Foreword
| Published date | 01 May 1924 |
| Author | Clyde L. King |
| DOI | 10.1177/000271622411300101 |
| Date | 01 May 1924 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
vi
FOREWORD
WHAT
can
be
done
to
secure
com-
petency
and
economy
in
the
public
business?
It
is
to
this
question
this
volume
is
addressed.
No
attempt
is
made
to
balance
the
relative
merits
of
one
class
of
expen-
ditures
against
another
or
to
suggest
expenditures
that
may
be
eliminated.
These
are
questions
of
public
policy
that
are
to
be
discussed
at
another
time.
The
question
with
which
we
are
concerned
in
this
volume
is
as
to
the
methods
that
tend
to
secure
economy
and
competency
in
those
expenditures
which
the
legislatures
authorize.
For
given
a
public
service
to
be
accomplished
it is
in
the
public
interest
that
that
service
be
com-
petently
done
without
waste
or
ex-
travagance.
Few
if
any
are
interested
in
economy
in
public
business
just
for
the
sake
of
economy.
Nor
is
anyone
deeply
in-
terested
in
economy
in
private
business
as
such.
We
are
interested
in
economy
as
we
are
interested
in
thrift:
that
we
may
in
the
long
run
accomplish
more
that
is
worth
while.
In
private
busi-
ness
the
drive
for
economy
and
com-
petency
comes
from
the
desire
to
get
maximum
net
returns.
In
public
busi-
ness
the
drive
for
economy
and
com-
petency
comes
from
the
necessity
of
meeting
the
growing
public
demands
for
expenditures
in
the
face
of
a
grow-
ing
restlessness
against
increasing
taxes.
All
the
people
want
public
expendi-
tures-always
when
the
cost
is
borne
by
someone
else-and
often
when
the
cost
is
borne
fairly
by
themselves.
The
real
drive
for
economy
in
public
expenditures
does
not
come
until
hope
for
passing
the
taxes
to
someone
else
is
given
up.
Those
who
finally
admit
to
themselves
that
their
taxes
are
as
inevitable
as
death
under
prevailing
public
expenditures
get
interested
in
public
economy;
and
sometimes
that
interest
grows
into
a
demand
suffi-
ciently
vocal
to
offset
the
universal
interest
in
expenditures.
I.
THE
TREND
IN
PUBLIC
EXPENDITURES
While
it is
not
the
purpose
of
this
volume
to
discuss
expenditures
that
may or
may
not
be
eliminated
it
is
pertinent
to
inquire
as
to
the
trend
of
public
expenditures.
For
if
that
trend
is
upward,
competency
in
public
man-
agement
and
thrift
in
public
expen-
ditures
become
all
the
more
important.
The
total
revenues
raised
for
muni-
cipal,
county,
state
and
national
pur-
poses
increased
from
$~,131,40~,000
in
191~
1 to
$6,346,332,000
in
1922,
an
increase
of
198
per
cent.
These
revenues
in
1912
totaled
$21.96
for
every
person
in
the
United
States;
by
1922
they
totaled
$58.37.
Such
a
trend
is
cause
of
concern
even
after
due
consideration
is
given
to
increases
in
wealth
as
well
as
in
population
and
to
the
lower
purchas-
ing
power
of
the
dollar.
Municipal
revenues
2
increased
in
this
period
least
of
all:
from
$849,971,-
000
to
$1,532,400,000
or
80
per
cent.
Revenues
for
county
purposes
grew
in
this
eleven
year
period
from
$307,872,-
000
to
$742,331,000
an
increase
of
141
per
cent.
But
the
revenues
for
na-
tional
purposes
increased
from
$667,-
038,000
to
$3,204,133,000
or
380
per
cent
in
1922
and
to
$3,630,215,000
in
1923
or
444
per
cent.
The
heaviest
increase,
therefore,
is
1
The
census
table
from
which
these
figures
were
compiled
indicates
that
the
revenues
given
for
the
national
government
($667,083,000)
were
for
1913
and
not
1912.
2
All
incorporated
places
of
over
2,500.
To continue reading
Request your trial