Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-05-06

sided Rev Carlisle T.. Hubbard made
the invocation. During the luncheon there
were brief addresses by several of the
visiting finaneiers
Robert II. Richards Of the Wilmington
| Trust Company had some very pertinent
suggestions and comment To make re-
gardng the financial system in vogue in
Delaware His address was lengthy, cover
ing the many perplexing problems that
confront Delaware from many different
angles To the bankers it WAS probably the
most important effort of the days pro-
ceedings. Mr.. Richards said, in part:
DUTY or GENERAL. ASSEMBLY.
There can be no manner of doubt
! but that the thing for the present Gen
| cral Assembly to do is to provide that the
existing surplus of State revenue and that
| which will accrue between now and the
next General Assembly. above the amount
! necessary TO meet the appropriations that
have been made and will be made BY the
present special session, be paid into the
| sinking fund for the purpose of restoring
that fund to the amount required by the
'sinkiua fund obligations Of outstanding
| bonds Regardless of what the States
credit standing may be, IL is dishonest for
the State to fail to scrupulotsly comply
with the sinking fund obligations Of its
outstanding bonds.
'As it is, the principal sources from
which accret!ons to the sinking fund can
be derived arc the revenue drived from
the oyster catching industry and from
the inheritance tax Tho State has there
fore made compliance with its sinking
fund obligations dependent upon the un-
certain cventualities Of the oyster crop
and the number Of 'first-c lass funerals in
the State. TO be sure of meeting these
obligations the State would be required
not only to encourage the solemn oyster
to the active reproduction Of its species
but also to encourage the death of as
many as possible Of her substantial citi-
gens.
OFFICERS SHOULD RE kPPoINTrYE.
Under the constitutions OF the State
which preceded the present one, all ad
ministrative officers o. the State, such as
State treasurer, State auditor, insurance
commissioner. etc, were appointed by the
governor instead OF elected by the people
and, in my opinion. the trainers OF tho
present Constitution made great mistake
when they changed from the appointivc To
the elective method for the selection of
such officials Ono Of the things most
needed in a representative form of govern
ment, such as we have, is the definite
fixation and Capitalization Of responsible
ity.
The people elect the Legislature which
makes The laws. They also elect the gov
ernor, whose primary duty It IS 10 execute
the laws. No one ia responsible to the
people for the character OF the laws ex-
cept the Legislature itself. This RESPONSE
bility is fixed and definite and the people
have no difficulty In placing It and no diff
fculty IN understanding whom 10 hold
responsible. ndcr our present constitu-
tion responsibility for the execution OF the
laws is not clearly fixed upon the Cover
nor. By reason OF the great number OF
elective administrative officers, all OF
whom come within the scope of the oxocli-
tive department of tho government, the
executive responsibility Of the State is so
divided as that It Is difficult to place the
responsibility IN many cases.
This enables the blame to be passed
from one office to another and results IN
an inability To hold ANYBODY definitely re-
sponsble. Not only is this true but the
existence of these offices under Independent
authority must inevitably result in an
overlapping of jurisdiction, a duplication
of work, a multiplication of effort and
great deal of waste from lost motion. In
my Judgment, compete Capitalization Of
executive power under the governor with
the right vested in him 10 appoint all adj
ministratlve officers OF the State govern
ment would be n great improvement
under the executive scheme provided by
our present constitution.
DEFECT IN FINANCIAL SYSTEM.
Commenting on the methods used In
Delaware. he said:
Another defect in the State financial
system arises out of the lack Of any cen
tralized purchasing agency for the State.
The State has no purchasing agent. such
as any modern business concern has to
day. The total Of the States purchases IS /
large. The exact amount ] am not able
10 give. but they are made by independent
boards, commissions, officers and other
agents who buy what they need, from
hand 70 mouth, in quantities large or small
as the moment may require. and pay such
prices as the time and the character Of
their purchases make necessary In ad-
dIti0n 10 this, outside Of the State High
way Department. there does not seem 10
be any Standardization OF specifications
and commodities required by the State
This again Is unbuslnesslike and unin-
tellgent.
Another defect in the accounting Of the
State is disclosed by total absence of pay
roll records 1t IS impossible to tell what
is the total payroll for the state OF Della
ware for Il year, with reasonable exact
neSs. There arc no payroll records from
which those figures can he accurately COM
piled IL has been estimated that the pres
ent payroll OF the State, not including pub
lie school teachers IS not less than S2T0.-
O00 per year, but the only way IN which
the disbursements Of this fund can be To-
Gated and identified is by picking out iii
the cash disbursement entries the amounts
that went ID salaries and labor and adding
them up. This would not furnish COM
plete information because there is no Of
fee IN which complete records showing all
for these purposes are kept
and the Implications IN tile various offices
IN which any such records are kept makes
It impossible t? get the correct figures FOR
the whole.
Another defect Ia the management of
the State 5 finances IS the custom of the
Legislature TO make appropriations with
ols adequate and exact knowledge as to
whether the State will have funds TO meet
the appropriations and also the habit of
making appropriations without intelligent
us to the State needs and
the purposes for which its funds should
be expended % hest promote the welfare
1t the people The state suffers great
waste Of public funds from lack OF infor-
nation by the Legislature and hv the
public at large rs Ia the State financial
itfairs and from the archaic financial
methods which are the result of a patch.
work of laws accumulated throughout
ra3 sf