Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-05-18

pFdHCn. actlnS through an AUDITOR
general of the United States. who
shall be appointed by and be re-
| sponsible to the Congress.
At present the only memoranda
! which are handed to Congress show
! ing what the executive branch of
l the government believes should be
appropriated and expended by the
government during each fiscal year
| are contained in the so-called book
| of estimates.
No Central Responsibility.
1t has been the practice. unfoftu-
| nately, too often in the past for each
+, department to send in an estimate
for So in the hope of getting 81. There
| has been no central power to CO.
| ordinate these estimates, to eliminate
| Implications as they may occur in
! the various departments. There has
been no one responsible for the es-
| Inmates as a whole. They have been
! thrown at Congress en- masse. and
Congress has been compelled to work
| it's way out of the tangle as best it
could.
The supporters of the budget plan
believe that II the responsibility for
the budget is placed squarely upon
the President. he will be careful to
see that the budget is properly drawn,
with a view to ECONOMY.
Under existing conditions. after
Congress has appropriated the money
its control ceases. The executive de-
partments keep all the accounts and
audit them. Congress has no way OF
checking up to see that the money
has been properly expended In &C
cordance with its laws. unless 1t at
| tempt a lengthy and involved con-
gressional Investigation By one OF its
committees. Hence the proposal that
the various auditing officers Of the
government be transferred to the con-
troll of a single auditor general who
shall be responsible to congress and
shall report to it.
| Good Plan Less Radical.
| Representative Good has Just COM
pleted his bill. 1t is less radical than
the plans advocated by either Senator
Kenyon or Senator Mccormick. Mr..
Good proposes that there shall be es-
1 tablished q budget commission" con-
sisting of the members of the cabi-
net; that there shall be appointed by
the President and confirmed by the
Senate a director Of the budget" who
shall aid the commission in every way
in preparing a scientific and. co-or-
dinated budget of government for the
| governments expenditures, and also
| recommend the ways and means OF
obtaining the revenue required 10
meet these expenditures. The Presi-
dent is made responsible for the bud
get after it is completed. He will
send the budget to Congress.
The second part of Mr.. Good's-bill
provides for an auditor general and
independent bureau of audit and con-
troll responsible to Congress. which
shall review the accounts of the vari-
GUS departments and report to Con-
gress.
[ Mr.. Good in his measure makes no
attempt to change the rules of the
House or Senate. He makes no at
tempt to limit the power of individual
members of Congress, or of Congress
as a whole, to increase the items in
| the budget or to insert new items in
| it. He makes no provision for a sin
gle budget or appropriations commit
tee, but leaves intact the twenty-nine
committees of the House and Senate
which now control bills appropriating
money.
For Single Committee Plan.
| In the opinion of Senator Kenyon
and Senator Mccormick, Mr.. Goods
plan does not go far enough. They
| believe that the multiplicity of COM
! mittees of Congress dealing with ap-
| propriations is a mistake and That
there should be one committee in each
house, with subcommittees to care for
the various bills. Senator Mccormick
proposes a committee of forty mem
| bers of the House as a budget COM
| mittee, which shall control all appro-
priation and revenue measures. In
this way, he contends it will be pos
sible to prevent jealousies between
| committees and do away with efforts
to obtain large sums for their par
ticular bills.
! The senator's believe also that the
power of individual members to mi
| late items Of expenditure or to pro-
pose increases in the items of the
/ budget, or Of Congress to do the
same things, should be done away
| with In the interest Of centralizing
the responsibility for the budget upon
the chief executive. They would.
however leave 1t in the power OF
Congress to reject the entire budget
or to reduce items in 1t.
It Is realized that the plan Of the
senators. which puts the responsible
ity upon the executive to vast de-
gree, may have rough shedding in the
present Congress. because a feeling
has grown up that the President has :
sought to usprp too many of the pow F,
ers Of government. For that reason,
Senator Kenyon admitted that some
such plan as that proposed by Mr..
Good may have to be adopted. II there
10 to DO budget system now.
No Tendency Toward Increases.
Mr.. Good contends that in tho past
Congress has not exceeded the esti-
mates submitted by the executive de-
partments. but that In most cases. II
has cut them down. and argues that
1t IL not necessary to limit Congress