An Evaluation of the System of Central Financial Control of Research in State Governments Bulletin of the National Research Council (1924) / Chapter Skim
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I. Introduction
I. Introduction
Pages 9-14
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From page 9... ...
The establishment of the State Board of Public Affairs in Wisconsin in 1911, the enactment of the Civil Code in Illinois in 1917, the enactment of the Ohio Civil Code in 1921, and the legislation of Massachusetts culminating in the creation of the Board of Administration and Finance, all produced wide departures from the system of administration hitherto in operation. The essential characteristic introduced in each case was the imposition of an agency of review, of supervision, and in many respects of control over officers and commissions who had hitherto conducted the work of their respective offices for the most part subject only to the necessity of securing approval of their expenditures by the auditor or controller.
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From page 10... ...
These conflicting points of view gave rise to the present investigation, the purpose of which is to study the characteristics, and to determine the effects of different systems of financial supervision and control vested in state officials on the prosecution of the work of scientific departments, especially with reference to the research phases of such work; and to evaluate the different systems of control both from the point of view of the scientific departments and of the administration as a whole' paying special attention to the more highly centralized systems. Consideration of the various phases of the problem indicates that the topics which must be considered include the methods of accounting and the process of making the budget; the control of expenditures subsequent to the appropriation, both by the auditor and by such finance officers as the Illinois Director of Finance; central control of purchases; central control of printing; central control of contingent funds; central supervision over traveling; and central control of personnel administration.
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From page 11... ...
On the other hand, the state is interested in securing the maximum possible results in any activity which it undertakes; and the farreaching results of scientific investigation are of the greatest importance, if not to the current administration of its business, at least to the ultimate welfare of its citizens. If the state desires to support scientific research, either in the state University or in its administrative bureaus, it should so far as possible provide the best working conditions.
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From page 12... ...
Furthermore, owing to the professional character of -the work and the inability of the ordinary political appointee to perform it, there is less likelihood of political interference. These points of difference, therefore, make it at least debatable whether state bureaus and institutions engaged in research may not properly claim special treatment within the structure of central financial control.
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From page 13... ...
On this question it may be sufficient to point out that single items, in themselves insignificant, may in the aggregate make up large totals, and that even a small expenditure on a particular service may directly or indirectly involve larger demands elsewhere, which can only be appreciated on a broad view of all the relative conditions. On the whole, experience seems to show that the interests of the tax-payer cannot be left to the spending Departments; that those interests require the careful consideration of each item of public expenditure in its relation to other items and to the available resources of the State, as well as the vigilant supervision of some authority not directly concerned in the expenditure itself; and that such supervision can be most naturally and effectively exercised by the Department which is responsible for raising the revenue required.
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From page 14... ...
The plan of the following study is to present first the evidence by means of a detailed analysis of the statutory basis of central control in the states under observation, and a survey of the practical operation of these laws; then to present the characteristics of control found in a university and in industrial research laboratories; and on the basis of these facts present certain observations and attempt to delimit the proper sphere of central financial control in relation to work of a scientific character performed by state governments.
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