Perth Amboy evening news., 1912-01-17

mefafs, There are more than ninety
aety OF congress which Annually re-
qufre reports CT this character. These
reauarenents of the law result In neH
" geo printed reports relating to inan-
ciaI matters. which must be submitted
annually to the congress by the varf-
GUS departments and Adjustments.
Studies or these reports and comparf-
song of the classification OF expendf-
lures as set forth therein have been
made by the commission to the end
that. 10 far as practicable. uniformity
Of classification OF objects Of expendi-
ture may be recommended ard aidenti-
cal terminology adopted.
In due time i shall transmit 20 the
congress such recommendations for
changes ia the present laws relating to
these annual reports as appear to be
pertinent and necessary.
No National Budget.
The United States il the only great
nation whose government Is operated
without e. budget. This fact Seems to
be more striking when It h consid-
cred that budgets and budget proce-
ldures are the eutgrowth OF democratic
doctrines and have had an Important
part in the development OF modern;
constitutional rights. The American
commonwealth has suffered much
from ifresponsibiifty on sthe part Of It's
governing agencies. The constitutional
purpose u a budget IL to nuke gov
erun1ent responsive to public opi1tan
and responsible for its Nets.
"A budget should be the means for
getting before tho legislative braneh,
before the press and befors the PEG
pie IA definite manual program OF bss4-
ness to be financed. 1t should be In
the nature of q prospectus both OF
and expenditures. 1T should
comprehend every relation OF the gov
.ernmsnt to the people, whether with
reference to the raising OF revenues u
the rendering OF service.
In many foreign countries the nm
n,,al budget program isadtscussed with
speciaI referencesto tho evenue to be
raissd, the thessht being that tile rails
ing of revente sbearsamore direct fela-
tion to weffare than does government
expenditure. Around questions OF
source Of revenue political parties
have been organized, and on ssuah
questions voters in the United States
have taken sides since the first rev-
enns law was proposed.
Citixsns' interest In Expenditures.
In political CONTROVERSY 1t has been
assumed generally that the individual
citizen has little interest In what the
government spends. In my opinion,
this has been a serious mfsts ke,
which is becoming more serious each
year. Now that population has be-
come more dense, that large cities
have developed. that people are re-
quired to live In congested eenters, that
the national frequently are
the subject Of private ownership and
private control and that transportation
and other public service facilities are
held and operated by large corpora
lions, what the government does with
nearly $1,000. 600. 600 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 pres
ent inquiry special attention has been
given to the expenditure side.
We want economy and efficiency. We
want saving ami saving for a purpose.
We want to save money to enable the
government to go Into some of the
beneficial projects which we are de-
barred from taking up now because
cannot increase u expenditures.
Projects affecting the public health,
new public works and other beneficial
activities OF government can be fur
thered " wesare shic 10 get Z dollar OF
value for every dollar of the govern
ment's money which we expend-
Continuance Of the Commission.
1 ask the continuance of this eom-
mission ON economy and efficiency be-
of the excellent beginning which
has been made toward fhe r-eorganiza-
AElEAEdURuEMJEl. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.