National Budget system;

              94 HASKINS & SELLS December
T H E average person who has had no oc-casion
to give particular thought to the
matter would probably be shocked by a
statement to the effect that the government
of the United States has no provision
whereby there is drawn up in advance a
general financial program for the opera­tion
of the government.
Under the present plan the appropria­tion
bill and other bills calling for the dis­bursement
of funds originate with the legis­lative
branch of the government. Such
bills may be reported out at any time dur­ing
the session; hence, it is difficult to de­termine
how much the government plans to
spend until the legislative branch adjourns
and the President has either signed or
vetoed the bills.
There is now (December 1, 1919) be­fore
the Senate a bill introduced in the
House by Mr. Good of Iowa, (H.R.
9783) the purpose of which is to provide
a national budget system and an independ­ent
audit of government accounts. This
bill passed the House on October 21, 1919.
The bill provides for a budget bureau
and an accounting department. The
former would be established in the Presi­dent's
office; the latter would take over the
functions of the Comptroller of the Treas­ury
and the auditors for the various de­partments
and would be under the direc­tion
of an officer to be known as the Comp­troller
General.
The bill takes the estimates of appropria­tions
out of the hands of the Secretary of
the Treasury and requires that they shall
be submitted to the President. The latter,
with the assistance of the Budget Bureau,
is required "to transmit to Congress on the
first day of each regular Session after the
calendar year 1919, a document to be
known as a budget and to contain (1) bal­anced
statements of revenues and expendi­tures
for the preceding fiscal year, (2) of
the resources and liabilities at the close of
the year, (3) estimates of revenues and ex­penditures
(a) for the current fiscal year,
and (b) of the revenues and expenditures
needed for the ensuing year."
The Budget Bureau contemplates two
functions; one to conduct investigations
and compile data from the various govern­ment
departments; the other to assist the
President in the preparation of a budget.
The Comptroller General would be au­thorized
to investigate matters relating to
the receipt and expenditure of public funds
and to submit to Congress at the beginning
of each regular session a report on the work
of the Accounting Department with recom­mendations
as to legislation deemed neces­sary
to facilitate prompt rendition and set­tlement
of government accounts. The
Comptroller General would have access to
all books and records of the executive de­partments
and the power to enforce from
such departments any information desired.
A National Budget System