The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-12-05
WHY NOT \. STATE BUDGET:

Just now considerable attention IL
being paid to what is known as h
budget system in congress. Because
of tho peculiar character Of our gov
eminent 1t Is not possible for us to
have the budget system as that system
Is known In England. There all cab
met officers. who constitute the real
government OF the country, are men,
bcrs Of parliament. In conjunction
with. and under the direction Of the
premier, they prepare for submission
To the house estimates Of the neces-
sary expenditures for the chief pur-
poses Of government for the year. and
on these estimates there Is based
the budget which is submitted to the
house. There the subject is debated
al length. Items i'll h budget Of
which the opposition does not approve
are attacked. and members Of the
government are there to explain and
defend. The result Is a discussion
and considerations OF practically the
whole field Of government expendit-
ur,s together. under conditions which
make possible their consideration i'll
relation to each other. and to the rev.
cn,,es which are to be derived from
various sources, Here we have moth
ink of that sort. The suggestion has
often been made. and 1t has been re-
n,wcd recently Ivy President Taft. that
members Of the cabinet should have
seats in the house Of representatives.
and that the English budget system
Should be followed as closely as is
possible IN our different circumstances
TS,.,, ,,.lsN,Nn& shC eo0tiH~ ~ TIM eoh.
met i'll congress. some approach has
been made Of late to a budget. and.
while the plan is criticized here or
there. IL seems to be generally ap-
proved.
The question arises. why should We
not have a state budget? Tho V
crnor and the various state oficials
arc not. Of course. members OF the
legislature. and could not be seated
there. But why should not the gov
ernor. in connection with tho heads
Of the various state departments.
nave prepared Il careful estimate Of
receipts for the coming two years, and
n series OF concise recommendations
ms to the expenditures that should
be made FOR the chief purposes Of the
STATE leaving a margin Of suitable size
10 be used for such purposes as can
no, easily be %foreseen? In that way
VIC would have at the beginning Of
the season a clear idea Of what is
possible and what is needed. and
while all the items in the budget
would not he passed unchanged. there
would be a serviceable guide as to
the action to be AIKEN. n We would
be less liable to Il repetition Of the
nhsurdities Of former years. when leg
aslatures have passed bills and appro-
priated money right and left. without
rcsard to the probable or Possible in
como Of the state. and knowing that
they were far exceeding 1t. and leav-
ing on the governor the burden Of
selecting from the a such bills as
he could approve. n vctoeing the
rest.
One reason why We are not APT 10
have anything III this kind Is that
our state government Is composed Of
>. lot Of independent fragments, not
y of which is responsible to any
other. or related 10 IL. We elect a
governor. n hold him responsible
for the manner in which the affairs
nj the state are administered. Then
NC elect an attorney general. for In.
stance. who May not be In sympathy
With a single ralicy favored by the
governor. anu AZ auditor who ma be
opposed to both. No one Of these
men, or az amy ~ the other state de-
rar;Mom;ai heads. has any control
ovcr any Of the others. and il they
are ahlr ~ work in harmony il is
merely a matter Of luck.
u U etats government were or.