OCR Text |
Show BETTER BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Kansas is trying the experiment of a state commission of three members, mem-bers, with a business manager to i handle all state affairs. The state government is to be something besides an eleemosynary institution to hand out political plums and provide fat places. One of the greatest opportunities for reduction of taxes lies in this direction, di-rection, and its application could be made to county affairs. The people nominate and elect about fifteen persons for various! county offices, most of whom they do not know as to qualifications. I Most of these persons go to the j legislature for their" compensation j and many of them have power to in-; cur expenditures and buy supplies, j They are all interested in getting through their work as easily as pos-1 sible and are a kind of political union. I The three county commissioners are supposed to manage the county! business, but after the legislature is through have little to say. j New burdens are imposed on the taxpayers by the county officials and ( all the commissioners have to do is make up the levy. j The requirements are fixed by lawj and in the aggregate make up the ' total demanded for county purposes and no reform is possible. The three county commissioners should be high class business men and should have full authority to hire and fire all the rest of the county coun-ty employes and purchase all sup-' plies. j The three commissioners or hoard j of directors of the county should ; have power to hire a first-class business busi-ness manager for the county and the business should be as carefully conducted con-ducted as any large corporation. The result would be a more efii- ! cient service in the management of county business and with application j of business principl'-H expense or j county government would come, down twenty-five to thirty per cent, j |