Proceedings of the first Independence congress : held in the city of Manila, Philippine islands, February 22-26, 1930 / Published under the direction of Dean maximo M. Kalaw, executive secretary, University of the Philippines.

42 INDEPENDENCE CONGRESS PROCEEDINGS

in this manner, had 42 per cent of the total cost of government
removed from its control.
Since the establishment of the Philippine Assembly and
whenever greater authority was granted to the Filipinos to
participate in the Government, they have striven to improve
the methods of financial administration, both from the points
of view of democratic principles and from that of the careful
consideration and coordination of a financial program. Upon
the organization of the Philippine Assembly, only one appropriation committee was created instead of the fourteen or fifteen
which the House of Representatives of the United States then
had for the consideration of the several positions of the financial
legislation of the country. This was an important step toward
the coordination of the work. The Assembly later brought
about the creation of a special committee composed of some of
its members and those of the Commission (Act No. 1873, section 10), entrusted with the preparation of the appropriations,
although the conditions then existing were unfortunately unfavorable to the success of the work of the committee. Finally,
when the Jones Law became effective and the Filipinos had
an opportunity for displaying their initiative, a democratic budgetary system was established, under which the budget as submitted by the Governor-General, is prepared by the Council of
State of which the leaders of the people are members.
The system has met setbacks in its development, but it resumed its progressive development under the Stimson plan,
which reflects in practice the spirit of its author when he said:
"In all my acts, I have always borne in mind that I was not
elected by the Filipino people. Under this plan, the Secretary
of Finance prepares the Budget for the Governor-General, giving an opportunity to the members of the Legislature, but especially to the chairmen of the Committees on Appropriations
and Public Works, to express their views on the various phases
and items of the Budget while it is in the course of preparation.
Likewise, the Council of State of which the leaders of the party
in power are members, has ample opportunity to discuss the
Budget as a whole and in detail, and make its recommendations
before the final adoption of the Budget by the Governor-Gen