Evening star., 1932-12-09
ASSISTANT CABINET POSITIONS ARE ESTABLISHED

The primary purpose Of creating the
General Accounting once was to es-
tablish an independent agency to take
over the powers and duties formerly
imposed by law upon the Comptroller
of the Treasury and the six auditors
of the Treasury Department. It was
believed by the Congress that the f1ne-
ton of auditing the receipt and ex-
penditure accounts Of the Government
should be separate and independent of
any Of the executive departments. The
separation Of this audit function from
the executive departments and placing
the responsibility for auditing all re-
ceipt and expenditure accounts in an
establishment that Is independent of
all others Is believed to follow q sound
principle and one that should be strict
ly adhered to. The budget and ac-
counting act, however, went further
than to centralize the audit function in
separate independent establishment
1t conferred upon the General Account
ing Office duties Of an administrative
or executive character. The wording
OF the act has been interpreted to per-
nit the General Accounting Office to
extend its powers and duties into the
field OF administration in the several
departments and establishments Of the
Government to an extent that Is far
beyond its primary function.
1t is proposed to transfer from the
General Accounting Office to the Bu-
reau Of the Budget those duties and
functions which are administrative or
executive in character, except those re-
lating to the primary function Of au-
diting the Government accounts. Par
ticularly 1t is proposed to transfer
ID Those activities that relate to
! the designing. prescribing, and INSTALL
ing Of accounting forms, systems and
procedure to be used in the several ex-
ecutive departments and establishments,
except that the comptroller general
shall retain the power and duty to pre-
scribe the form and manner In which
accounts shall be submitted to his Of
! flee for audit;
CD Those activities which relate to
the administrative examination of fiscal
officers accounts and claims against
the United States, and the adequacy
and effectiveness Of the administrative
examination of accounts and claims in
the respective departments and estab-
lishments and the adequacy and effec-
| tiveness of departmental inspection of
the officers and accounts OF fiscal on
GERS.
Section 800 of the budget and ac-
counting act gives the comptroller
| general, as head of the General Ac-
counting Ofice, the power and duty to
prescribe the forms, systems, and pro-
cedure for administrative appropriation
and fund accounting in the several de-
partments and establishments and for
the administrative examination Of fiscal
officers accounts and claims against the
United States
Section 312 Cd provides that
He (the comptroller generaD shall
submit to Congress reports upon the
adequacy and effectiveness of the ad-
ministrative examination of accounts
and claims in the respective depart
ments and establishments and upon the
adequacy and effectiveness Of depart
mental inspection of the offices and ac-
counts of fiscal officers"
The comptroller general should have
the power and duty of prescribing the
form and manner In which accounts
are submitted to the General Account
ing Office for the purpose Of auditing
and to require all information neces-
sary for such audit. 1t is not, however,
a proper function of an establishment
created primarily for the purpose Of au-
diting Government accounts to make
the necessary studies and to develop
and prescribe accounting systems In
volving the entire field Of Government
accounting. Neither Is 1t proper flnc-
tion of such an establishment to pre-
scribe the procedure for nor to deter
mine the effectiveness Of the admins
trative examination of accounts. Ac-
counting Is an essential element of ef-
fective administration and 1t should be
developed with the primary objective Of
serving this purpose 1t should be 90
standardized as to facilitate the prepa-
ration Of financial data and reports for
the Government as q whole, as well as
to provide the proper basis for audit.
The accounting forms, systems, and
procedure prescribed for the Govern
ment establishments become the most
effective means available for the use Of
the department head in administering
the activities under his Jurisdiction ;
and they also furnish the information
upon which future requirements must
be predicated.
The administrative examination Of
accounts is, as its name implies. an ad-
mintstrative function. It is the final
essential link in the administrative con-
troll OF the fiscal activities OF depart
ment. It is not restricted to the check
ing of the accuracy of computation al
though this may be necessary Incl
dent of the examination. Its real pur-
pose Is the complete and detailed analy-
sis Of the actual expenditures which
enables the department head to control
the activities for which he is respon-
sible.. 1t provides him information as
to the actual cost of the various OBJ
jects for which he has authorized the
expenditure of appropriated funds, en-
ableS him to furnish the President,
through the Bureau of the Budget, with
justification for estimates OF future re-
qu1rementS, and thus forms the basis
of the whole estimating system Of the
Government.
The duty Of developing the forms,
systems, and procedure of accounting,
and the administrative examination Of
the general direction of the Bureau of
/ thu IiIdcat ,..laiaia 5s