The New York herald., 1921-01-06

printing and the purchase of supplies,
might properly be conferred on such a
board.
Revision of Public Printing.
We now have Printing Board. con-
sisting of the Comptroller. Attorney
General and Secretary OF State, with
power to let the contracts, but no con-
troll whatever over the amount of print
ing. This subject has frequently been
adverted to but nothing effective has
been done to check what all agree TO be
a gross abuse in the amount OF absolute
ly useless printing OF departmental re-
ports. bulletins. and the like. The pow
ers of the present Printing Board might
well be transferred to the proposed
board with all the additional powers
needed to check waste and useless ex-
pense. / also recommend that all laws
making II mandatory to print a desig-
mated number of reports be repealed. A
saving of at least $500.00O year should
be made in this item and / have no
doubt that more than that can be
saved.
BY chapter 400 of the Laws of 1918
a central supply committee of seven
members was created. l suggest that
the powers of this committee might APP
propriately be transferred to the pro-
posed Board of Estimate and Control
and that central purchasing of depart
mental supplies can well be conducted
through the proposed bureau to be
created under it.
find that there are a number Of en-
ployees in different departments who
are paid from particular funds. some
from bond moneys and some from gen.
eral appropriations for construction, ana
the like. They thus do not appear in
the budget and there is practically no
| check on their employment Their
salaries aggregate in round numbers
| S1,500,000. There may be reasons for
temporary employments on particular
work, payment for which may properly
be made out of the appropriation there
for. 1t may be that those temporarily
employed on projects financed by bond
| issues should be paid therefrom instead
| of from current revenues. But in view
of the extent to which the practice has
grown 1t is obviously open to grave
abuses, and I invite careful scrutiny OF
the subject.
find in the budget but few items for
automobiles or their maintenance and
operation. But 1t is common knowledge
that a large number are being MAIN
tanned by the State. That is already
forbidden by statute unless there is spe-
ciflc appropriation therefor, and If the
! law is defective it should be amended
to make it effective All automobiles in
the State service should bear some in
sigma to denote ownership ! recon-
mend that it be made a misdemeanor to
use a State automobile for anything but
State business.
Department Reorganization.
The Constitutional Convention of 1915
adopted plan of consolidation of de-
partments providing for seventeen de-
partments. The Reconstruction Com
mission, appointed by my predecessor,
recommended eighteen. The last Legis-
lature adopted alternative proposals for
consolidation into eighteen or twenty
one departments.
There are differences of opinion as
to the merits of each plan. The most
serious objection is, in my judgment,
common to all, and that Is, that no
theoretical grouping will be found in
practice to work as expected, but when
once rigidly fixed in the Constitution it
can only be changed by constitutional
amendment. Moreover, the tendency of
all of the plans is in the direction of
bureaucracy. The rising cost of govern
ment is frequently ascribed to the num-
ber of State departments. That is not
the cause, but Is. instead. the effect.
The cause is the constant assumption
Oh new luUCllOHS anu dCllNlLltb WHICH
result In new agencies. either in exist
ing departments or new departments.
A new regrouping of agencies or a
transference from one department to an
other will not alone effect economies.
The greatest increase in administrative
expense has been In a few large de-
partments which have grown from the
addition of new activities. and. from the
knowledge already possessed. I under
take to say that survey of those de-
partments will disclose that the activi-
ties in none are properly correlated.
/ Reference is commonly made to the
1877 State departments as evidence of
government depravity But the state
ment is grossly misleading. To secure
that number it is necessary to count
every institution with It's local board,
every park, monument or historical COM
mission. The total amount of appro-
priations for such commissions is rela-
lively insignificant. No practical
economy would result from such con-
solidation, but the state would sacrifice
the interest and attention of those who
now serve on such commissions without
pay.
j Overlapping of Effort.
There is no point IN consolidating
merely for the sake of reducing numbers.
There Is, however, much overlapping
and duplication of effort, which can and
should be eliminated Greater efficiency
and economy can be secured by uniting
and properly correlating certain activi-
ties
The plan OF organization of some de-
partments is unsound. That can be cor
rected.
The practical question is. shall we
correct those errors by statute where
that can be done. or shall we continue
them until the Constitution can be
amended, assuming the people will adopt
the plan. which in substance they re-
jected In 1915. when submitted as a
part Of proposed new State constitu-
tion7
I think the present emergency Is such
that obvious errors should be corrected
as speedily as possible. That course
will not prevent this Legislature from
submitting to the people at the next
election one Of the three proposals
passed by the last Legislature. IL 1t
shall deem Il wise to do so.
The advantage OF statutory change Is
that we can proceed with caution. MAX
Ing such changes as experience shall
demonstrate to be In the public interest.
have little patience with the argu-
ment that the Legislature cannot be
trusted to make such changes. Under
our scheme of government the remedy
for legislative or administrative abuses
must ultimately rest with the people,
who will y,attaylv rot u,,o ytt,, -