New Britain herald., 1915-08-24
ALEXANDER URGES
 "SH0R7 J BALLOT"
Idaho Governor Advocates Simph- hcation of Official Machinery

Boston, Mass, Aug. 24.-simplifi cation of state government machinery was advocated by Gov. Moses Alexan- der, of Idaho, in his address before the governors conference here today. He favored the short ballot,' elim- ination of useless state boards and commissions and visiting more power in the executive departments of the states. .'~.''
 There must be absolute responsi- billty fixed som ewhere,' Gov. Alex ander said. While it may seem good to the electer to have a long ballot and to vote for Candidate for every office, the result is that the responsi- bility is shifted from the practical heads of institutions andF government to the minor and subordinate officials which are merely cogs in the wheel of government and not the directing poWcr..
 Have More Power.
 Ut is essential that the executive department of the state government should be clothed with more power and more responsibility and held di- rectly amenable to the people. What ever power is vested in the executive department a check could he had up- on the executive through what is com- monly known as the recall, so that where a bad government is selected by electors it can be corrected by them.
 Boards and commissions are often so constituted that they thwart the will of the executive and of the peo- pie. They are frequently created for the purpose of aiding some partlcu- lar interest and not to serve the gen. eral welfare. They give some special organization an opportunity to partl- cipate in the administration of pub lie affairs.
 Workable Government
 With the short ballot and with the people made fully cognizant that they were voting for a business man. ager as well as for an executive head even if it were necessary to vote for two of three other executive depart ment officers a workable government would result, but executive power must be centered somewhere to bring efficiency and economy. The short ballot will bring this about.
 The placing of a larger appointive authority in the hands of a responsi- ble official who can be made easily answerable to the people increases, rather than decreases the power of the electorate to express it's will. How often has it happened that the people have made an apparently suc- cessful fight upon some issue through the election of an official whose of flee was such as to command their at tention and whose duties and powers were supposed by them to be such as +~ .1.;x, the things they desired accomplished, only to find themselves blocked by some other official elected by them selves at the very same time but whose position was believed to be so insignificant as not to merit their at tention and therefore, did not re- ceive it.
 Rights of People.
 '''I believe in the right of the peO- pie to express their will and I be- lieve that that will, having been eX- pressed; should be carried into eff feet I therefore, believe fh enlarged powers for those officials whose posi- tins demand and receive public at tention and lessened power fir those. officials whose positions 10 nCt receive due attention from the voters, and hence I favor the removal frim the ballot of all the names whose presence can accomplish nothing but to con- fuse.''