Norwich bulletin., 1909-12-08

par tucutof DuAcdus anu OAhtSo VI eho expenditures necessary in the ensuing fiscal year and of making an estimate of the revenues of the government for the same period, and if probable def icit is thus shown it is made the duty of the president to recommend the method by which such deficit can be met.
 Estimated Deficit $73,075,6o
 The report of the secretary shows tbat the ordinary expenditures for the current fiscal year ending June 90, 1910, will exceed the estimated re- ceipts by $34,075, ,620. If to this deficit are added the sum to be disbursed for the Panama canal, amounting to $3S,- 100000, and $1,0O0.000 to be paid on the public debt, the deficit of ordinary receipts and expenditures will be in- creased to a total deficit of $73, ,075, ,620. This deficit the secretary proposes to meet by the proceeds of bonds issued to pay the cost of constructing the Panama canal. I approve this pro- posal.
 The policy of paying for the con- struction of the Panama canal not out of current revenue, but by bond issue, was adopted in the Spooner act of 1902, and there seems to be no good reason for departing from the princi- pie by which part at least of the burden of the cost of the canal shall fall upon our posterity, who are to enjoy 1t, and there is all the more req son for this view because the actual cost to date of the canal, which Is now half done and which will be completed Jan. 1, 1915, shows that the cost of engineering and construction will be S297, ,766, 900 instead of $139, ,705 POO, as originally estimated. In addition to engineering and construction, the oth- CT expenses, including sanitation and government and the amount paid for the properties, the franchise and the privilege of building the canal, in- crease the cost by $75,435, 900 to a total of $375, POI 900. The increase in the cost of engineering and construc- ton is due to a substantial enlarge ment of the plan of construction by widening the canal 100 feet in the Gu Zebra cut and by increasing the di- mensions of the locks. to the under estimate of the quantity of the work to be done under the original plan and to an underestimate of the cost of la bor and materials, both of which have greatly enhanced in price since the original estimate was made.
 Tn order to avoid a deficit for the ensuing fiscal year I directed the heads of departments in the prepara- ton of their estimates to make them as low as possible consistent with i'm perative governmental necessity. The result has been, as am advised by the secretary of the treasury, that the estimates of the expenses of the gov ernment for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1911-that is, for the next fiscal year--are less by $55, 5,663, 900 than the total of appropriations for the current fiscal year and less by SgAN00,O0o than the estimates for that year. So far as the secretary of the treasury is able to form judgment as to future income and compare 1t with the expenditure for the next fiscal year ending June 90, 1911, including the payments on account of the Pan ana canal and the public debt, there will be no deficit in the year ending June 90, 1911, but small surplus of S712,000.
 
 In the present estimates the needs of the departments and of the gov ernment have been cut to the quick. so to speak, and any assumption on the part of congress. so often made in times past. that the estimates have been prepared with the expectation that they may be reduced will result in seriously hampering proper admin istration.
 The secretary of the treasury points oUt. what should be carefully noted in respect to this reduction in govern mental expenses for the next fiscal year, that the economies are of two ktnds--frst, there is a saving in the pasmanent administration of the de- paRtmentS, bureaus and offices of the government, and, second, there is peseent reduction in expenses by a pestponement of projects and i'm provements that ultimately will have to be carried out, but which are now delayed with the hope that additional revenue in the future will permit their execution without producing a deficit.
 Working For Economy.
 It has been impossible in the prepara- ton of estimates greatly to reduce the cost of permanent administration. This cannot be done without a thor ough reorganization of bureaus, of fees and departments. For the pur- pose Of securing information which may enable the executive and the leg islative branches to unite in plan for the permanent reduction of the cost of governmental administration the treas ury department has instituted an in- vestigation by one of the most skilled expert accountants in the United States. The result of this work in two or three bureaus, which, if extended 10 the entire government, must occupy two or more years, has been to show much room for improvement and op- portunity for substantial reductions in the cost and increased efficiency of ad- ministration. The object of the inves- tigation is to devise means to increase the average efficiency of each employee. There is great room for improvement toward this end, not only by the reor- wnnizafion of h11raa11e and donartr,nants