Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-05-20
AD M|NISTRATWE.
CODE APPROVED.
BY FRANkLOWDEN
Governor Of Illinois Congratu.
lates Governor McKeIvie on
Proposed Changes in
State Government.

Lincoln, Neb., May l9.-(Special.)
Governor McKelvie today gave
out the following copy of letter
received from Governor Frank o
Lowden OF Illinois, in which he
praises the civil administrative code
bill, sponsored by Governor Nickel.
vie and which was passed by the
1919 state legislature:
Please accept my congratulations upor
your successful effort to reorganize ths
governing agencies of the state Of Nebras
ka under q civil administrative code with
Of the similarity OF the constitutions OF
the, states of Nebraska and Illinois, that
you had practically the same experience
that we had In Illinois. The elective Of
tlon, and we could only consolidate the
administrative agencies under the COVER
nor. 4-7.-.as IS ss5e "a
OF course, one of the objects intended
to be accomplished by the code is to Sc
cure RESPONSIVE and responsible admin.
istrat ton. The governor can discharge the
varied activities committed to him by the
constitution and statutes only through the
fundamentally OF subordinate officers. He
should be given power to succeed or to
fail At the very moment when he takes
the oath of office he should be given full
control Of all administrative agencies re-
sponsible to him. In order that his ad
ministrative policy may be guided and di-
rected by men In sympathy with his pro-
gram
During the development Of the last half
of the last century, the thought that was
in mems minds when tkey framed con-
situations and when they framed laws
fetal from doing something wrong. ii
They were thinking of that all the
while. NOT Of putting the public publ,
n n anv n ynnd In y,
genuity OF man could never work out any
scheme by which you can tie mems hands
for evil and leave them free for good.
You must give power commensurate with
the responsibility which you are going to
exact. So this administrative code, which
we In Illinois adopted In 1917. had for Its
first principle the concentration Of all the
powers In the, department in the head of
that department He is supreme, and
therefore II ask him why this has been
done, or why the other thing has not
cause he has no power, for he does have
sibility. @
The other great principle which we put
into the code was that it Is individuals
who do things and not bodies Of men. We
have acquired the habit. Of late years, of
creating commission every time some
thing goes wrong. The fact Is that it is
and not a board or a commission. There
Is no commission anywhere and there
never was, that ulQ Things aIflrmatlVely
unless 1t was absolutely dominated by
one man. The only benefit of the rest of
them was in an advisory capacity. and II
they did not hamper him. the body was
fortunate. Now. II that Is true, and 1t is
true, submit when 1t comes to admin
istrstion, since you must rely upon one
man anyway, why not appoint him and
omit the others. Then he will not be
hampered. at least s,E......
The new system. during the two years
of its operation. has given the people of
Illinois an efficient administration. II it
has done anything wrong and is to be
condemned, the governor is responsible.
He cannot 'shirk his responsibilities far
as the code officers are concerned--be-
cause he appointed them personally and
has the right to remove them and he
knows whom to remove. This Is as II
should be because in every campaign the
people are interested more In the election
OF the governor than In the other state
officers The governor is held RESPONSE
BILE for what goes on under his admnis-
tration. 1t Is much. easier for the people
to defeat him than 1t is to defeat the
other state officials. because generally
less is known about them and their Of
ffces. This is particularly true as the ac-
tivities OF the state increase and broaden
as they do each biennium.
am sure Nebraska has taken long
stride in the direction of more efficient
and responsive government by the con-
solidation of It's governmental agencies,
and I wish you, its sponsor. sucGess.