The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1914-09-12
OUR new STATE GOVERNMENT

The Minnesota Efficiency and Econ
omy commission styles it's first pub
LEGATION a Preliminary Report This
may be taken to mean both that the
commission expects to make changes
in it's excellent plan and that it in
vites DISCUSSION and crlrrcism. All
citizens should be giving serious at
tention to the proposal to improve
the form of our state government.
Let there be no passive citizenship
in this highly important matter.
The commission proposes, instead
of the 60 or 70 more or less irrespon-
sible bodies now constituting the Min
nesota State government, unified
system of six departments. These de-
partments would be; finance, public
domain. public welfare, education, la
Dor and commerce, and agriculture,
the heads of which departments
would constitute a governors cabinet
reorganization of this kind would
center responsibility, and without
doubt would tend to increase the
efficiency of every honest and capa-
BILE state officer. Civil service and a
thorough budget system are the two
other essential parts of the plan ad-
vanced. The writer has discussed in
previous article the budget pro-
posal.
To make budget system. work
there must be thorough earnestness
behind it. The same thing is true of
the civil service, which in the absence
OF honest, alert public vigilance has
become a most workable engine Of
corruption and Injustice The present
article deals with the following points
in the new plan of government; pub
lie health and .anti-tuberculosis, the
normal school boards, the governor
as ex-officio member Of state boards,
the labor bureau, and the expert in
state government.
Inc proposed department of pub
Tic welfare is to include the state
reformatories and asylums, the bu-
reau Of public health, and the bureau
OF tuberculosis prevention. With re-
ference to these two health bureaus
the commission says: THE anti-tub-
erculosis work might be made a. d.
vision of the bureau of health. Event
ually it is presumed that it will. For
the present it may better be under a
separate bureau. This work is new.
1t is being standardized by a body
with peculiar qualifications. That
body is doing peculiar propaganda
work. 1t has peculiar relations to
county sanitoriums and to the public.
The suppression Of tuberculosis il
recognized as the most urgent single
health problem Of the state. For this
reason the commission recommends
for the present, a special commits
sioner of sanitoriums and a special
tuberculosis board"
The department Of education lis to
be made up. of education, a. director
OF education, a board Of university
regents and the president Of the uni
Vers1ty. The normal school board is
thus abolished. The university board
OF regents, body provided for in
the constitution, is retained, but with.
out its. ex-officio members, the gov
ernor' and the state superintendent OF
public instruction. 1t has been urged
that there is good argument in the
history Of the normal school board
the higher educational character OF
the work of the normal schools, and
the character of the persons who
have served on their board to entitle
these schools to the dignity and ad.
vantage of a separate and distinct
governing body.
Under the present state plan, the
governor is ex-officio member OF
many boards. In the new plan nc
such membership is provided for, A
very prominent Minnesotan, a man
of large and very successful exper.
fence in private and public life has
voiced the opinion that such ex-of.
ficio membership allows: the governo,
a valuable opportunity to ybecone
personally familiar with the Work Of
the board. A suitable compromise
may be found in making the chief ex.