- Title
- Public papers and letters of Angus Wilton McLean: Governor of North Carolina, 1925-1929
-
-
- Date
- 1931
-
-
- Creator
- ["McLean, Angus Wilton, 1870-1935."]
-
- Place
- ["North Carolina, United States"]
-
Public papers and letters of Angus Wilton McLean: Governor of North Carolina, 1925-1929
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Messages to the General Assembly
21
same way that the president or other chief executive of a large
business concern supervises the affairs of its various departments.
The commission, through the governor as its executive head,
should perform some or all of the following functions : (a) awaken
a spirit of economy and efficiency in the public service; (b)
scrutinize and subject to the test of necessity and public welfare
all items of proposed expenditures; (c) eliminate waste and
extravagance, if any exist; (b) prevent duplication of effort and
outlay by the various agencies; (e) constantly supervise the fiscal
operations of the State in respect to both revenues and expendi¬
tures; (f) formulate and recommend plans for the better coordina¬
tion, organization and administration of the various institutions;
(g) prepare and submit, for action by the General Assembly, a
budget of estimated receipts and expenditures for the State as a
whole, after receiving, examining and passing upon the reports
and estimates of the various departments and institutions, to
the end that current operating expenses shall, at no time, exceed
current income applicable thereto.
The budget should be initiated by the governor so that the
responsibility for balancing it in the first instance can be fixed.
The financial condition of the State should be disclosed in its
entirety. Receipts and expenditures, for both the preceding and
succeeding fiscal periods, should be shown in such a simple way
that the people may know whether there is a surplus or a deficit
from current operations.
The executive budget system, as I have outlined it, is one
definite method, in the absence of constitutional changes, of
applying in some degree, at least, sound business methods and
prudent business management to the fiscal affairs of the govern¬
ment. The system has brought about many economies in the
federal government and in the government of more than twenty-
four of the progressive states of the Union.
I urge you to create an effective executive budget system as
one of the most important acts of this General Assembly.
Our System Defective
An antiquated system is largely responsible for many aspects of
the ever increasing cost of government. It is stated that there
are approximately seventy-five departments, commissions, bu-
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