The record-union., 1899-02-08
STATE INSTITUTIONS.
Report Handed In by the Senate
Committee Appointed in 1897.

Near the close of the last session OF the
Legislature the Senate got curious as 10
what was being done in the several state
institutions and agreed that they needed
investiga ting. With that idea IN view a
committee consisting of Senators Dlckln-
son (Chairman), Boyce Chapman, Prlsk
and Simpson, was appointed with 1nstruc-
tions to make the rounds and investigate
during the two years intervening between
sessions of the Legislature. and. report 10
the present Senate.
The report of the committee was handed
in yesterday morning. 1t is a bulky docu,
ment, with blue covers and lI9 pages, anu
is apparently intended to pc exnaustlse,
According to the report the committee
visited sixteen State institutions, ana IN
quired into twenty-three boards ana com
missions The recommendations OF tne
committee are particularly interesting
and are given in full, as follows:
RECOMMENDATION
AS conclusions from what we have
done we beg leave to recommend the 1ol-
| lowing:
First. That provision should be made
for the issuance of bonds by the state,
in a limited amount, for the erection OF
| the necessary additions to the exlstlng
State Institutions, and as to any - future h,,
| the State, for the reason that these lnstl-
tutions, when established, exist for time
| and the expense of their establishment,
| or what you might call the first cost IN
| their existence, should not be all put
upon one generation, but shoulo De ul,
vided by a bonding system over TINS any any
| future generations; that a system OF this
kind would tend to prevent extravagance
! in expenditures, and at the same time
create a better class OF buildings ana I'm, :
| how a. system of this kind might pc
abused, but at the same time, in this
practical business age we Deneve ntt,,t;nns ina.
| with the light that is thrown upon tneir
| conduct, management, and their needs
by the public press. and by proper m
! yestigation that politics would be .prac-
| tically erased in the consideration OF sucn
| questions, and that under the guiding
hand and control Of the Board OF ..i,, En-
| be attained with the least expenditure
! If, for instance, a public instltution Is
| to be established. or addition MADE 70
| any present public institution that would
| cost, for example, $500, ,000 why should not
| this amount be spread over two genera.
tions instead of being all paid by one!
| In this way taxation would be lighter IN
| the first instance. and the knowledge OF
| the existence of the bonded indebtedness
| and the necessary provision for its pay
ment would tend to keep taxation down.
Second. We are OF the opinion that
all moneys received from any and all
sources by. any State institution should
be turned into the State Treasury to the
credit of the general fund.- AS it is now,
the entire plant and equipment of each
institution is paid for by the state e. from I'm
maintenance, its general support and
salaries In the case of one class of in
stitutions ms the p patients Is II a3s are son re
per month. This supplies the entire
equipment, as well as the running ex-
penses of the institution. In some in
stitutions where dairies are kept, and
properly so, to. supply the institution,
stock is purchased out of this general
of that stock, the proceeds, as well as the
receipts from payments, go into what is
called a contingent fund" The same
is true in many other relations, bringing
US to the result that the State supplies
the entire capital for the conduct of the
business, and any proceeds resulting
into what is called the contingent fund,
which has been and is under and subject
to the control of the boards of managers
of these various institutions. The use of
this contingent fund we believe to have
been abused. The idea regarding the
contingent fund originally was to pay
and which could not be anticipated and
provided for in the general appropriation.
AS a result the contingent fund has been
applied in various ways utterly incon-
sistent with this idea, as, for instance,
at Napa one residence for resident
physician has been built and largely paid
for out of this contingent fund, and an
other is now in process of construction
to be paid for out of the same fund. At
Stockton the Board of Managers thought
to piece out what they already had to
render the shape and form Of the land
more symmetrical. This was paid e f1r
init that it needs no reason to show that
this is making use of the contingent fund
in way utterly contrary to the ideas
upon which it's existence was based AS
a matter of fact, these contingent funds,
and other moneys received in similar
manner, are entirely at the disposal of
of the Boards of Managers of the re-
spective institutions, and we can see no
reasons why these moneys should not
all be turned into the State Treasury,
and we are therefore, of the opinion that
economy and business prudence require
that this should be done. And for the
above reasons, and others which will be
apparent to any one considering the sub
ject. we do recommend that all moneys
received by a State institution or State
officer shall be turned into the State
Treasury and go into the general fund;
that all of it's expenses shall be paid from
the appropriation biennialy made for
that purpose, and that all bills of every
kind and description shall be passed upon
by the Board of Examiners in every in
stance. The credit of our State is GER
tainly sufficient to enable all of the af-
fairs of each institution to be handled
in this manner, and then the accounts are