EMMERICH, HERBERT. Essays on Federal Reorganization. Pp. x, 159. University, Alabama: University of Alabama Press, 1950. $2.50

• Author: Louis W. Koenig
• DOI: 10.1177/000271625127400145
• Published date: 01 March 1951
• Date: 01 March 1951
• Subject Matter: Articles

220

AMERICAN

GOVERNMENT,

HISTORY,

LAW,

AND

POLITICAL

THEORY

PUBLIC

AFFAIRS

INSTITUTE,

THE.

The

Hoover

Report:

Half

a

Loaf.

Pp.

47.

Washington,

1949.

50

cents.

In

the

welter

of

partisan

dispute

over

the

report

of the

Hoover

Commission,

it

is

re-

freshing

to

find

a

brief,

readable,

penetrat-

ing,

and

objective

analysis.

This

study,

in

addition

to

summarizing

the

contents

of

the

report,

points

out

that

the

executive

branch

of

the

national

government

is

badly

in

need

of

reorganization

and

that

many

of

the

recommendations

made

would

be

approved

by

any

competent

student

of

public

ad-

ministration,

but

suggests

that

the

promise

that

these

recommendations,

if

adopted,

would

reduce

the

budget

by

three

billion

dollars

a

year

is

a

gross

exaggeration.

In

this

connection,

it

explains,

quite

appro-

priately,

that

the

Hoover

Commission

was

charged

only

with

studying

the

structure

or

organization

of

the

national

government

and

not

its

functions

or

policies,

and

that

&dquo;the

only

way

to

save

really

large

sums

of

money

is

to

eliminate

governmental

functions&dquo;

(p.

8).

Attention

is

called

to

the

fact

that

some

of

the

recommendations

would

tend

to

in-

crease

governmental

expenditures

through

the

payment

of

better

salaries

to

attract

ef-

ficient

administrative

personnel,

that

others

would

increase

the

number

of

governmental

agencies,

and

that

still

others

would

in-

crease

the

administrative

powers

of

the

President

rather

than

diminishing

them

as

some

proponents

of

the

report

would

like.

By

way

of

summary,

it

is

said

that

&dquo;Many

good

recommendations

were

made.

Some

were

indifferent;

some

seemed

bad.

Still,

half

a

loaf

is

better

than

no

bread

at

all.

Those

citizens

who

want

efficiency

now

have

material

to

work

with&dquo;

(p.

47).

In

conclusion,

it

is

suggested

that

our

concern

with

the

purely

mechanical

arrangements

of

government

should

now

give

way

to

concern

with

the

role

that

government

is

expected

to

play

in

our

-national

life,

and

that

a

commission

of

equal

eminence

should

be

established

for

the

purpose

of

studying

the

proper

functions

of

the

national

govern-

ment.

ROGER

V.

SHUMATE

University

of

Nebraska

EMMERICH,

HERBERT.

Essays

on

Federal

Reorganization.

Pp.

x,

159.

University,

Alabama:

University

of

Alabama

Press,

1950.

$2.50.

Herbert

Emmerich,

Director

of

the

Pub-

lic

Administration

Clearing

House,

views

federal

reorganization

as

a

process

which

has

been

iendered

continuous

by

social

dynamics

and

man’s

innumerable

efforts

to

mprove

governmental

administration.

Ma-

jor

efforts

at

reorganization,

from

the

Dockery-Cockrell

Commission

of

1893

to

the

Hoover

Commission,

have

marked

every

decade

of

our

time.

Countless

other

less

generalized

reforms

have

re-

mained

inconspicuous.

The

author

con-

siders

that

the

main

accomplishment

of

these

efforts

is

the

development

of

the

President

and

his

staff

as

a

focus

of

nanagerial

control

and

policy

co-ordination.

The

struggle

has

been

continuous,

for

the

influences

which have

obstructed

are

endur-

ing

in

nature.

Chief

among

these

are

the

pressures

for

Bureau

autonomy

and

free-

dom

from

managerial

controls

and

policy

direction.

Although

granting

that

auton-

omy

has

advantages,

the

author

seeks

ar-

rangements

both

to

preserve

them

and

assure

that

the

general

purposes

of

govern-

ment

will

prevail

over

the

particular.

A

rational

structural

organization

is

seen

as

one

important

means

to

this

end.

Within

this

framework,

Emmerich

ex-

amines

the

contributions

of

the

two

prin-

cipal

reorganization

efforts,

the

President’s

Committee

on

Administrative

Management

of

1937

and

the

Hoover

Commission.

The

signal

contribution

of

the

President’s

Com-

mitttee

was

its

pioneering

emphasis

upon

the

duty

of

the

President,

aided

by

a

well-

developed

staff,

to

provide

management

and

policy

direction

of

the

Executive

branch.

The

Hoover

Commission

furthered

this

theme

by

proposing

to

strengthen

the

Pres-

ident’s

staff

arms

and

to

solidify

the

line

of

command

of

departmental

management,

all

toward

the

end

of

an

energetic

and

in-

tegrated

chief

executive.

To

be

sure,

countervailing

tendencies

also

appear

in