tendent of public instruction, to whose work the library management is most germane, like the Governor, is ex-officio a member of the board of commissioners of the state library.

From this outline it may be seen that there are important questions in library administration to be solved in this state, and many difficulties in the way of their solution. In this connection the plan of organization of the state libraries in New York and Indiana as a branch of their educational system is interesting. The law library, however, in New York, and the legislative reference bureau in Indiana are under separate management. Ohio, Texas and California have appointive library boards, and the state libraries under their jurisdiction include all or at least the most important library services. In many of the states there are separate authorities for different phases of library work as in Illinois.5

The vocational education board is a separate board of which the superintendent of public instruction, and the director of the department of registration and education, are ex-officio members. This completes the enumeration of the agencies whose work is educational in character.

The main problem for the consideration of a constitutional convention concerning these agencies is in connection with the framing of provisions concerning the office of superintendent of public instruction. The report of the educational commission (1907) and the report of the Efficiency and Economy Committee (1915), both recommended the creation of a state board of education and the strengthening of the power of the superintendent of public instruction. We have discussed the suggestion of making him an appointive officer in the preceding chapter.

The United States Bureau of Education, in a recent bulletin, contains the following discussion concerning state educational organization:

"Modern educational development is toward the state board of education as the administrative head of the state's educational system. Thirty-seven states leave the entire direction of the public school system to such boards. Several states have no such state boards; in several others, boards have been organized since the passage of the SmithHughes act to administer the funds provided under this act; and in others again the state boards of education administer only the higher educational institutions, as the university, agricultural college and normal schools.

"Of the thirty-seven states with state boards of education, eight have ex-officio boards, which usually comprise the Governor, the superintendent of public instruction and one or more other state officials such as secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, auditor, etc. Of the 28 states, with appointed state boards, 22 leave the appointment to the Governor subject, in most cases, to approval of the state Senate; four states leave the selection of the boards to the state legislature; one state

Mathews, J. M. A report on educational administration. In the Report of the Efficiency and Economy Committee of Illinois. Pp. 456-464 contain a discussion of state library administration.

puts it to popular vote; and in one state it is left to the state superintendent of public instruction.” “

The Efficiency and Economy Committee recommended the creation of a department of education to include the work of the superintendent of public instruction, the normal school boards, the university trustees, the state library, a natural resources commission and other state agencies. The superintendent of public instruction was to be the executive head of the proposed organization. The educational agencies which have been consolidated in the department of registration and education, if divorced from the registration functions which are but vaguely related to education, form a good basis upon which to organize such a department, in combination with that of the superintendent of public instruction.

Corporations. The department of trade and commerce has jurisdiction over insurance companies, and through its nominal supervision of the public utilities commission, it has some jurisdiction over public utility corporations. The secretary of state issues charters of incorporation to most classes of corporations, and exercises some supervision over a great number of ordinary business corporations. He is also charged with the administration of the "blue sky law." The auditor of public accounts issues charters to state banks, has supervision of the state banks and banking institutions, trust companies, title guarantee companies, building and loan associations and pawners' societies. A banking law which is to be submitted to the people in November, 1920, enlarges his supervision over banks. Thus, the administration of the laws concerning corporations is divided between two elective state officials and the department of trade and commerce.

The tax commission, which is nominally a part of the department of finance, is charged with the assessment of the capital stock of all corporations except those for manufacturing, mercantile, mining, printing and publishing newspapers, breeding of stock and banking purposes. The latter corporations are assessed locally. Some classes of corporations are under the supervision of more than one state authority. authority. Public utility Public utility corporations, trust corporations, trust companies, title guarantee companies, and assessment life and accident insurance companies are all chartered by the secretary of state, but are under the supervision of the public utilities commission, the auditor, or the department of trade and commerce. With the present system of independent offices there is no uniformity of method. with respect to the supervision and incorporation of business corporations. Supervision over important classes of business corporations has been vested in some of the elective state officers, whose primary functions have no relation to this work, and the enforcement of these laws is thus distinctively removed from the control of the Governor.

The Efficiency and Economy Committee recommended the organization of all the agencies charged with supervision of corporations into

U. S. Bureau of Education. A manual of educational legislation for the guidance of committees on education in the state legislatures, 1919, p. 8.

a single department known as the department of trade and commerce."

Such a department was organized under the code and it has supervision of insurance companies and nominal supervision of public utility corporations.

In many of the states the supervision of business corporations is divided between a number of separate officials, without correlation or organization, as in Illinois. In some states the control of banking and insurance companies is vested in the same official. Under the reorganization enacted into law in Massachusetts in 1919, this combination was made. Virginia and North Caroline consolidate all offices and boards having jurisdiction over the organization and activities of business corporations into a single state corporation commission. These commissions also act as a state board of assessors for the assessment and taxation of certain classes of corporations.

Elections. The secretary of state, the voting machine commissioners, the state canvassing board, and the primary canvassing board, each have functions dealing with elections. The last two are ex-officio boards, but the membership of these boards is not identical. The secretary of state is ex-officio a voting machine commissioner. These several state election authorities introduce confusion and uncertainty into the election machinery of the state, which might well be simplified through consolidation. The Efficiency and Economy Committee recommended the creation of a state board of elections to consist of the Governor, secretary of state, and attorney general, to exercise the functions of these various agencies.8

Under a plan of reorganization of the government of New York state drafted by the reconstruction commission, a bureau of elections, is created in the department of state, of which department the secretary of state is the chief. The duties of the state board of canvassers, state board of examiners of voting machines, and the state superintendents of elections would be transferred to the proposed bureau of elections."

Such a plan might be adopted in Illinois, thereby simplifying the election machinery and strengthening the office of the secretary of state.

Robinson, Maurice H. A report on supervision of corporations and related business. In the Report of the Efficiency and Economy Committee of Illinois, p. 697-752.

8 Illinois. Efficiency and Economy Committee. Report 1915, p. 71. New York state reconstruction commission. Draft of summary of report on retrenchment and reorganization in the state government, 1919, p. 19.

VIII. CONCLUSIONS.

Problem of executive reorganization. There is an overlapping of functions and a lack of correlation in the duties of the constitutional and statutory state officers. This is mainly an overlapping of the statutory duties of constitutional officers with the duties of statutory officers, and the problem before the convention will be primarily to determine whether changes should be made as to present constitutional officers so as to permit a more ready coordination of functions. The constitutional duties of constitutional officers are relatively unimportant. This bulletin has dealt largely with the statutory organization, for its consideration is necessary in order to present the real problems at issue in the framing of an executive article in the constitution, and not with any notion that the convention will think it desirable to embody in the constitution the details of present statutes.

Reorganization in other states. This overlapping of functions has been a source of weakness in American state government generally and has lead to reorganization and consolidation in many states. The Civil Administrative Code enacted in this state in 1917 is the most comprehensive plan of administrative consolidation that has been adopted in any state. There are, however, many departments of state government not included in the organization. Many of these departments may be correlated through statutory enactment, but the adoption of a centralized plan of state government would also involve constitutional changes. Statutory plans similar to the Civil Administrative Code have been adopted in Idaho and Nebraska.

The recent constitutional conventions in New York and Massachusetts spent considerable time on the problem of reorganization. In New York a plan was adopted providing for the creation of seventeen departments to perform the administrative functions of more than 160 existing offices, boards and agencies. The heads of most of these departments were to be appointed by the governor and were removable by him. The number of elective constitutional state officers was reduced from seven to four, leaving only the governor, lieutenant-governor, comptroller and attorney general elective. After the adoption of this plan all new administrative functions were to be assigned to one of the existing departments, and no new department were to be created by the legislature. (In this connection it may be noted that the constitutions of Nebraska and Arkansas contain limitations on the power of the legislature to create new boards and offices.) The proposed constitution of New York containing this plan of administrative reorganization was submitted to the people in November, 1915, and was defeated.

The Massachusetts Constitutional Convention adopted an amendment concerning reorganization which was ratified by the people on November 5, 1918. This amendment reads: "On or before January 1, 1921, the executive administrative work of the Commonwealth shall be organized in not more than twenty departments, in one of which every executive and administrative office, board and commission, except those officers serving directly under the Governor or Council, shall be placed. Such departments shall be under such supervision and regulation as the General Court may from time to time prescribe by law." Accordingly, the General Court in 1919 enacted an administrative consolidation act, establishing twenty departments, excluding the Governor's office-the maximum number permitted under the constitutional amendment. The heads of four departments are the constitutional elective state officers and the other heads of departments are appointed by the Governor, with the approval of the Council, an independent body of nine members. The general scheme of organization is quite complicated and involved. Practically all the officials connected with the existing administrative agencies have been retained, their offices being continued in existence and placed under the several department without alteration either in personnel or duties. Seven boards which apparently did not fit into the scheme elsewhere are placed under the Governor and council.

The New York plan and the Massachusetts plan present alternative plans which might be adopted by the constitutional convention. The New York plan is an example of an incorporation of statutes into the constitution. In the light of the development of the executive department of Illinois in the last fifty years, the adaptability of this scheme for this state may well be doubted. Less than one-fourth of the boards, commissions and offices we now have were in existence when the Constitutional Convention met in 1870. It is possible that the next fifty years will present a similar development. Incorporation of a detailed plan of government in the constitution would make it difficult to correlate the functions of the various departments. Moreover, any scheme adopted might in a few years prove ill-adapted to the constantly changing and increasing functions of state government. The Massachusetts constitutional amendment adopted the plan of insructing the legislature to reorganize the executive departments, but the detailed plan worked out by legislation in Massachusetts is probably not as satisfactory as the present organization in Illinois.

Short ballot. The short ballot is closely related to all problems of executive reorganization. If any elective state officials are made appointive, it would be necessary to provide that the present state officials would serve the rest of their terms regardless of the change.

It has been suggested that the Governor's power of appointment should be extended to include some of the officers now elected by the people. The United States government and several of the states have made many offices appointive which are elective in this state. The advocates of the short ballot argue that the increase of the Governor's