The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-01-04
StateMustLive Within Budget Says Governor
Citizen Has Right to De. mand Honest Spending
 of Money

ator and to a great extent his convenience could also be served by providing additional highway patrol by increasing the number of state policemen available for this duty to protect the motorist who wants to obey and who does obey the law against him who will not obey the law. Where main highways pass through rural dis tricts many busy intersections are dangerous at night because of poor visibility. The time has come to seriously consider highway lighting in the interest of safety. Some of the funds heretofore used for strengthening curves and reducing grades could very well be devoted to highway patrol and highway lighting. It is urged that you continue the Highway Safety Commission.
 Auditing Of Municipal Accounts
 A uniform system of periodic auditing and accounting of public monies in counties, cities and towns should be established, Per- iodic auditing either by a town auditor of by public accountants should have some clearing house in a state department. The state collects large sums that are ex- pended in the cities, towns and counties for local purposes and it is entitled to know the operation and status of local public fi- nances. It is not recommended that a separate department be created. The work could be done under the direction of the Finance Commissioner. The auditing should be done by reputable pub- lie accountants at the expense of the town. A uniform system of periodic auditing and accounting would be helpful to local officials, the very great majority of whom try hard to do good job. The reports of those audits should be easily accessible to the public.
 Land Purchases Made By the State
 For the protection of the de- partment head charged with the purchase of land or rights in land as well as for the protection of the tax payer it is advisable for you to consider enacting legisla- ton providing that in no case where land is purchased for the state above fixed minimum value shall the purchase become final or the consideration be paid to the seller until a Judge of the Superior Court sitting in the county where the land is located, has reviewed the transaction and has entered judsment for the amount to be paid. Such a pro- cedure would not interfere with open and fair dealing but it would protect the seller and the state and would go a long way toward avoiding excessive or unfair prices In the purchases of lands or rights in land for the state.
 Building Program
 The next biennium will see the substantial completion of the pro- gram for increasing and enlarg- ing our humane institutions.
 These institutions will be prac- tically doubled in size and capac- ity. The cost of the maintenance and operation will be greatly in- creased and has already been es- timated by the Budget Division and the Commissioner of Finance to be approximately $872, ,736.45 for 1939-1940 and $1,792, 2,139.87 for 1940-1941. While these institutions have been sorely needed their maintenance and operation places an increased burden upon the tax payers of the state. We must di- rect all our energy and thought to the efficient and economical ad- ministratiop and operation of these vastly enlarged facilities.
 It is the intention of the Gov- ernor at an early date to submit to you a special message dealing exclusively with the present. status of the building program and the Building Fund with rec. concentrations concerning both.
 Welfare
 The Welfare Department in ac. cordance with the report of an ex- animation made under the direc- tion of the Governor is working to better coordinate the separate branches of the department to promote efficiency and to reduce expense. There is much room for improvement in the administra- ticn of welfare work. This is not due to the inefficiency of the de- partment but 1t has come about because of the rapid expansion of the services rendered by that de- partment in. the past few years. We would be happy indeed to see the County Home reduced merely to temporary l-ome until those un- fortunate children who require the help of the state could have places in private families found for those suitable to be so placed, and the others given proper care in other institutions. Welfare work can best be done with the coun- ties, cities and towns as the units of organization. Such work, how. ever, requires the right kind of personnel. We need the man or woman who has view of the ob- Ject desired, plan to obtain it and a fair regard for the taxpay- CT who must meet the Dill. The county, city and town can be used even more effectively and econom- tcally as a subdivision for the ad- ministration of relief than 1t is now being used. Local adminis- tion of unified program under a reasonable amount of state SUI. pervision with qualified personnel is the end desired.
 Old age pension payments should be based upon reason- able need. A permanent fund in the nature of reserve should be established placing funding for old age pensions beyond the possibil- ity of use for the general expense of the state. We must be prepared to meet in reasonable way the