The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1913-08-21
VETO SOME APPROPRIATIONS
Message of the Governor in Regard to
State Budget is Attracting Lot of
Attention Among Politicians of the
State Following Legislative Session.

There is no question Of the wisdom of
the governors message to the legisla-
ture on the appropriation question and
If the budget system is to continue in
Wisconsin the constitutional amend
ment which Gov. McGoyern proposes
which will permit the governor to veto
coordinate parts Of an appropriation
measure and thus prevent individual
appropriations which he opposes, will
have to become part of the sub
stantive law of the state. The ap-
preparation question is hard ques-
tion to solve. This Legislature passed
the bulk of the appropriations of some
$15,00O,000, which will be spent by the
state during the next biennial period,
in four omnibus bills. The governor
was faced with but one alternative in
regard to the measures. He must
either sign the bills as whole or veto
them as whole, and thus, if there
were appropriations to which he was
unalterably opposed, he was placed in
q position where he was compelled to
accede to them or see other appro-
priations fail which he considered alb
solutely necessary In other words,
the hands of the governor were alb
solutely tied so that he had no other
alternative but to sign the appropria-
ton bills. Take as an instance the
university appropriations. There might
have been appropriations to both the
university and the normal schools and,
in fact, there were some which the
governor considered might just as we'll
wait to another biennial period, but a
veto of the university and normal
school bill would have meant the fail
ure of the entire measure and thus the
governor had no alternative but to
sign the bill.
The budget system for appropria-
tions has it's advantages The inten-
tion of the budget system is to mass
all the appropriations SO that they
can be all examined at once by mem
beers of the legislature, and in fact by
the finance committee, and If there
must be reductions that they can be
made pro rata and the state S ex-
penditures thus be made to fit the
- ~ r Tho
budget system, however, as conducted
by this legislature, was to some de-
gree failure, so far as placing before
the members of the legislature infor-
nation in regard to the state financial
situation is concerned. The finance
committee did not get to work on the
budget bills until later in the session
than they should, for the simple rea-
son that the preparation of the budget
took great deal more time than was
expected. The finance committee
worked faithfully, but the budget sys-
tenn was new, and in fact the arrang-
ing of the budget on primary basis
was in itself no small task. 1t was
great work, and it took time and an
infinite amount of labor. The budget
was finally arranged and the univer-
sity and normal school appropriation
bin and the state board of control bill
were gotten before the legislature at
time when ample opportunity was
given for an examination of the bills.
The other appropriation bills, and es-
pecially the departmental bill which
carried with it the appropriations for
the state departments were, however,
not gotten before the legislature until
the very closing hours of calendar
business, and it is doubtful if very
many members of the Legislature real
they voted for them, while as usual in
the closing hours of the legislature
there was but aslight attendance of the
members.
In the case of the governor, however,
none of the bills reached him when the
houses were in more than constructive
session, If he had vetoed bill it is
doubtful if two-thirds of the members
of the assembly at least could have
been collected in Madison to override
the veto. The passage of a new bill
on The subject maintaining the APP
preparations which he was willing to
favor would have been an equally diff
icult task. The assembly was work
ing under rule which that house held
was not subject to suspension which
provided that one member of the house
could by objection prevent the intro
duction of the measure. In such stu
alton rs this the necessary appropria-