The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-02-23
GOVERNING COSTS TOO MUCH.

ing private business of the same
magnitude. First of all, we have the
three departments of the Government,
all of which arc to be maintained and
paid; but "A private concern doing a
like business would have but one con
troll, and that the executive SO here
we have at once very great addition
to what would be called the business
like way of doing things. Besides that,
il is universally understood that the
Government always pays more for any
thing ii buys than does private cor.
poration firm or person. And then,
as stated in the debate, there is n mass
of duplication. in accounts, in records.
and in department transactions, that is
quite unnecessary from business
standpoint; but the duplication and un-
necessary force grew up under the
political system which has prevailed,
and that looked more TO the obtaining
OF employment for constituents of pub
lie officials than to the needs. of the
public service. All the departments
are thronged with useless employees
And not only does the Government pay
more for what it buys than any other
purchaser, but ii pays also enormously
more for services rendered to the pub,
lie in MANY branches Of the service.
And yet, we believe that the estimate
of Senator Aldrich that he could save
| $300,000,000 per year in tho Govern
ment expenditures is an extravagant
estimate. We do not believe that it
| is possible to save such an amount as
that and do the public work satisfac-
torily to the people, To save such
large sum, very much of the Govern
ment s activities would have TO be cur
tailed, and service cut off where it did
not seem TO "pay' We imagine that
that would be Senator Aldrich IS idea
to cut oil the Government IS activities to
a very large extent west of the Mis-
souri, River, and let this whole region
shift for itself, He could cut down
the star route mail service, limit the
postal carriage In other respects, and
would require that everything possible
should paw Its way. This, however,
would by no means be satisfactory to
might be able TO do much of what he
supposes. the saving would stir up some
thing akin tc a revolution. The propo.
sition made in the course of the de-
bate, that perhaps Sl00,000,000 could be
saved. looks more like it, That might
be possible but we doubt very much if
Congress will ever agree to such a cut
as this in the public expenditures.
The remarkable thing in connection
with this resolution of Senator Aid
rich S for a commission TO see where
the Government methods could be made
more businesslikc and economical. is
that every Senator who spoke conceded
tho points made by Senator Aldrich,
that there is an immense waste in the
present manner of doing the public
business.
Senator Dolliver agreed TO it, hui was
afraid OF the cost OF the commission,
and that nothing would como of this
move.
Senator Money regarded the PROPOSE
ton as very serious one, and was in
favor of the commission.
Senator Carter traced what he called
''the present evil" largely to the am
bition of departmental officials And
at the same time he called attention to
the inability OF the experts in the pos
tai department to give TO Congress the
cost of carrying second class mail mat.
ter, when an investigating committee a
few years ago endeavored to ascertain
that cost, When Senator Carter at
tributed "the evils' to the ambition
of departmental officials, he touched in
a sort of reverse way, upon what is
the real evil in connection with the
numerous increase in public employees
What he terms the ambition of the de-
partmentaI officials ought in fact to be
called their complaisance. These of
ficials as rule do not act upon their
own motion in adding to their forces
They simply acquiesce as far as they
are able on the pressure brought to
bear upon them by members of Con-
gress In taking care of lmportunate
constituents who want places in the
Governmental service.
Senator Newlands conceded the waste
and advocated the commission.
Senator Bristow thought the work
needed to be done, but that the COM
mission on public expenditures, already
created, ought to attend to it.
And SO it goes. Nobody denies the
evils. Nobody undertakes to challenge
the proposition that there is shameful
wasto in tho nuhlic oynendifurec And
surely, if there is such waste, even to
the extent of the smaller sum named,
it is we'll worth tho attention of Con
gress to find out where the leakage
is, and stop it. But we agree with
those Senators who have no faith in
stopping the leakage and the waste
They do not believe that Congress
wants to stop 1T. On the contrary,
every fresh batch of Congressman is
t.. l.,