The times-herald. [volume] (Burns, Harney County, Or.) 1896-1929, 1913-01-04
The West Program

Governor West has construc-
tive program for organizing the
administration of state and coun-
ty business on q basis of economy
and efficiency, says the Portland
Journal.
1t is splendid endeavor. His
efforts will meet with q friendly
response throughout the state.
Waste is cost. Inefiiciency is
loss. Every public dollar inefii-
ciently expended. somebody has
to replace.
1t is not believed that Oregon
has drifted into the wasteful and
inefficient processes that obtained
in older states. But 1t Is q good
time to inaugurate any construc-
tive plan of reform. Reform is
always dpTOpOS.
Ii is estimated that our waste
through inefficient national, state
and municipal government is a
sum as great as the annual wheat
crop, a sum sufficient to support
the entire school system of the
whole United States. Before he
retired from public life, Senator
Aldrich said he could save $500, :
900, 600 a year in the administra-
ton of the federal government.
The chairman of the commission
named by President Taft to in
vestigate the subject now says
that Senator Aldrich is right. but
that it will take ten years to ac-
complish the reform.
The people of the United States
are paying $12 a head for being
governed nationally. Eight years
ago. they paid Sc a head. In
Cleveland's time, the cost was
only SO a head. In Washington's
time it was only $1.34 per head.
In 1916, there was only one
employe on the federal payroll
for every 1900 of population. In
1911, we had one to 180 Of popu-
lation. We have now more than
seven times as many salary
drawers per capita to run the
federal government as we had in
1916.
There is no reason why it should
require seven times as many
officials per capita to run the
government now as it took in
1916. The bureau of Municipal
Research in Chicago recently re-
ported 10 officials on the pay rolls
of the city of Chicago as not
needed. 1t is an example of in
efficiency that probably accounts
to a large extent for the country
wide waste in the administration
of all kinds of government. 1t
is probable that the losses from
inefficiency and lack Of economy
is enormously greater than the
losses from graft.
We waste in municipal life by
the duplication of officials charged
with about the same duties. We
have county governments and
city governments exercising
largely the same function over
the same people. We have sher-
ifs, constables, detectives and
police, all operating independent
ly on the same enterprise. They
are all engaged in the business
of enforcing law, but vice COM
missions, grand juries and muni-
cipal organizations thrust before
us reiterated evidence that laws
are not enforced.
We have almost literal armies
of prosecutors and deputy pro-
secutors of all kinds, but we con-
vict only 1.3 per cent of our
murderers while Germany con-
victs 95 per cent. Germany
convicts $50 out of every 1000,
and we convict only 13 out of
1000.
There are nearly as many
judges in the city of New York
alone as in all of England. The
state of Illinois has more judges
than has England, and the Unit
ed States has twenty times as
many, not counting justices of
the peace and other petty judic-
ial functionaries. Yet with all
this phalanx of jurists and courts,