GOVERNMENT
Hoover Sees $5 Billion Savings S e c o n d commission's 10 task forces to r e p o r t soon on proposals to r e o r g a n i z e the G o v e r n m e n t President Herbert POBMER the Government's chief
Hoover, housecleaner, estimates that $5 to $7 bil lion a year can be saved if Congress heeds all t h e recommendations of his new Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Govern ment. T h e second Hoover Commission, established last summer, is now hard at work ferreting out waste and duplica tion in government agencies. Ten "'task forces," covering such varied fields as water resources and power and the use and disposal of surplus prop erty, are holding inquiries and will make their reports soon. Hoover is convinced, after talks with his task force leaders, that huge sav ings can be made by running the Gov ernment more efficiently. Totaling esti mated savings, he comes up with a $5 to $7 billion figure. These savings, Avhich equal 15 to 20'r of all receipts from personal income taxes, can be made without injury to the Govern ment's necessary functions, he asserts. T h e commission will submit a com plete report of its activities to Congress tefore the end of the year. Its final re port is due by May 15, 1955, when the commission is scheduled to expire. T h e n it is u p to Congress to put the recommendations into practice. On this score, Hoover is confident but not over-optimistic. " I never expect perfection on this earth," he says resignedly. N e w Commission Has More Power. Since the first Hoover Commission sub mitted its report in 1949, some new problems have arisen and some older ones have been complicated. The federal budget has nearly doubled. The Korean W a r has left scars which have not yet healed. Some of the original commission's recommendations still re main on the shelf. TThe new Hoover Commission has greater responsibilities than its prede cessor. T h e first commission was re sponsible only for problems of organi zation and management. It could rec ommend how existing agencies could
