OCR Text |
Show BAMBERGER RETURNS FROM EASTERN TRIP Governor-elect Refreshed by Brief Respite From Office Seekers. FAVORS BUDGET PLAN Points Out in Detail How System Is Working in State of Maryland. Covernor-eleet Simon Bamberger returned re-turned last night to Salt Lake, after two weeks spent In the east. The governor-elect governor-elect was accompanied by Mrs. Simon Bamberger and by Miss Elsa Bamberger, who lias been attending school In the ea.st and who returned with her parents to be present at her father"s inauguration inaugura-tion as governor of Utah next Monday. While in the east Mr. Bamberger attended at-tended the national conference of governors gover-nors at Washington and afterwards went lu New York. Me stopped a day in Chicago Chi-cago on lils return, uovernor-elect Bamberger Bam-berger extended the Invitation on behalf of i he slate of Utah to the governors lo bold their next annual conference in Salt Lake. The governors accepted the Invitation Invi-tation and Governor-elect Bamberger is already making plans for their entertainment. entertain-ment. He thinks tiiat the governors of almost every state in the union will be here for the conference. Mr. Bamberger taid he was royally entertained en-tertained wherever lie stopped. At Washington Wash-ington he and tiie other governors ajid governors-elect were guests of President Wilson at luncheon and in New York a banquet was tendered Mr. Bamberger by prominent New York business and professional men and former Utah citizens citi-zens now residents of the metropolis. Refreshed by Trip. The train which brought Governor-elect Bamberger back to Salt Lake was nearly twelve hours behind time. The delay was due to heavy storms and snows in the mountains. Mr. Bamberger said that It was much colder in the east than here. Despite the cold, however, he said he enjoyed every mLnute of the trip and was refreshed by the brief respite from office of-fice seekers. At the governors' conference the problem prob-lem of state expenditures was discussed in considerable detail and the governors went on record In favor of the executive budget, as a means of keeping state expenditures ex-penditures within the revenues of the state. The discussion was led by Governor Gov-ernor Emerson C. Harrington of Maryland. Mary-land. The executive budget has been recently re-cently adopted In Maryland and Governor Harrington explained the features of the budget law in detail. On this subject Governor-elect Bamberger said: Situation in Utah. The situation in Maryland as outlined out-lined by Governor Harrington was similar to the situation in Utah with reference to financial affairs. The Utah legislature of 1915 appropriated SI.IUO.OOO more than the total estimated esti-mated revenues for 1915 and 191(3. Hems in the appropriation bill aggregating aggre-gating $4110,000 were vetoed by Governor Gov-ernor Spry and appropriations for new buildings were withheld by him, yet there has been spent during the last two years approximately half a million dollars more than will have been been received In revenue at the close of the year. The state auditor estimates that the requirements of the state, as reported by heads of departments de-partments and institutions, for the next two years will be nearly one and one-quarter million dollars in excess of the estimated revenue of the state. Demands are constantly made on the legislature from all sides for appropriations ap-propriations and the members of the legislature, necessarily unacquainted with the detail of the fiscal affairs of the state, are at a loss to know wha t appropriations to grant and what to refuse, keeping in mind the constitutional provision which prohibits pro-hibits the legislature from appropriating appro-priating more than the estimated revenue rev-enue of the state. Maryland Budget Law. The Maryland budget law makes It the duty of the governor to prepare and submit to the legislature a budget bud-get law, providing for the state expenditures, ex-penditures, the amount recommended recommend-ed to be within the total estimated revenue. The legislature Is given the power to eliminate items or to reduce the amounts appropriated, but not to add to the proposed appropriations. This law makes possible a scientific Investigation of the needs of the state and fixes the responsibility for public pub-lic expenditures definitely with the governor. Such a law, it seems to me. Is necessary in this state If we are to keep our expenditures within our revenues and administer the affairs of the state efficiently and economically. economi-cally. The state executives present at the conference in Washington heartily indorsed the Maryland budget law, so ably explained by Governor Harrington, Har-rington, and I look for its adoption in the near future by many of the states. Governor Spry Prominent. There wpre a number of other Important Im-portant subjects discussed at the Kovernor's conference, all of which were instructive and helpful. At Washington we were g-uests of the president at luncheon and of Secretary Secre-tary Joseph us Daniels on a trip to Mount Vernon. Several of the cabinet cabi-net officers called on me at the hotel. ho-tel. I returned their mils and visited a number of the various departments. Governor Spry took an important part in the conference. Because of bis long membership in the conference confer-ence and of his active work in connection con-nection with its proeeedincs. Governor Gover-nor Spry Is one of the leading members mem-bers of the conference. He Is popular popu-lar with the governors and stands high among thpm. He was very kind to me and saw to it that I met all of the governors at the conference and be was larcely Instrumental in getting get-ting the governors to accept the invitation in-vitation to come to Salt Lake- next summer. In New Yrk a large number of my friends gave me a most delightful reception re-ception and banquet. Not Ready to Appoint. Mr. Bamherger said that for the present pres-ent he would make no a nnonn cements of appointees. He said that the applications appli-cations and recommendations for appointments ap-pointments had been received a nd tabulated tabu-lated for his convenience when he gets ready to go over the names and look info Ihe qualifications. Most of thf. governor-elect's time for the next week will be devoted to going over minutely the reports of the various state departments and Institutions to oh-tnin oh-tnin material for hN meps:ii:e to the state legislature. Heretofore his time has been so largely taken up interviewing applicants appli-cants that he has had senrcely any time tn make a study of some of the Important Im-portant matters lo come to his attention ;nlv In his term of office. However, be hopes to have the opportuniiv thN we'k ' to t-o nto these matters uninterrupted by office Beckers. |