Reorganizing State Government

• Author: Walter F. Dodd
• Date: 01 May 1924
• DOI: 10.1177/000271622411300122
• Published date: 01 May 1924
• Subject Matter: Articles

161

REORGANIZING

STATE

GOVERNMENT

result of

this

procedure

cannot

be

stated

in dollars

and

cents.

It

did

not

appear

upon

any

particular

balance

sheet.

It

was

reflected

in

the

general

result,

not

only

in

unity

and

efficiency

of

administration,

but

in

the

tax

levy,

which,

in

times

of

mounting

prices,

had

been

reduced.

As

has

been

seen,

the

Department

of

Finance

was

also

required

to

prepare

a

budget

of

estimated

expenditures

and

receipts,

to

be

submitted

to

each

regu-

lar

session

of

the

General

Assembly.

In

the

exercise

of

his

general

supervision

over

expenditures,

the

Director

of

Finance

in

effect

began

the

preparation

of

the

budget

a

biennium

in

advance.

That

is,

on

the

first

of

July,

1917,

in

approving

or

disapproving

vouchers

and

investigating

into

the

financial

con-

ditions,

he

was

gathering

information

all

the

while

to

enable

him

intelligently

to

judge

what

the

appropriations

should

be

for

the

next

biennium.

When

the

next

legislature

met

in

January,

1919,

the Director

of

Finance

had

a

budget

ready.

The

old

way

was

for

each

official

who

expended

public

money

to

make

an

estimate

of

what

he

desired

and

to

submit

that

direct

to

the

General

Assembly,

without

revision

by

anyone.

He

always

asked

for

what

he

needed,

and

usually

for

more,

and

therefore

the

legislature,

no

matter

how

earnestly

it

tried

to

meet

its

duty,

had

to

guess

at

the

amount

of

appro-

priations.

All

this

was

changed

in

the

budget

submitted

by

the

Director

of

Finance.

He

had

in

the

first

place

the

information

he

had

acquired

as

to

the

needs

of

the

various

activities

of

the

state

in

the

exercise

of

his

power

of

general

supervision

over

the

finances,

and

in

addition

he

had

been

able

to

investigate

himself,

when

a

request

was

made

by

any

official

charged

with

the

expenditure

of

money,

as

to

the

exact

needs

of

the

case.

The

budget

thus

submitted

went

before

the

appropria-

tion

committees

of

the

House

and

Senate,

and

with

very

few

changes

was

enacted

into

law.

Reorganizing

State

Government

By

WALTER

F.

DODD

Of

the

Chicago

Bar

HUMAN

institutions

develop

slowly

and

without

plan.

This

statement

applies

with

peculiar

force

to

the

growth

of

government

in

the

American

states.

Government

must

adapt

its

organiza-

tion

and

its

work

to

changing

human

needs.

The

needs

for

governmental

activity

and

the

machinery

of

govern-

ment

have

expanded

rapidly.

Government

is

an

historical

institu-

tion,

and

does

not

rapidly

discard

old

forms

of

organization,

or

promptly

adopt

new.

This

is

natural

and

per-

haps

desirable,

for

the

traditions

of

existing

institutions

are

a

part

of

our-

selves.

But

we

must

adopt

new

meth-

12

ods

when

they

become

necessary

to

meet

new

problems,

or

government

fails

in

the

performance

of

its

impor-

tant

functions

as

a

social

agency.

New

needs

for

governmental

activity

are

usually

felt

and

dealt

with

singly.

Need

for

complete

analysis

of

the

gov-

ernmental

mechanism

as

a

whole

does

not

present

itself

until

forced

upon

the

attention

by

the

very

magnitude

of

the

task

and

the

increased

burdens

of

tax-

ation.

State

and

local

governments

have

until

comparatively

recent

years

de-

veloped

in

a

manner

almost

entirely

haphazard.

With

new

needs

there

has