service directed by from 

 two to ten cabinet members, more especially 

 when this particular purpose is a side issue to 

 all of them. No better example of this exists 

 than the deplorable handling of our relations 

 to our veterans. 



There are other reasons that render re- 

 organization imperative. The changed eco- 

 nomic situation of the world demands that the 

 functions of the government in aid to com- 

 merce and industry be given more concentra- 

 tion and wider scope. 



The enlarged activities of the government 

 as a result of the war greatly affect certain 

 departments. The Treasury to-day as the 

 fiscal ofiice of the government must handle 

 an annual budget of $5,000,000,000 as com- 

 pared with $1,000,000,000 pre-war. Activities 

 of the Army have increased from a budget of 

 $200,000,000 to $400,000,000; activities of the 

 Navy have increased from a budget of $125,- 

 000,000 to $425,000,000. Thus the burden and 

 responsibilities for the major purposes of 

 these departments have been enormously in- 

 creased. I believe it is the consensus of 

 opinion of the gentlemen conducting these de- 

 partments that in the interests of efficiency 

 they should not be called to responsibility for 



the administration of at least some of the 

 matters not pertinent to their major func- 

 tions which clutter their departments. 



We have also some confusion between 

 executive, advisory, and semi-judicial func- 

 tions. One of the tendencies of government 

 both local and national during the last twenty 

 years has been to add executive functions to 

 commissions and boards created primarily for 

 advisory or regulatory purposes. It requires 

 no argument with our business public that the 

 executive functions can not rise to high effi- 

 ciency in tlie hands of government boards 

 where from the very nature of things each 

 member has a separate responsibility to the 

 public and is primarily engaged in a semi- 

 judicial function. 



Furthermore, during the last few years 

 there has been a great growth of independent 

 agencies in the government reporting directly 

 to the president until his office is overburdened 

 almost beyond the point of endurance. The 

 original and sound conception was that the 

 executive functions should be reported up to 

 the president directly through his cabinet 

 officials. Not only do these outside functions 

 to-day overburden the president, but they 

 render coordination with executive depart- 

 ments extremely difficult. It is neither pos- 

 sible nor advisable to place all these outside 

 organizations into the departments, but much 

 could be done to mitigate the situation. 



One of the great steps in federal reorgani- 

 zation is the erection of a budget system, with 

 its necessary reorganization of the congres- 

 sional committees. There can be no doubt as 

 to the early accomplishment of this great re- 

 form, but it will not serve its real purx)ose 

 until the departments have been reorganized 

 so that they represent a common purpose. 

 Without this, congress will never have before 

 it budgets showing the expenditure of the 

 government in its relation to any particular 

 function. 



I have daily evidence in the Department of 

 Commerce of all these forces. The question 

 of governmental aids to navigation is not by 

 any means one of the principal functions of 

 our government, but it must be a sore trial 



