Administrative Control in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
| Date | 01 May 1924 |
| DOI | 10.1177/000271622411300113 |
| Published date | 01 May 1924 |
| Author | Morris B. Lambie |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
94
Administrative
Control
in
the
Commonwealth
of
Massachusetts
By
MORRIS
B.
LAMBIE
University
of
Minnesota
THE
Commonwealth
of
Massachu-
-*.
setts
has
been
conspicuous
for
its
experiments
in
problems
of
govern-
ment.
From
1780,
when
it
accepted
its
constitution,
to
the
more
recent
years
of
1918-1923,
when
it
formulated
the
present
budget
procedure, reorganized
the
administrative
departments,
and
created
the
strongly
fortified
Commis-
sion
on
Administration
and
Finance,
there
has
been
a
continuous
succession
of
political
and
administrative
devices,
some
lasting
and
some
temporary,
yet
each
adding
to
the
sum
total
of
gov-
ernmental
progress.
This
state
has
not
hesitated
to
study
its
own
defects,
to
try
the
new
when
the
old
has
out-
worn
usefulness
and
to
add
more
serv-
ices
when
these
would
seem
to
benefit
public
welfare.
It
is
in this
state,
to
take
a
few
examples
selected
solely
on
the
side
of
administration,
that
we
find
the
first
prison
department,
the
first
board
of
education,
the
first
normal
school,
the
first
institution
for
the
in-
sane,
the
first
board
of
health,
the
first
bureau
of
statistics,
and
the
first
rail-
way
commission.
As
a
happy
conse-
quence,
other
states
will
bear
witness
that
many
of
the
experiments
have
proved
successful.
With
this
tendency
to
dare
and
to
achieve,
Massachusetts
provides
an
ex-
ceptionally
fertile
field
for
the
special
object
of
this
article.
Any
state
which
has
reached
its
stage
of
development,
necessitating
highly
specialized
and
socialized
activities,
may
measure
the
degree
of
success
or
failure
in
serving
modern
society
by
the
ability
to
main-
tain
intelligent
administrative
and
financial
control.
It
is
not
enough
to
legislate
activities.
There
must
also
be
a
steadying
force
on
duty
day
and
night
to
avoid
scattering
of
efforts,
to
conserve
energy
and
expense,
and
to
keep
the
administrative
machinery
in
gear
true to
the
officially
authorized
purpose.
It
is
upon
these
staff
and
control
aspects
of
administration
that
Massachusetts
with
characteristic
fore-
sight
has
recently
given
attention.
During
the
period
of
1910 to
1922
many
experiments
suggested
an
un-
mistakable
trend
until
finally
the
leg-
islature
in
creating
the
Commission
on
Administration
and
Finance
(1922)
is
now
testing
to
the
utmost
a
plan
of
concentrated
executive
control
focused
in
a
single
staff
agency.
It
has
en-
dowed
this
Commission
with
almost
super
powers.
The
decision
was
clear-
cut.
There
was
no
compromise.1
This
Commission,
fortified
with
power
to
require
the
attendance
and
testimony
of
witnesses,
to
insist
upon
the
production
of
papers
and
docu-
ments,
to
prescribe
rules
for
hearings
and
to
receive
court
enforcement,
represents
the
highest
development
of
centralized
fiscal
control.
It
stands
for
Massachusetts’
latest
experiment
in
the
field
of
administrative
organiza-
tion.
It
is
practically
the
last
word
in
delegating
sweeping
authority
over
the
business
management
of
the
state’s
de-
1
One
careful
student
of
public
administration,
Dr.
Luther
H.
Gulick,
fortunately
employed
by
the
state
as
an
advisor
in
formulating
the
present
budget
procedure
and
accepting
the
unusual
op-
portunity
to
record
observations,
has
given
us
the
steps
and
advances
in
fiscal
management
from
earliest
times
to
the
year
1920
in
his
Evolu-
tion
of
the
Budget
in
Massachusetts.
The
Mac-
millan
Company,
1920.
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