Columbia Expert Says U.S. Needs To Curb Massive Federal Powers

One of the country's foremost legal experts told a Harvard audience last night that the federal government is so big that it "must bruise or scratch those whom it touches," and ways must be sought to remedy "the frequent hurts of governmental activity."

In the first of three Oliver Wendell Holmes Lectures, Walter Gellhorn, a member of the Law Faculty at Columbia University for 33 years, said that the U.S. needs a trained professional critic of the government. Such a critic might be similar to the Swedish ombudsman.

An ombudsman handles complaints of citizens abused by the federal bureaucracy. The office was invented by the Swedes in 1809. Today, the Swedish ombudsman and his staff handle 1300 complaints a year, a number which Gellhorn called remarkably small. The complaints are usually petty ones, but they can often lead to the complete overhauling of federal agencies.

Five countries--Denmark, Finland, Norway, West Germany, and New Zealand--have adopted the Swedish system, Britain is now considering adopting it. Even in Communist countries, there are "proconsuls" to handle personal grievances against the government.

The present American system of handling public complaints is simply inadequate, Gellhorn said.

Need Leeway

He pointed out that Congress can limit the powers of public officials, but it must make sure that they have enough leeway to handle unpredictable situations.

Neither can the courts alone handle the problem of government abuse, he added. Some of the complaints cannot be litigated under our judicial system, and many citizens with complaints do not bother to register them because of the expense and time involved.

But just because there is a need for reform, Gellhorn explained does not mean that the U.S. should definitely establish an office like the ombudsman. Some critical organ is necessary, he asserted, but this country has its own special problems.

Gellhorn will discuss these problems and the American alternative to the ombudsman in his second lecture at 8 p.m. tomorrow in Austin Hall.