FOR AND AGAINST

One would have to be truly twisted not to agree that the Higher Committee of Inquiry, which has just been formed at the Ministry of Finance, is a brilliantly constituted committee. The committee, which, as we know, will seek to find savings in all ministerial departments, includes among its ranks the highest-ranking and most qualified officials and administrative figures, including an admiral and a general. One can certainly expect a lot from such a committee. The public will undoubtedly even be in for some moving surprises and may one day learn that some eminent member of this prestigious commission has eliminated himself, his position, and his salary to set an example for the economy. This heroic and sublime hara-kiri will certainly have a great impact on the crowd. I therefore welcome with respect and hope the birth of the Higher Committee of Inquiry, and, if I dare to offer a timid observation on the subject, I beg the very senior officials who compose it, the inspectors general, the controllers general, and the directors general, not to see this as a malicious thought on my part.
In my very humble opinion, the splendid committee is almost too beautiful. The high-ranking figures who are part of it are almost too high-ranking... And this committee lacks a few men, a few ordinary men who are not high-ranking figures. It lacks two or three ordinary minor officials, two or three ordinary, old and modest bureaucrats, who have aged in the ministries.
Who knows if these humble servants of the administration might not know certain small details that the big bosses are ignorant of? Who knows if they might not give some valuable information to the big bosses and indicate some ingenious way to save money? We could at least have tried...
We could also have included a taxpayer on this committee, perhaps so highly superior, a simple taxpayer aware of his crushing burden, aware and penniless!

Maurice PRAX.