New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-04-15
MUNICIPAL ACCOUNTS.
CIRCUITS Bookkeeping Could Be Ineligible,
Says Mr.. Deming.

According to Horace E Deming. there ia no rea-
son why Controller CIRCUITS accounts should not be
Ineligible TO every citizen with fair education
instead Of having more meaning 70 the average
eye than "a series of express tags"
Municipal bookkeeping" he declared at the
womans Municipal League Yesterday. Ought TO
be both intelligent and ineligible. AS generally
conducted. It is neither"
Then he told how a committee OF expert ac-
countants-"men who understood the philosophy
of bookkeeping, not merely how TO add lines Of
fgures"-had studied the problem of municipal
accounts under the auspices Of the National Mu-
nicpal League
"One OF these experts was engaged by the city
OF Chicago he said "to go through its accounts
Chicago did not know that he at the time
working for That man threw the accounts or
Chicago into a form which every taxpayer could
understand a form which. If adopted. would save
Chicago I don't dare to say how many thousands
annually. The system Of municipal bookkeeping
worked out by these men sets standard for cities
all over the country to follow 1t has been adopted
by Denver by Ohio (for all the cites) and by New
ton, Brookline and Cambridge. Mass
Mr.. Deming whose theme the National Mu-
nicpal League, told Of the impetus the league had
given to the civic movement. In this connection
he spoke Of the very practical and interesting ex
hibition which the National League for Civic I'm
provement is preparing TO make at St Louis.
Tt will have" he said. "a model street com
model houses, the purpose being to show how easy
it is to have ideal conditions. especially where
model town hall in this model street. where the
league will have q series OF public sessions, and
here in June the National Municipal League will
hold civic week for the presentation and dis
cusson of municipal problems. Thus we hope TO
take advantage Of the Exposition as means for
disseminating advanced ideas these lines
Mr.. Deming to say that the national
league had early decided TO focus its energies on
the problem Of municipal government from the law
side.
Instead OF attacking form of party govern
meut or another" he said. I'VE set ourselves to
establish a standard norm which all students
could and all cities adopt. We decided to do our
educating from the top down. by inducing the lead
Of leaders to accept our conclusions.
"Of all the modern forms OF government. munich
pal government is the most complex he said
People have for years talked as II a clean
straightforward business management were all We
needed. IL isn't The problem OF democracy Is a
simple 10 state. extraordinarily difficult
one TO solve. How you make the man VINO
exercises the power accountable for his powerF
That Is our problem, and have been working
away IL for fifteen hundred years without mas
tering IT, In a democracy accountability should De
to the people and object must be 70 make tho
heads OF departments. the Hayor and all who
serve the city accOuntab BILE TO the people Just SO
far as make them responsible to the people ana
responsive Il, democratic government is a
success: just far fail. a failure. This lies
al the root OF the municipal problem in this coun-
try. where. most observers agree. the breakdown
OF democracy has been most complete. II may De
one hundred years before get democracy into
our cities but If don't get IL. the country Will
20 To