The first systematic, thorough study of the U.S. budget.

President Taft’s Commission

Known more for his time at the U.S. Supreme Court than in the White House, William Howard Taft was not, as some scholars suggest, an altogether ineffective chief executive. In fact, when it comes to the story of federal budgeting, President Taft is among the most critical players.

In December 1909, President Taft requested funding from Congress for an inquiry into the organizational efficiency and financial methods of the government.

Final Commission Report

In the summer of 1912, around three years after the Commission’s establishment, President Taft transmitted the final report of the Commission on Economy and Efficiency, entitled The Need for a National Budget. The report laid forth the shortcomings of the current system—inasmuch as there was a ‘system’—and proposals to fix them.

Although the report fell on deaf ears in Congress, it would become an essential roadmap for the budget reforms of 1921. The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 addressed and mirrored the concerns and proposals of the Commission’s Report. Click the cover page to the right to read The Need for a National Budget.

 

Click above to read the Report via Google Books.

Composition of the Commission

The Commission was composed of a chairman, four commissioners, a secretary, and 54 members from departments and agencies throughout the federal government who were organized into 15 committees.

 

Commission Leadership:

  • Frederick A. Cleveland, Chairman

  • William F. Willoughby, Commissioner

  • Judge Walter W. Warwick, Commissioner

  • Frank Johnson Goodnow, Commissioner

  • Henry Stuart Chase, Commissioner

  • Merritt O. Chance, Secretary

Other Members: Name, Position within government (Position within committee)

State Department Committee:

  1. Hon. Huntington Wilson, Assistant Secretary of State (Chairman)

  2. Wilbur J. Carr, Director of the Consular Service

  3. William McNeir (Chief Clerk)

Treasury Department Committee:

  1. James L. Wilmeth (Chairman and Chief Clerk)

  2. Merritt O. Chance, Auditor for the Post Office Department; appointed Commission Secretary—replaced by Charles A. Kram.

  3. Lawrence O. Murray, Comptroller of the Currency

War Department Committee:

  1. Major General F. C. Ainsworth, Adjutant General of the Army (President)

  2. Captain Fred W. Sladen (Recorder)

  3. Brigadier General W. W. Wotherspoon

  4. Brigadier General E. A. Garlington (Assistant)

  5. John C. Scofield (Chief Clerk)

Justice Department Committee:

  1. O. J. Field (Chairman and Chief Clerk)

  2. S. W. Finch, Chief of the Bureau of Investigation

  3. J. H. Mackey (Disbursing Clerk)

Post Office Department Committee:

  1. Theodore L. Weed (Chairman and Chief Clerk)

  2. Robert S. Sharp, Chief Post Office Inspector

  3. George G. Thomson, Division of Supplies Superintendent

Navy Department Committee:

  1. Admiral Richard Wainwright (Chairman)

  2. Captain R. C. Smith

  3. G. W. Simpson, Pay Inspector

  4. Commander Philip Andrews

  5. R. H. Robinson, Naval Constructor

  6. Commander J. M. Poyer (Recorder)

Interior Department Committee:

  1. Oscar Lawler, Assistant Attorney General (Chairman); resigned—replaced by Charles W. Cobb.

  2. Don M. Carr, Private Secretary to the Secretary; resigned—replaced by Irving Rittenhouse.

  3. Clement S. Ucker (Chief Clerk)

  4. Edward B. Fox; added after initial committee formation.

Agriculture Department Committee:

  1. George P. McCabe, Solicitor (Chairman)

  2. Jasper Wilson, Private Secretary to the Secretary

  3. Zappone, Clerk of the Division of Accounts and Disbursements

  4. James B. Adams, Assistant Forester

  5. C. C. Carroll, Chief Clerk of the Bureau of Animal Industry

Department of Commerce and Labor Committee:

  1. Robert M. Pindell, Jr. (Chairman and Chief Clerk)

  2. William F. Willoughby, Assistant Director of the Census

  3. W. L. Soleau (Disbursing Clerk); resigned—replaced by George Johannes.

  4. George C. Havenner, Division of Publications Chief

  5. Roger O’Donnell, Special Inspector, Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization

Smithsonian Institution Committee:

  1. W. de C. Ravenel, Administrative Assistant, National Museum

  2. H. W. Dorsey (Chief Clerk)

  3. A. B. Baker, Assistant Superintendent, Zoological Garden

Interstate Commerce Commission Committee:

  1. H. S. Millstead (Disbursing Clerk)

Commissioners of the District of Columbia Committee:

  1. Alonzo Tweedale, Auditor of the District

Civil Service Commission Committee:

  1. G. R. Wales, Chief Examiner

  2. J. T. Doyle, Secretary

Government Printing Office Committee:

  1. Benjamin C. Vipond

  2. James K. Wallace

  3. Seward T. Covert

Independently detailed to assist the Commission:

  1. W. E. Wilmot

  2. Mary F. Bickford

  3. W. H. H. Smith

  4. Dorothy Hunt

  5. H. A Holmes

  6. John P. Murray

  7. Lieutenant A. L. Parsons