Amador ledger. (Jackson, Amador County, Calif.) 1875-19??, 1906-11-23

failure of all of these subordinat
'and correlated boards and commits
ions, but as matter of fact he i
not. Responsibility does not max
for good government.
Circumlocuton Modus Operandi.
For the purpose of forming a basi
for making contracts for supplies TO
each fiscal year the local superinten
dents and their stewards make es
Inmates covering all the articles they
expect to buy during the ensuins
year. These estimates are submitted
TO the local boards for approval and
are then forwarded to the state
luIa commission for revision and
amendment. As matter of common
practice the functions of both the
local boards and the lunacy com,
missions are pro forma in character.
The work is done in the offices of the
local superintendents and stewards
and revised I. in the office of the
general superintendent, and big Job
1T is, too.
When the contracts have been enter
ed into for the ensuing year, as to the
price and quality, not quantity, the
local superintendent and his steward
send up monthly estimates covering
probable purchases during the ensu-
ing month. These also are revised
and approved by the general superin
tendent, and are supposed to be
approved both by the local boards
and the state commission, but gener-
ally are not, except in a formal way
unless they are outside the normal
allowance, it not being either practic
able or necessary to the safeguarding
OF the public interests.
Then The Things Are Bought.
Having made the purchases as
needed, the steward of the local hos
pltal receives and audits the bills
for them. The local boards then an
prove them and they are sent to the
Office OF the general superintendent
and by him compared with the esti-
mates and contract prices and approx
ed OF corrected. The claims then 90
to the Board of Examiners, where
they are again audited by clerks, item
by item, and approved by at least two
members of the board. They are
then sent to the state controller, who
gives these claims final audit. also
item by item, and if found legal and
correct, he draws his warrant for
their amounts and the claimant gets
his money,
FRO Forma Functions Should Be
Eliminated.
1t is not good for the public service
to have it weighted down and cum
hered up with pro forma and per-
functory performances OF public duty.
1t initiates against efficiency, causes
delay and does not safeguard public
interests. In the foregoing circum-
locution the functions of both the
local boards and of the State Lnnacy
Commission could be easily dispens
ed with. 1t would be entirely sutfi-
clent to have the estimates made by
the local superintendent and his
steward, sand then passed to the
general superintendent and his ac
eountants, thence going to the Board
of Examiners and the state controller.
A State Hospital Department.
The United States government
affords state governments better
model for doing public business than
the several states have generally
made use of. At Washington the
business of the nation is classified
under departments and each depart
ment is given head responsible to
the chief executive who, in return, is
responsible to the people. That makes
responsible government. When things
go wrong, the people know who to
blame and where to apply the remedy.
California has found horticultural
Commissioner much more efficient
than state board of horticulture and
less costly. 1t would also ind COM
missioner in lunacy. or general
superintendent of state hospitals
mnoh more efficient than a lunacy
commission whose members can
hardly maintain speaking acquain-
lance with the duties of the office
because of the enormous pressure of
their own official positions. They
must, as matter of fact, rely upon
the advice of the general saperin
tendent as to what action to take as
each issue arises. If this elimination
were made, the office of the general
superintendent should be filled with
attaches from classified civil service
list or, at all events. the personnel of
the clerical force should have tenure
of Office based upon efficiency and
good behavior.
Continuity OF Administration Is
sential.
There can be no adequate admin
istration of great, benevolent public
trust like that of the care of the in
sane without such a continuity OF
management as will permit the work
ing out of policies to their full frui-
ton. There must be those who know
the business from "a'' to "izzard''