Show changing times call for 4 creation of US Us S bureaus various interests favor special agencies for own problems patronage plums sought by political parties by BAUKHAGE news analyst and commentator service union trust building washington D C the much mooted question ol of states rights as against the of government in washington which is lumped neatly into the one word bureaucracy 11 is due for a thorough airing in the coming political campaign the recent debate in the senate over especially in the contest over whether the federal government should administer the unemployment payments during the changeover change over from war production to civilian production is a good example there will be much sound and fury much thundering in the index on this subject little will be found to have been accomplished when the dust settles for in this question we behold an interesting paradox new dealers as well as republicans left wingers as well as right wingers deplore the growing centralization of power in the federal government as a threat to democracy and yet all of them when they sit down to look at the facts admit privately that there is little or no chance of checking this trend the very groups which oppose the tendency toward the creation of more federal machinery and denounce the bureaucrats the loudest are insistent that enough of the bureaucrats who handle their special interests be spared whenever the axe threatens to fall it is upon this little inconsistency that president roosevelt always hangs his rebuttal whenever senator byrd and other critics of his lavish government spending call for a reduction of the government payroll according to alfred bingham who has written a book called the practice of idealism which you ought to read whether you can agree with it or not the trend toward bureaucracy is due largely to two of five revolutions which he says are going on now bingham says that revolution results from the pent up pressure of delayed social change he believes that like water power it can either sweep in a destructive flood over peaceful cities and farms or it can be controlled and turned to beneficial use revolt of common man encourages bureaucracy the first of the revolutions he names and one of those which has encouraged bureaucracy and increased the demands on the federal governments manpower is the revolt of the common man of course that revolt has been going on lustily with the start it got at the barricades in paris and the events which occurred between lexington and yorktown but the depression of 1929 moved it ahead quite a peg in this country to say nothing of what happened after world war I 1 all over the world including the birth of communism fascism and all their freak off shoots 1 bingham says it was the call of the common man for social and economic security which was one of the two chief causes of the growing centralization of government he cites as two examples the labor group which demanded that their interests be looked after and the farmers the labor department which had been a part of the department of commerce since 1903 was created a separate unit in 1913 bingham says that the vast organization un der the department of agriculture was the result of the insistence by farmers that agri agriculture culture be recognized and assisted the second revolution the demands of which brought about additional federal activity according to bingham was the technical revolution another name for the industrial revolution which has made mass production and all the wonders of the machine age possible billion dollar corporations required some government control various industries notably those producing and using the automobile and the airplane called for highway and skyway encouragement regulation and guidance the huge department of commerce w with ith its many activities conducted to aid business became a separate entity in 1903 and has grown steadily since and right here we might assert that the common man and if you will the less common man worker farmer artisan executive or entrepreneur pre neur although he joins merrily in the chorus denouncing the bureaucrats in general want the particular bureaucrat who is ready to help his particular interest disturbed if he does not actually demand the services of such a bureaucrat he may create a situation which his competitor or those who may become his victim insist must be controlled by the government ern ment of course mr ginghams Bing hams answer to all this is that a growing expansion of governmental powers is all right so long as it is self govern ment without debating that question lets see exactly how badly the bureaucrat is really hated but you will find that there are arc bureaucrats and bureaucrats you will find no complaint about the civil servant who carries out the decrees of the peoples duly elected representatives provided chuse decrees have been sponsored not to say lobbied through congress at said complainants request let us consider the following statement concerning one bureau presumably administered lt if I 1 read my webster aright by bureaucrats federal aid in building and maintaining highways as carried out under republican administrations and since continued is a sound and comparatively harmonious program GOP has some kind words 0 ds for bureaus federal responsibility regarding agriculture should be directed to such economic stabilization through disposition of surpluses assurance of fair market prices 1 who says this the 26 republican governors assembled in st louis early this month to back mr deweys deleys presidential campaign they represented we opine both the common man and likewise the uncommon man and it if you want further support tor for mr ginghams Bing hams thesis that the leaders in the world of technology the men who own the machines and supervise their operation like some of the bureaucrats note the statement from authentic sources that after the war industry is going to encourage the perpetuation of some of the functions of the OPA and the because it is thought they can help stabilize industry on the other side ot of the medal meda again just to preserve a nice balance what about the GI bill of rights that law puts into the hands of the federal government the administration of the greatest welfare program ever framed I 1 take it that high low and middle are willing to pay for the bureaucrats to run this program out t of the federal treasury it was passed assed unanimously by congress so it goes we can boil down the debate in congress over unemployment insurance and the effort to put the administration of the payments into the hands of the states into a much more immediate and practical question than the broad principle of states rights centralization of government or the growth of bureaucracy it is a simple matter here of whether the administration any administration handing out the benefits directly sets up the office holders who do the handing out or whether the state governments state political machines assume these gracious functions in other words who gets the political support in return im sorry but the way it is |