lake during the intermissions. The music 
attracts the crowds, which patronize the 
refectory, the cafeteria and canoes, all op- 
erated by the Park Board, and the refect- 
ory, cafeteria and canoes provide the rev- 
enue which supports a band organized 
under the direction of the board. The 
large crowds are due to two causes — first, 
the attractions offered, and, second, the 
constant publicity through newspaper . and 
street-car advertising prepared by the 
board’s publicity agent. 
Parks as successful as Lake Harriet can 
undoubtedly be found in many other cities. 
Underlying all park success is the ques- 
tion of administration. It takes a big man 
to administer a modern park system. He 
must be a dreamer and a practical execu- 
tive. He must anticipate the recreation 
needs of the future and provide the facili- 
ties to meet those needs. When the facili- 
ties are ready he must induce the public to 
take possession and make the fullest possible 
use of its property. 
There is not a city in the country where 
the majority of citizens want inefficiency 
and waste. There is not a city in the coun- 
try where the majority of officials are not 
working for efficiency and economy. There 
is no reason why a commissioner of parks 
cannot attain as high a percentage of effi- 
ciency in handling park business as a gen- 
eral manager can in the handling of a 
corporation. Each has similar problems. 
A board of park commissioners is analo- 
gous to a board of directors of a corpora- 
tion. The commissioner or general man- 
ager, to be successful, must be strong 
enough to insist upon administering his de- 
partment. His personality must count. The 
duty of the board of park commissioners 
is to determine the policy to be followed, 
to apportion the funds to each activity, to 
delegate to the commissioner or superin- 
tendent sufficient authority to carry out the 
policies adopted and to hold the superin- 
tendent strictly responsible for results. The 
duty of the commissioner is to select and 
direct his corps of assistants, giving them 
definite instruction and authority, as need- 
ed, for the work to be done, and holding 
them, in turn, strictly responsible for re- 
sults in their separate fields. Responsibility 
and authority should be so definitely as- 
signed that there will be no opportunity for 
one employee to hide his own laxness un- 
der the cover of another's inefficiency. It 
is possible for the executive to prevent this 
through a system of reporting. 
The purpose of modern reporting is to 
keep the executive and his assistants in 
constant touch with the progress of all 
work under way. It is to locate responsi- 
bility for waste and infidelity, and to give 
credit for efficiency and faithful service. 
It is not only to provide data for the work 
at hand, but also to provide a basis for 
future plans and policies. A properly de- 
vised system of reports daily on the ad- 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
ministrator’s desk is an index to the day’s 
activities, showing the unusual conditions 
that call for his investigation and action, 
and may be a guide to the solution of fu- 
ture problems. For instance, the receipts 
from a certain refectory show a gradual 
decrease from the beginning of the season 
over the receipts of the last year. This 
would mean investigating conditions at the 
refectory to see to what particular cause 
the decrease was due and what steps were 
necessary to remedy the defects and make 
the refectory produce more revenue. Prac- 
tical business men are scrapping obsolete 
machinery, equipment and inefficient em- 
ployees daily. In any case, daily reports 
should bring the matter to the attention 
of the executive early in the season, and 
instead of the refectory operating at a loss 
throughout the season, it can be made to 
pay a profit. The story told by the reports 
in the particular case might point the way 
to a profitable readjustment of the entire 
refectory system. 
The keeping of records is more work, 
but it eliminates guessing, which is decided- 
ly hazardous in business. The business ex- 
ecutive would not be overwhelmed by mul- 
titudinous detail. Proper reporting should 
bring all the essential operating details to 
a focus daily on the executive’s desk. He 
would then have an opportunity to view 
the whole department in perspective, to plan, 
to systematize and organize, and to give 
his prompt and undivided attention to ab- 
normal conditions. The value of modern 
reporting will not be underestimated when 
its purpose and its results are known. 
Such reports must be based on the ac- 
counts. Accounts here is used in the broad 
sense to include not only financial transac- 
tions but also the energy expended in ac- 
complishing the project. 
The Board of Park Commissioners 
should have an accountant, who, under the 
superintendent, should have charge of all 
the accounting and auditing for the board. 
He should audit all claims and audit and 
control all collections received by agents of 
the board. He should keep the revenue 
and expense, asset and liability accounts, 
budget allotment ledger, registers of 
purchase orders, vouchers and warrants, 
expenditure distribution record by parks, 
payroll rosters, registers of leases, rents, 
personal bonds, building construction and 
paving contracts, and a record of insurance 
placed on park property. 
Too many park departments today are 
operating on the old receipt and disburse- 
ment basis which does not furnish reliable 
data on which to base administrative ac- 
tion. For example, under this system re- 
ceipts are credited to the month when the 
cash came in and disbursements are 
charged against the period when the actual 
disbursement was made. Under such a pro- 
cedure a statement on the cost of opera- 
tion for a particular period does not reflect 
241 
the true cost, as bills paid during the period 
may have included commodities delivered 
and used months before. The same holds 
true of revenues. 
The only method of accounting which 
will force the executive to face his exact 
financial standing at all times is the system 
founded on a revenue and expenditure 
basis. In contrast to receipt and disburse- 
ment accounts, revenue expenditure ac- 
counting shows all income accrued or ex- 
pense incurred irrespective of the time of 
cash collection or date of payment. Rev- 
enues earned in January are credited to 
January, though the actual cash may not 
be received until later. Oil bought and 
used in July is charged against July, al- 
though a bill is paid in September. Such 
a system of accounts permits the execu- 
tive to compare June revenues and expendi- 
tures of one year with the same period a 
year ago. It is not necessary to wait until 
the end of the year when all revenue is in 
and all bills are paid to make comparisons 
with previous periods. Too costly opera- 
tion reveals itself immediately. 
Probably the most important function of 
the Park Board is making the annual 
budget. This involves careful considera- 
tion of each activity before setting aside its 
allotment for the coming year. The budget 
when passed serves as a guide to the ex- 
ecutive in improving and maintaining the 
parks. The more intelligent study that is 
given the budget before passing, the fewer 
adjustments will be needed during the year. 
Such changes necessarily upset the execu- 
tive’s plans and are expensive to the board. 
A proper budget enables the executive to 
plan his work in detail and largely elimi- 
nates the shifting labor force. One hun- 
dred well trained men will accomplish 
more than one hundred and twenty-five 
untrained men who are uncertain of their 
jobs. It is good policy on the part of 
short-time employees to make the job 
last as long as possible. 
When such a budget has been adopted 
appropriation accounts must be set up to 
show currently, for each activity, the ap- 
propriation with the latest modifications, 
all outstanding liabilities and the available 
balance. In order to get the available bal- 
ance it is necessary for the accountant to 
make a memorandum charge against each 
appropriation for every item contracted for, 
whether it is personal service or commodi- 
ties. This will become an actual charge as 
soon as the bill is paid. 
Take playgrounds, for instance. The pay- 
roll of the supervisor and his assistants 
should be set up for the season and the 
total amount should be charged against the 
playground account as a contingent liabil- 
ity. This warns the supervisor that he has 
a limited available balance. He can now 
plan such additional expenditures as his 
funds will allow. .\s rapidly as equip- 
ment and supplies are ordered they become 
contingent liabilities and the available bal- 
