Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-01-27
SAN FRANCIsCo's SURVEY

wv tAronsn may W be n,onae aoeomplishsd
| of the school and police sys-
/ TENS of Harrisburg by experts of the
Bureau of Municipal Research, work
ing through the Chamber of Com
merce and in conjunction and CO.
operation with the officials of the de-
partments named, may be judged from
the recently published report of the
work the bureau did along somewhat
broader lines for San Francisco
1mpelled by rapidly rising taxes"
says the foreword TO the report, the
San Francisco Real Estate Board ap-
pointed a tax committee to combat
unnecessary budget allowances and
consequent tax imposition. But the
task proved to be so large that only
experts could handle it satisfactorily.
The financial jungle was almost inn
penetrable. The city accounts fur
nished nothing from which it was pos
sible to construct a statement of the
actual needs of the city in the past or
in the future. There were innu-
mera BILE indications of inefficiency and
waste, but it was impossible to identify
and convict them except from the
basis of some comprehensive and ac-
curate financial survey. And the best
way to obtain such survey seemed to
be the employment of the experts OF
the Bureau of Municipal Research of
New York city.
Taking up the thread of the report
at this place, the editor of the San
follows:
The necessary funds for so good
work Were speedily Forthcoming.
The experts arrived last June and
began their work. and now we
have the inclusive summary of
their discoveries and opinions, so
lucfdly arranged and so admirably
expressed as to represent not only
but the practical steps by which it
can be reached. At the same time
the report contains nothing that is
sensational, nothing in the way of
startling revelations, indictments,
or denunciations. 1t is q cold, i'm
g9i,ion' g9aifitlal' ano d 1Hqlgiai S picture Of CON
ables the citizen to discover. al
most in moment the exact merits
and demerits of nearly every fea-
ture of the city government so far
as it's finance and administration
are concerned. The general impress
sion left upon the mind by this re-
port is an encouraging one. IF there
has been gross ineffciency and NAL
administration-as of course there
has been-they are not usually of
the willful or vicious kind, and we
are shown how easily and how
promptly they can be cured. The
chapter of financial mismanagement
is heavy enough and serious enough
in all conscience. but it is not of the
crudely corrupt kind. 1T is repre-
scented in. the main by thousand
fulness.
This report has been made the basis
for vast savings in San Francisco, and
not nearly all of it's suggestions as vet
have been put into practice. That
similar economies and improvements
of administration and service will be
the outcome of the friendly and CO.
operative inquiries to be made here
cannot be doubted. Neither will the
School Board nor the Police Depart
ment be censured by the public IL il
be found that their ways and methods
can be improved upon.
Petty wastes and inefiiciencies, ap-
pdTenllN ITlIlluS III themselves, but
direful of results. in the aggregate.
spring up in private business unless
every activity is closely watched and,
wise executives from time to time hire
outside experts to come in and criti-
else their esta ablishments from top to
bottom-not for the purpose of find
ing fault and placing employees in a
bad light. but that evils may be cor
rected and improvements intelligently
directed. Often the men in charge
have their eyes too close to their work
to get proper perspective.
There is little real difference be-
tween public and private business. The
same fundamentals are at the bottom
of both. So it happens that the
efficiency experts are called in to look
over the school and police depart
ments and in a friendly way to suggest
betterments. What was accomplished
for San Francisco as a whole is pro-
posed for Harrisburg with respect to
the two branches named.