Newspapers / Zebulon Record (Zebulon, N.C.) / July 24, 1925, edition 1 / Page 2
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GOVERNOR ANGUS W. McLEAN TALKS TO NEWSPAPER MEN State Press Meeting at Asheville Honor ed By Presence Governor Says “Headline Writ ers Control Pub lic Opinion” (Continued from last week.) Extracts from address delivered by Governor Angus W. McLean before the North Carolina Press Association at Asheville, N. C., on Thursday, July 9tb, 1926: Governor McLean said in part: The financial statements which the Governor as Director of the Budget submits in support of his recommend ations should be complete and pre sented in such forms as to be easily understood not only by the General Assembly, but by the public as well. Under the new Executive Budget Act adopted by the last General As sembly, the Governor will have the first opportunity in the fall of 1926, to prepare for submission to the Gen eral Assembly which convenes in Jan uary, 1927, a complete budget cover ing all appropriations which are to become effective on July 1, 1927. Because the Executive Budget Act was not in effect previous to the meeting of the last General Assembly, it was impossible for the present Governor to submit a complete bug get program to that Assembly. In justice, however, to the mem bers of the old Legislative Budget Commission, which prepared the bud get for the last General Assembly, it should be said that they performed very constructive and meritorious ser vice in their recommendations made to the General Assembly of 1925. The Executive Budget Act adopted upon my recommendation by the Gen eral Assembly of 1925, became gener ally effective on July Ist, 1925, and will cover the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1925, and ending June 30, 1926, and all subsequent fiscal years. (b) Another proroquisito of the successful Budget System embodied in the North Carolina law is the per manent Budget Bureau, making the j Budget System a permanent super vising department of finance, with the Governor as director. The method by which supervision over all the spending agencies of the State will be maintained by the Bud get Bureau is as follows: After the appropriations have been made by the Legislature and each spending agency knows how much will be available for it to expend, estimates of the way in which it is planned to spend the money must be submitted to tne Bud get Bureau. These estimates, which are prepared by every institution and department, show the amount and the distrbution of the contemplated ex penditures according to a standard classification, and n this way it will be ascertained how much each egency intends to spend during the entire biennium, the next fiscal year, and the first quarter of the first year, for personal services, supplies, etc. They will also show the estimated revenues both of the general funds and the I SATURDAY MONDAY TUESDAY 1 I ARE $ DAYS 1 SOME BARGAINS YOU CAN GET AT I N. B. FINCH & CO. I Men’s Caps, $1.50 value SI.OO i > rag Men’s Hose, 75c value, 2 pair f0r.... SI.OO 1 I Boys’ Shirts, $1.25 and $1.50 value SI.OO i Heavy Enamel Water Buckets, $1.25 val. SI.OO I One Gross Quart Fruit Jars, per doz t|| | special funds. Each department nnd institution will prepare a budget for its own operations and submit It to the Budget Bureau for approval. With these biennial estimates is a request for quarterly allotment. This allotment sets the limit on the amount of the appropriation that can be used during the quarter. If unexpected circumstances arise and some institu tion needs more money, it ean make a special request to the Budget Bureau, which will allow an increase in the allotment if it considers the reasons adequate and the appropriation avail able for the particular institution will justify it. Not only the appropriations made by the General Assembly, but also the special revenues collected by any in stitution or department must now be deposited daily to the credit of the state treasurer. Formerly, these spe cial revenues were deposited to the credit of the institutons themselves and spent as desired. This meant that no supervision could be maintained over these expenditures, as the I amount of the specitl revenues or the, expenditures from them was not known until after the expenditures were made. In the case of some of the institutions the only supervision at all was the annual audit. Now the special revenues are credited to the institutions depositing them, so that an institution may spend during the quarter its allotment plus its special revenues, but the special revenues will be spent before the appropria tion. As a means of insuring that these budgets are being lived up to by thej institutions departments there will be a monthly expenditure state ment submitted to the Budget Bureau at the close of each month during the year. It will have the actual expend itures of the month, distributed ac cording to the same classification as that used in the estimate sheets. This will permt the Budget Bureau to com pare the actual expenditures with the estimated expendtures and the avail able appropriations and thus see to it that the spending agencies are living within their income. Any large dis crepancies will be investigated and explanations asked. In the past some institutions spent so much of their appropriations in the first few months of the year that they would be in straightened circumstances during the last months, or would incur de ficits by overspending their appropri ations. The supervision exercised by the Budget Bureau which has been de scribed so far is largely negative in character. Its objective is to prevent an operating deficit in the general fund of the State, to prevent institu tions and departments from exceed ing their available appropriations, and to prevent them from spending too freely in the first months of the year and starving in the last. The Budget Bureau has a more positive side in that it will assist the State agencies in operating economi cally and efficiently. Its official per sonnel acquainted with modern busi ness methods and with the affairs of all the state agencies, and thus with the conditions of the State as a whole, will make Surveys of the working of the various institutions and depart ments from time to time for the pur j pose of offering helpful and construc tive suggestions. If, for example, it should develop that a certain institution is spending a much larger percentage of its funds THE ZEBULON RECORD, FRIDAY, JULY 24, 1925 for heat, light and power than similar institutions in the state elsewhere, the Budget Bureau can investigate to see if the excess is due to insurmount able obstacles or to an inefficient plant system. Investigations of this tia- 1 ture will enable the Budget Bureau to see that the State Institutions are kept abreast of the practices else where. As a result of the informa tion accumulated in its investigations, the Budget Bureau will also be in a position to assist the institutions and departments in handling their other problems. Duplication in work will be revealed and means of coordinat ing activities will be suggested. All these considerations will be of tssist ance to the Governor when he formu lates his program for the following biennium for submission to the Gen eral Assembly. From the time that the State Gov ernment was established, the princi pal departments and many of the ad ministrative commissions, boards, and other agencies of the state were not opertted on a fixed appropriation bas is. There were some 76 statutes on the books authorizing money to be paid out of the State Treasury for various purposes by the departments and other agencies without limit as to amount. These general statutes ! allowing money to be spent for speci fied objects without limiting the amount of the expenditures, necessar ily resulted in uncertainty as to the amount of the total expendtures by the State for any one year. This made it practically impossible for the Leg islature to prevent the total expendi tures from exceeding the total reve nues within the fiscal year, or the bi ennium for which the appropriations were made and the taxes assessed. It was thus impossible under the old system to have a balanced budget, which s absolutely essential in any scheme of sound fiscal policy. As a part of the Executive Budget System, the Legislature declared it to be the policy of the State to maintain a balanced budget to the end that to tal State expenditures should not ex ceed the total income of the State within the fiscal period. In further ance of this policy the Legislature re pealed all statutes allowing general and unlimited appropriations and placed every department, institution and other agency of the State upon an appropriation basis. A provision was inserted in the approprittion bill giving the Governor as Director of the Budget power to reduce all ap propriations pro rata when this ap peared to be necessary to balance the budget and to bring the total appro priations for all purposes within the revenue actually collected within the fiscal period. I have not found anyone who can make the slightest objection to the principle involved in the System. The only objection I hear ir, that it en tails a change from the old methods of administration of the fiscal affairs of government which were in force | when the state spent for all purposes less than an average town in North ! Carolina spends today. It is true j that there are a very few officials and j state employees in North Carolina who object to this system, because it will take some trouble to install it, and because it results in discarding | old methods to which they have be come accustomed, and lastly, because it results in placing a reasonable check ! upon the spending of money. Fortun ately, the group which is inclined to object and to discourage the adoption of the new plan are so few in number and so timid in voicing their opposi tion that it is becoming more and more difficult to identify them. A typical practice on the part of I those who are opposed to modern methods in government is to try to make it appear that the Executive Budget System lodges too much powei* in the hands of the Governor. That is always the favorite method of the reactionary and the demagogue. As a matter of fact, the Governor has no power except that which the General Assembly, as the representa tive of the people confers upon him. The work of the Governor in preparing and submitting to the General Assem bly a program for raising revenue and making appropriations for the conduct of the State Government is recommendatory only. He develops the facts and presents them to the Legislature with his recommenda tions. The Legislature can adopt them either in whole or in part or re ject them entirely, and the only re course the Governor has is the power of public opinion to which he can ap peal, and, I believe, appeal successful ly, if he can convince the people that his program is sound and for the best interests of the State. In carrying out the plan, the Gov ernor is the servant of the people and not their master. All students of democratic govern ment agree that while democracy is the best form of government, it can not function successfully unless ade quate machinery is provided, whereby the people in whom is vested all pow er can effectvely exercise the sover eignty vested in them. The Executive Budget System which became effective on the first day of July was enacted by the Gen eral Assembly, not because of the personal influence of any person, but because it was approved and demanded by the articulate voice of the masses of the people of North Carolina. (2) The Daily Deposit Act which requires all of the revenue collecting agencies to deposit all revenues be longing to the State in some bank to the credit of the State Treasurer dai ly, instead of permitting those agen cies to retain the money for a month or more, as has been the practice heretofore, will undoubtedly, increase the available cash in the hands of the Treasurer for current operations, and will, in the long run, save the State quite a substantial sum in the way of interest. (3) Another most important meas ure was the enactment of a law con solidating all the principle revenue collecting agencies of the state under the Department of Revenue. Under I SOLICITING BUSINESS | l The Zebulon Banking & Trust Co. | I . ZEBULON, N. C. | i “The Coin* County Bank!” » | WAKE, JOHNSTON, FRANKLIN, NASH a Ljl m ii in I, I, I I 11 I Mil «r —— 1® 1 Tliis Bank is at the service of the citizens and business ,1 concerns of this section, and we are prepared to handle |j any business entrusted to us in a satisfactory manner. jj| | Officers. | jl MILLARD B. CHAMBLEE, President. | K JOHN K. BARROW, Vice-President. g s F. E. BUNN, Active Vice-President. S L. M. GOULD, Cashier. . „ } £ Directors. 3 | J.Mike Whitley,Zebulon, N.C. n B F. E. Bunn, Zebulon, N. C. 8 Geo. W. Duke, Zebulon, N. C., Route 3. K IX Geo. E. Robertson, Wendell. N.C., Route 2. R BE. Clifton Daniel. Zebulon. N. C. Foster D. Finch, Zebulon, N. C. S 0 Johnnie G. Kemo, Zebulon. N. C. B R. R. Creech, Zebulon, N. C. m Leßoy L. Massey, Zebulon, N. C. ffj C. Vaiden Whitley, Zebulon, N. C. m Millard B. Chamblee, Zehulon, N. C. H II JohnK.Barrow,Zebulon. N.C. 3 | g 1 Any and all business transacted with this bank is under the Sj | direct supervision of these officers and directors. | Resources Over Half Million Dollars ■ K ibis plan the Commissioner of Reve nue collects all the general fund reve nues of the state, as well as all speci al revenues, including those applica ble to the maintenance of the State Highway System. This consolidaton of the tax collecting functions under one department has already brought about considerable saving by reason of the fact that it has elimnated much dupliettion of labor and expense in administration. Complete results, however, cannot be obtained within the first few months for the reason that it will take some time to bring about complete coordination and eliminate overlapping. I believe that after the first year of operations under the new plan quite a large saving will result. (4) Another very important meas ure was enacted in respect to the laps ing of appropriations made to depart ments and institutions by preceding Genertl Assemblies. Under the old system appropriations for mainten ance made to the departments and in stitutions did not lapse on June thir tieth, the end of the fiscal year but continued to be available under certain Watch Our Window Every Saturday during July and August we will give away $2.75 in trade to the one bringing in the fan bearing the same number as is displayed on our win dow that day. If you don’t win the first time you may the next. Bring Your Fan this week; You may be the Winner. If the fan you are carrying has on it the same num ber that you see on our window any Saturday all you have to do is to step inside and get two dollars and seventy-five cents worth of goods absolutely free. WHEN DOWN TOWN COOL OFF AT OUR FOUNTAIN Zebulon Drug Co. THE REXALL STORE Zebulon, - - - North Carolina conditions after June thirtieth. Un- U der the new law all appropriations M that have not been paid out by Treasurer at the close of business on June 30th of each year will lapse, and 1 whatever sums are on hand unexpend- I ed, revert to the general fund m the' I hands of the treasurer. The 4nstitu- I tions and departments must now f close up the old years business on U June thirtieth and begin the business I of the new fiscal year on July first. J In the past many of the institutions j have been in the habit of overdrawing 1 their maintenance appropriations and closing the fisctl year with a deficit. This practice often caused deficits in the general fund of the state and-re sulted in some of the institutions hav ing to spend a part of the appropria tion made for the new biennium in paying accounts and other obligations i incurred in the last month or two of j the previous fiscal year. (Concluded next week.) LOST AND FOUND—The Record will help you solve such questions. i
Zebulon Record (Zebulon, N.C.)
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July 24, 1925, edition 1
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