The Washington herald., 1921-03-13
GAllEN Y. STATE
HASSORE NEED OF
BUSINESS METHOD
Engineer Says Private
Concern Could Not OPP
erhte Under System.

Any scprporstion or business In
terest roul1 60 into bankruptcy II
It's srlirs were conducted as are
those =, the State of New York.
the coj nittss on New York state
gover16n6nt reorganization Of the
Amerid 4 Engineering Council Of
the Faerated American Engineer
ing sdkisties declares in a report
TO thee ehairmsnf Of the joint ju-
dietary eomnis,ses Of the senate
and aslsmbiS.
The report Is signed by the three
membe{s Of the committee who
were Rppointed by Herbert c.
HooveS They are H de B. Par
sons. eAsirman: Paul G. Brown and
Lewis p stiliweli--
wsrk Of Committee.
The svork ,of. this committee.
which is cooperating with the
New york state essociation In
plans 10 reorganize the State gov
ernme1t by constftutfonal amend
ments. lis part Of an elaborate pro,
gram kof public service entered
upon ~ the organized engineers Of
the nstion as represented by the
America Engineering Council.
Thist program embraces a cam
paign TO reorganize the United
states FPatent once. conditions in
which according to Edwin ]. Prfn-
die, Of New York. chairman of the
councils patent committee, are
such ks to menace American In
dustryf and invention: the estab-
lishmeAs of a national department
of pubic works and a movement
now etng actively carried on by
field workers in several States to
eliminste waste in industry.
T..k In New York
Although the American Engineer
ing Chncil is . national organiza-
tion u vas decided to aid in gov
ernmettal Reorganization In New
York State because of the magni-
tude q the task and of the infiu-
ence which such reorganization, II
successfully accomplished, would
exercise generally in the direction
of betker government both Federal
and State.
The american Engineering Coun-
eifs committee in its report to the
chairman of the joint Judiciary
Commttees. after a careful study
of the whole problem and particu-
larly IS engineering aspects, urged
the psssage of the three State re-
organHa alton amendments for con-
solidaton Of State departments, an
executfs budget system. and a four
year 6rrn. --a4
'Th Advantages of reorsanizins
the state government are too self
evident to require lengthy explana-
tion." Says the report. The State
of NeF York should be a leader
among, the States of the union. and
shouldrno be a follower.
The State government should be
reorgzhized as proposed in the
amendment now before you. so as to
have simplicity. not complexity-
and b 20 arranged thai responsi-
bility could Be readily determined
by tn Electorate. ~
Purpose Of BfiI.
The bill is designed to prevent
duplication and lapse Of. work. as
also useiess waste and delays due
TO lacy OF responsibility. All work
der oDe department Departments
can b9 subdivided into bureaus to
handle their work. but bureaus
should not be duplicated.
The Comptroller. elected by the
peoples ~ould audit financial ac-
COUNTS 2 Each department would
keep hS own records and accounts
of receipts and expenditures under
oil hn hrNd NJ
would sprepare statements for audit
by thS Comptroller.
'Th&e should exist the. closest
co-opetation between the several de-
partmants and the executive and
the conptroller. Such cooperation
wouldesecure elasticity Of govern
ment, btevent duplication and lapse
of auttority and do away with need
less vo@te Of public funds.
"A eepartment of Public Works
wouldfbe a most important division
Of theEState Government. Also the
same an be said of a Department
of Observation, because through
this dspartment would exist inter-
state relationship which must be a
factorSh order to preserve the ma
lions bStural resources.
"A Rrge proportion of the expen-
ses OF the State are incurred for
publicrNxorks. 1t Is absolutely nee
essaryE that work done should be
groupsd into departments. Both
enginsenng and architectural func-
tions mould be grouped under The
Departnfent Of Public Works where
they ON be systematically and eff
cientl{ managed without duplica-
tion abb waste OF public funds. In
the pkst, the high cost of public
2 work and the long time required to
perform 1t are common knowledge.
Great Economics.
~Gr&S economies can be attained
through the Departments of Public
Work Ind Of Conservation. II large
enterpRises are to be handled EN-
eientlN Il is of vital importance to
have one man in authority with
respect d policy, finance, labor. ma
terialsf and other controlling items.
who cSnz be reached without delay.
II Is sssential that those in actual
manaztrpent Of detail work should
have Hady access to this man. If
ready kccess is not available. delays
will Dsult. and such delays are
very cBstly.
"ThesS should be q budget All
studenfs of the subject are agreed
on thf4 point. A successful execu-
tive bpdget system should provide
for ef4clent working To correcl
the evnsc caused by the present un-
pystematic methods, there Is q
stronxt demand for retrenchment,
ana to sscure this result. q complete
budget prepared by the governor