New-York tribune., 1911-01-05
TIE G0IERNOR'& MESSAGE

Governor DiX's message. like his inau'
crral address is largely taken up with
the consideration of the states need lor
practising economy. 1t cannot ne Sd'u
that the specific economies recommended
give any promise Of TffOrding relief from
that S13.OOOOOO deficit" as Mr.. DIX
called the difference between estimator
income and expenditures. The abohtion
of several commissions and boards :
recommended. together with the corSo','
dation of others If the Governor au-
vice should he followed the salaries OF
few commissioners would he saved
hardly enough TO avert the necessity OF
direct taxation.
Whether or not these COMMISSIONS
should he leciSlated ont of existence &c
npnds on whether or not they afford the
best means of carrying on The work for
which they were created. Doubliess
somc Of them are superfuous. Governor
Hughes tried without success 10 nave
ono or two boards abolished. on the
ground that they were not needed. bu''
though abused. the commission system
has been found necessary IN ever!
state and I'm the federal government.
When function of government becomes
sufficiently important 10 require the
constant supervision Of an executive
the only practicable way to carry VI
on is through 4 permanent special
board or commission. Excessive con-
solidation makes proper supervision lIn-
possible To maintain that the COM
mission SyS,e en- i'm this state Is the
cause Of the recent advance i'm the cost
of government is 10 reason in ne p'T
hoe CroO DroptCr hoe fashion. One cause
* responsible both for the increase III
thc number Of commissions and the in
crease in expenditures by them. ard
that is the public demand fo" Increased
activities on The part of the government
Governor Dix's own message provides
an illustration of this tendency. The
Governor himself is an ardent conServa-
ZIONIST and believer in the development
uf water power. lie devotes a consider
able part of his message 10 showing how
the manufacturers Of this state are pay
inc more for power in The form of coal
than they need pay for the same power
if developed from the streams of the
state. We quote:
The total mower used i'm manufacturing
in 1909 was 1.6i3.000 horsepower, OF
which $4,000 horsepower was produced
by steam. To produce this S1e,kn
horsepower with coal throughout the
year costs SJ.0O0.000. To produce SJo.-
600 horsepower by water and distribute
II electrically would cost S2J.W0,0OO per
ann,m. thus saving S6O.OO0,OO0 per an
mum. These figures interpreted mean
that we are contributing S6a,VO,NO a
wear to other states for the purchase or
coal This amount could he saved an
nuallv to the state by taking advan-
tage Of orr own resources. Rivers, like
otler resources of nature. must he
adapted to mans uses in order to reach
anything like q reasonable degree of
efficiency.
Thence the Governor goes Cn TO speak
of regulating the flow Of rivers and Of
the advantages springing from the Incl
dental prevention of floods. etc. "The
accomplishment Of this great project,
he SAYS, should not be delayed II we
"are to maintain this commonwealth as
the Empire state" Specific recommen-
dations are not made, but the whole ar
gument tends 10 urge upon the state the
necessity Of developing its water powers,
especially those within the forest re-
serve
Let us suppose that as result of
Mr. DiX's urgency the state embarks
upon an ambitious project of water stor-
age. of dams and reservoirs and other
features Of power development. Here
will be another large source Of eXpendi-
ture. No doubt IT would he Of great
benefit 10 the manufacturing interests
of the state. But some successor Of Mr.
Dix would he able To point an accusing
finger at il as an example Of the "abnor-
mai increase in expenditures just rs
Mr.. Dix does now at the cost Of other
-;,,.;I,r oc.iyitioS of tho state