BAKER, RALPH HILLIS. The National Bi tuminous Coal Commission: Administra tion of the Bituminous Coal Act, 1937- 1941. Pp. 356. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1941. Paperbound: $3.00; Clothbound: $3.50

DOI10.1177/000271624222400155
Date01 November 1942
Published date01 November 1942
Subject MatterArticles
216
about
a
dozen
of
the
more
important
agen-
cies
exercising
judicial
powers.
There
are
five
chapters.
That
on
Methods
outlines
the
processes
of
informal
and
formal
settle-
ment.
The
chapter
on
Policy
shows
how
policies
are
expressed
in
regulations,
deci-
sions,
and
opinions,
and
how
controls
are
exercised
by
Congress,
the
courts,
the
President,
and
public
opinion.
The
chapter
on
Sanctions
illustrates
the
great
variety
in
the
methods
of
effectuating
policies,
but
makes
it
clear
that
judicial
sanctions
are
only
a
small
part
of
the
means
of
bringing
about
compliance.
Judicial
sanctions
may
be
less
effective
than
such
instruments
as
the threat
of
government
competition
or
even
of
publicity.
The
chapter
on
The
Courts
shows
how
the
courts
obtain
juris-
diction,
and
discusses
the
extent
of
their
review.
The
most
general
interest
will
lie
in
the
concluding
chapter,
which
deals
in
part
with
the
much-discussed
dual
activity
of
an
agency
that
is
both
prosecutor
and
judge.
The
authors
recognize
the
serious-
ness
of
the
problem
but
find
no
single
solu-
tion.
It
is
suggested
that
in
some
agencies
the
two
functions
should
be
exercised
by
a
different
personnel;
for
other
agencies
an
independent
board
should
exercise
the
judi-
cial
function;
in
others
a
special
board
within
the
agency
might
be
set
up
to
exer-
cise
jurisdiction
over
cases
that
are
judi-
cial
rather
than
policy-forming
in
nature.
The
arguments
against
a
single
administra-
tive
judicial
body
are
set
forth
and
it is
pointed
out
that
policy-forming
functions
and
judicial
functions
cannot
always
be
separated
in
practice.
The
most
striking
suggestion
of
the
authors
is
that
Congress
set
up
subcommittees
to
report
on
policy
developments
in
each
agency.
This
pro-
posal
has
the
merit-and
the
novelty
in
these
times-of
recognizing
Congress
as
the
body
responsible
for
policies
in this
country.
The
book
suffers
somewhat
from
its
rather
condensed
nature.
Clarity
and
in-
struction
both
would
have
profited
by
a
greater
use
of
illustrative
detail
that
the
authors
no
doubt
could
easily
have
sup-
plied.
W.
REED
WEST
George
Washington
University
BAKER,
RALPH
HILLIS.
The
National
Bi-
tuminous
Coal
Commission:
Administra-
tion
of
the
Bituminous
Coal
Act,
1937-
1941.
Pp.
356.
Baltimore:
The
Johns
Hopkins
Press,
1941.
Paperbound:
$3.00;
Clothbound:
$3.50.
This
study
of
the
legislative
background
and
the
administrative
procedures
and
problems
of
the
Bituminous
Coal
Commis-
sion,
the
Coal
Division,
and
the
Consumers’
Counsel,
is
a
nice
combination
of
extensive
research
in
Washington
in
thes6
agencies,
of
numerous
interviews
with
individual
who
have
special
knowledge
of
the
coal
industry
and
of
regulatory
legislation,
and
of
the
source
materials
available.
The
opening
chapters
briefly
describe
the
problems
of
the
coal
industry
leading
to
labor
unrest,
operating
losses,
and
over-
production,
and
finally,
after
numerous
congressional
investigations,
resulting
in
direct
Federal
regulatory
legislation.
In
discussing
the
Problems
of
Organization
and
Personnel,
Dr.
Baker
explains
that
the
personnel
difficulties
of
the
Commission
were
&dquo;to
a
large
extent
attributable
to
the
lack
of
civil
service
requirements
in
the
Coal
Act
of
1937&dquo;;
this
situation
&dquo;made
the
Commission
a
background
of
political
pa-
tronage
which
not
only
resulted
in
internal
discord
but
led
to
severe
criticism
on
the
part
of
Congress
and
the
public.
Con-
gress,&dquo;
he
continues,
&dquo;was
perhaps
as
much
to
blame
for
any
patronage
and
personnel
difficulties
in
the
Commission
as
the
Com-
mission
itself.&dquo;
After
tracing
the
fate
of
the
Bituminous
Coal
Commission
in
Reorganization
Plan
No. 2,
the
author
supports
a
general
con-
cession
that
the
Coal
Division
performed
its
tasks
&dquo;with
a
fair
degree
of
efficiency,
and
effectiveness,&dquo;
and
proceeds
to
analyze
the
status
of
the
Division.
&dquo;The
com-
plexity
and
confusion&dquo;
resulting
from
the
difliculties
inherent
in
price
fixing
and
from
necessary
adjustments
to
other
agencies
in
the
field
serve
Dr.
Baker
as
&dquo;an
example
of
the
necessity
of
co-ordination
of
the
regulatory
activities
of
the
Government.&dquo;
&dquo;Such
a
divergence,&dquo;
he
writes,
&dquo;further
emphasizes
the
necessity
for
central
plan-
ning,
the
more
so,
since
natural
resources
industries
are
involved.&dquo;
In
analyzing
the
recent
decisions
of
the
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