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of this money had been appropriated by Congress, which had giventhe board a mere $12,000,000 for administrative expenses. Wheredid the money come from? asked the astonished legislators. Mr.Jones informed them the money had been appropriated by theReconstruction Finance Corporation of which he is chairman. Wherehad it gotten the money? From the Treasury, from which it borrowedit at 1 per cent interest. This vast sum it had handed overto Vice-President Wallace to be spent at his sweet will, without evenso much as an accounting. The Reconstruction Finance Corporationhad appropriated $34,000,000,000 in the same way to variousbureaus. What, asked Democratic Senator McKellar, acting chairmanof the Appropriations Committee, is the need around here forsuch a functionary as myself—an appropriation committee chairman—ifMr. Jones can appropriate $34,000,000,000? What functiondo I perform? The fact fell upon the minds of the senators with asense of shock.Senator Joseph C. O'Mahoney, also a Democrat and for long asupporter of the New Deal, wrote recently:Lend-Lease, which was created by Congress as a war measure, has becomea gigantic financial instrument of the Executive by which, without theadvice or consent of Congress, the global shape of things to come is beingprepared. Congress has appropriated 18 billion dollars for Lend-Lease. Butfrom funds appropriated by Congress for other purposes some 50 additionalbillions have been transferred to this agency by Executive order.It is, of course, sheer nonsense to speculate on whether this featureof the plan to erect the President into a powerful appropriatingagent has been made effective. It has been made effective. The jobis done. It is the secret of the immense power which the presentexecutive has exercised over the affairs of this country for ten years.2. The second item in this subversive program is to have Congressadopt a few general directives leaving the President to fill in thedetails. In other words, to have Congress delegate to the Presidentits constitutional powers of legislation. Surely we have not forgottenthe National Recovery Administration—the incredible NRA. In ourmodern society it is at least a fair assumption to say that two thirdsof the domain in which important legislation is enacted is economic.247