The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1909-03-19
The REDUCTION of Expenses.


That the House of Representatives
is searching for some way TO reduce
expenses in the state govrnment Is
shown by bill introduced by Rep.
Dusenbury, of Mt. Pleasant. The bill
provides for the appointment OF an
Economy Commission" which is the
new thing in the commission line. The
commission Dusenbury proposes shall
have the power TO walk through the
departments and institutions discharg-
ing this or that adjunct of the pay
roll and telling the head of the de-
partment just how many employees he
should have to do the work and the
number of hours each should devote
to work. The bill, however, does not
give the commission any supervision
over the staff OF employees of the house
and senate. One OF its features Is that
prescribing the manner in which 1t
shall be appointed. The governor is
allowed to name one member, the leg
islature to name two and the state
board of agriculture and the regents
of the university another each, making
a commission of five members.
1t is the theory of the introducer
that such a commission appointed In
such manner should feel free and I'M
trammeled to use the AK with vigor
anc that is what certain members OF
the legislature want.
The state has on its pay roll an
army of employees approximating $500
whose annual salaries exceed $4,000
900. This alone is compelling argu-
ment in favor of the state civil SER
vice commission charged with the
duty of securing competent employees,
and of grading the work on an intelli-
gent basis.
1t is doubtful If the taxpayers of the
state have ever realized the number of
people who draw salaries from the
state, and over whom only indirect
supervision has ever been had. No at
tempt has ever been made TO provide
for an intelligent study of the system
of public employment with a view TO
placing it upon business basis, but
with tax budget In excess of 10000
600 the matter is forcing itself upon
the attention of the legislature.
There are twenty-five public institu-
tons in the state, including the five
insane asylums, four normal schools,
three prisons, the University of Michi-
gan, the Agricultural college, two in
dustrial schools and several other in
situations for the care of afflicted per-
sons.
Statistics compiled in the office OF
the state accountant show TINT these
institutions employ no less than 3,443
persons in various capacities, profess
sional men, teachers, skilled laborers,
etc.
In the various state departments
with headquarters at the capitol there
are 500 employees. For instance, the
auditor general has 124 on the pay
roll, the secretary of state has As, the
superintendent Of the capitol has SO,
land commissioner IS, military depart
ment IS. attorney general IL, state
librarian IS. superintendent Of public
instruction 16, game warden 20. de-
partment Of labor sc, state board OF
health Is, state tax commissioner "a.
In addition, there are a multiplicity
of commissions in the state employing
| secretaries and clerks, and besides
this, there is another small army of
special employees who can only be To-
Gated by systematic investigation.
| These last two classes easily number
500.