- Title
- Public documents [1917]
-
-
- Date
- 1917
-
-
- Creator
- ["North Carolina."]
-
- Place
- ["North Carolina, United States"]
-
Public documents [1917]
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D'u imknt No. 1
[Session
10
It is not wholesome for the public, nor for the men who bold the
offices, for our officials to Slave an indefinite tenure. Young men justly
demand that they be given opportunity to show what they can do in the
public service, without having to oppose men whose long possession of
an office has well-nigh ripened into a fee-simple title. New blood will
make for wholesome growth. I am satisfied that a constitutional amend¬
ment. limiting State officers to two successive terms, and county officers
to three successive terms, would result iu increased efficiency and dimin¬
ished strife. Of course, such an amendment ought not to apply to offi¬
cers in the judicial, educational, and health departments.
THE SHORT JtALLOT
I am thoroughly converted to the wisdom of the short ballot. When
Woodrow Wilson, while he was Governor of Yew Jersey, spoke in the
Capitol Square at Raleigh, he said that the old admonition, “Not to put
all your eggs in one basket/’ was not political wisdom. Said he, “The
thing for the public to do is to put all of its eggs in one basket and
then watch that basket.”
It is simply impossible for the average man iu North Carolina who
reads and takes a live interest in public affairs to acquaint himself suffi¬
ciently with all of the men who run for State administrative offices to
pass upon them with any satisfaction to himself. Moreover, experience
and observation teach that it is well-nigh impossible to induce men who
are best qualified to hold administrative offices to run for them in State¬
wide primaries and in general elections. The Governor and the Lieuten¬
ant Governor of the State should be elected by the people, and all admin¬
istrative officers should be appointed. I feel no embarrassment in taking
this position, for the reason that the change in the law would require a
constitutional amendment, and could not possibly be effective during the
present administration.
ТПЕ
STATE ItOSriTALS
The saying of Wilson, “Tut your eggs in one basket and wateli that
basket/' applies to the management of our State hospitals for the insane.
Under tlie present arrangement, with a different board of directors for
each hospital, no director feels that any great responsibility rests on him.
Some of the very wisest and best men who arc now serving on these
hoards, and have served heretofore, have told me that it was impossible in
the limited time given by tbe directors to the supervision of the institu¬
tions to acquire any adequate knowledge of their conduct. Oue director
stated to me that he refused to further serve on a board because he was
not willing to be held responsible by the public for tbe management of an
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