The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-01-18

studies and in the conclusions and rec concentrations relating to the several de- patments and establishments.
 Reports at Present Required by Con
 gress
 During the consideration of these sub jeets the commission has made a study of the present requirements of law re- lating to reports which are in whole or in part financial in character from the various departments and establishments There are more than 90 acts of Con gress which annually require reports of this character These requirements of the law result in nearly 200 printed re- ports relating to financial matters, which must be submitted annually to the Con- gross by the various departments and establishments Studies of these reports and comparisons of the classification of expenditures as set forth therein have been made by the commission to the end that so far as practicable uniformity of classification of objects of expenditure may be recommended and identical term- nology adopted.
 Recommendations and Notifications
 In due time l shall transmit to the Congress such recommendations for changes in the present laws relating to these annual reports as appear to be pertinent and necessary
 Special consideration has been given by the commission to the annual reports relating to the financial transactions of the government as a whole In this con- neetion the forms of the financial state. ments of the government from early days ito the present time have been ex- amined. Further, in order that full in- formation should be available. an inves- tigation has been made of the forms of annual reports and budget statements of the results of accounting, and of the terminology used by 20 or more foreign nations.
 Ono of the consequences of this work is apparent in a modification of the form in which the gross receipts and disburse- ments of the government have been eX- hihted heretofore by the Secretary of the Treasury in his annual reports to the Congress.
 These notifications are important as illustrations of what may be expected in improvement in the annual statements of the government as whole when final recommendations are made, based upon these extened studies Further results of this work will be apparent when standard forms for financial reports ot departments and establishments, which are now in preparation through co-ope- ration with the responsible officials of
 
 published. It will then be evident how far short of realizable ideals have been our annual statements snd reports of the past
 The Budget
 The United States Is the only great nation whose government is operated without a budget. This fact seems to be more striking when 1t is considered that budgets and budget procedures are the attf of 6pmnpratip doctrines and have had an important part in the de- velopment of modern constitutional rights. The American commonwealth has suffered much from irresponslbility on the part of it's governing agencies. The constitutional purpose of a budget is to make government responsive to public opinion and responsible for its acts. The Budget as an Annual Programme
 A budget should be the means of get ting before the legislative branch. be- fore the press, and before the people a definite annual programme of business to be financed; it should be in the nature of prospectus both of revenues and expenditures; 1t should comprehend ev- cry relation of the government to the people, whether with reference to the raising of revenues or the rendering of service.
 In many foreign nations the annual budget programme is discussed with spe- cial reference to the revenue to be raised the thought being that the ras- ing of revenue bears more direct relation to welfare than does government expen- diture. Around questions of source of revenue political parties have been or ganized, and on such questions voters in the United states have taken sides since the first revenue law was proposed.
 Citizen Interest in Expenditures
 In political controversy it has been as- sumed generally that the individual citi- zen has little interest in what the gov ernment spends. In my opinion, this has been a serious mistake. one which is be- coming more serious each year. Now that population has become more dense, that large cities have developed that people are required to live in congested centers, that the national resources ire uuently are the subject of private own ership and private control, and that transportation and other public service facilities are held and operated by large corporations, what the government does with nearly $1,000, ,000,0 ,000 each year is of as much concern to the average citizen as is the manner of obtaining this amount of money for public use. In the present inquiry special attention has been given to the expenditure side of the budget.
 In prosecuting this inquiry however, 1t has not been thought that arbitrary reductions should be made. The popular demand for economy has been to obtain the best service-the largest possible re- suits for a given cost
 We want economy and efdciency we want saving. and saving TOT purpose.