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The National Resources Planning Board; A Chapter in American Planning Experience

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

Charles E. Merriam
Affiliation:
University of Chicago

Extract

In its 1933 report, President Hoover's Committee on Recent Social Trends suggested that there might in time emerge a “National Advisory Council” to consider fundamental questions of the social, economic, and governmental order, in their interrelation and in the light of the trends and possibilities of modern science. This would involve neither “economic planning” nor “governmental planning” primarily, but a comprehensive consideration of all the social factors involved in the formation of national policy.

In July, 1933, the National Planning Board was set up by Administrator Ickes as a part of the Public Works Administration of that time. The membership consisted of Frederic A. Delano, chairman; Wesley C. Mitchell (chairman of President Hoover's Committee above mentioned); and Charles E. Merriam (vice-chairman of the same committee).

In 1934, this agency was made a presidential board by executive order and was composed of the Secretary of the Interior as chairman, the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor, the Federal Emergency Relief Administrator, and the three members of the old Board. An Advisory Committee consisting of Messrs. Delano, Mitchell, and Merriam were placed in active charge of the work.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1944

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References

1 See A Plan for Planning (1934), p. lxiii.

2 The National Resources Committee was the name given this agency from 1935 to 1939. It included the above-mentioned cabinet members plus Delano, Merriam, Rumi, and Dennison.

3 The seventy major and many minor publications of the Board are itemized in mimeographed form (5 pp.), and notes covering the outlines of the Board's activities, are found in “Guide to the Files of the NRPB” by Eliot and Merrill, December 31, 1943. A bibliography of Board publications is published by the American Society of Planning Officials, as publication number BB14 (1944).

4 See especially pp. 22 and 23 on why business alone cannot plan successfully; also the chapters on the rôle of science in planning.

5 P. 22.

6 On the discontinuance of the Board, almost all these persons were transferred to important positions in other agencies of the government.

7 Of special note was J. M. Clark, Economic Planning of Public Works, and the annual reviews of public works problems and policy; also the regional resources development projects.

8 Energy Resources and National Policy (1939), and supplements.

9 Transportation and National Policy (1942).

10 Report of Land Planning Committee of 1934, and a series of subsequent analyses and recommendations, notably the report of the Northern Great Plains Committee.

11 Report of the Water Planning Committee (1934) and reports on various drainage areas, and other collateral reports.

12 Our Cities (1937), and supplementary reports.

13 Regional Factor in National Planning and regional reports of succeeding years, especially Regional Resources Development (1942) and reports on the Pacific Northwest (1942), the South East (1943), the Arkansas Valley (1943), and others.

14 Patterns of Resources Use (1938); Structure of the American Economy (1939); Toward Full Use of Resources (1940), and regional studies.

15 Consumer Incomes (1938); Consumer Expenditures (1939).

16 Security, Work, and Relief Policies (1942).

17 Demobilization and Readjustment; Report of the Conferences on Post-War Readjustment of Civilian and Military Personnel (1943).

18 Problems of a Changing Population (1938); also Frank, L.K., Human Conservation (1943).Google Scholar

19 Technological Trends and National Policy (1937).

20 Research—A National Resource (1938–41).

21 Our Freedoms and Rights (1942). Cf. Merriam, C. E., On the Agenda of Democracy (1941)Google Scholar; Ruml, Beardsley, Unfinished Business (1943).Google Scholar

22 See Hynning, Clifford, State Conservation of Resources (1939).Google Scholar

23 This report was translated into Spanish, and was widely circulated in Britain.

24 Compare the Beveridge Report (1943) and the British White Paper on Insurance (1944).

25 The Committee for Long Range Work and Relief Policies had the following members: William Haber, chairman, director of the bureau of program planning and research, War Manpower Commission; W. W. Alexander, chief of minorities service, War Manpower Commission; C. M. Bookman, executive vice chairman, Community Chest of Cincinnati; Corrington Gill, consultant, War Department; The Rt. Rev. Francis J. Haas, dean, School of Social Science, Catholic University of America; Fred K. Hoehler, executive director, American Public Welfare Association; Katherine F. Lenroot, chief, Children's Bureau, Department of Labor; Mary E. Switzer, assistant to the administrator, Federal Security Agency; Thomas J. Woofter Jr., director of research, Federal Security Agency; and Eveline M. Burns, economist.

26 See Gruchy, A. G., “Economics of the NRC,” in American Economic Review, Mar., 1939.Google Scholar

27 The Conference on Post-War Adjustment of Personnel was composed as follows: Floyd Reeves, chairman, University of Chicago; Lt. Col. Francis T. Spaulding, Special Services Branch, in charge of education, War Department; Gen. Lewis B. Hershey, director, Selective Service System; Brig. Gen. Frank T. Hines, director, Veterans' Administration; Edward C. Elliott, chief, Professional and Technical Employment and Training, War Manpower Commission; William Haber, chairman, Planning Committee, War Manpower Commission; T. J. Woofter, director of research, Federal Security Agency; A. F. Hinrichs, Bureau of Labor Statistics; Howard R. Tolley, chief, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Department of Agriculture; Lt. Comdr. Ralph A. Sentman, United States Navy (retired); and Francis J. Brown, Joint Army and Navy Committee on Welfare and Recreation.

28 See Hudnut, Dean, “The Political Art of Planning,” in Architectural Record, Oct., 1943.Google Scholar

29 See G. B. Galloway, Guide to Post-War Planning.

30 See their current reports.

31 See Henry Bunbury, Planning Machinery.

32 Zweig, Ferdinand, The Planning of Free Societies, published by P. E. P. (Political and Economic Planning), especially “A Civil General Staff,” Nov. 16, 1943Google Scholar; Annual Proceedings of American Society of Planning Officials.

33 See White Papers on Social Insurance and Industrial Insurance (1944).

34 See Merriam, , “Possibilities of Planning,” in American Journal of Sociology, Mar., 1944CrossRefGoogle Scholar; “Post-War Planning,” in James Lectures on Government (Third Series); and On the Agenda of Democracy (1941), Pt. II.

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