66

W. SANDERS DAVIES, C. P. A., Toastmaster.

The Society of C. P. A. of N. J.," Frank G. Dubois, C. P. A.

"The State and the City," Edgar R. Brown, Newark Board of Education.

"The American Association of Public Accountants," Elijah W. Sells, C. P. A., President American Association of Public Accountants.

"Professional Ethics," for the lawyer, Hon. Frank H. Sommer; for the .professional accountant, T. Cullen Roberts, C. P. A., Secretary American Association of Public Accountants.

"Our Sister Societies," Adam A. Ross, Jr., C. P. A., President Pennsylvania Institute of C. P. A.

"C. P. A. Law and My Troubles,” Hon. Edward D. Duffield, formerly Assistant Attorney General of N. J.

66

Legislation and C. P. A.," George Wilkinson, C. P. A.

As Others See Us," Capt. Charles J. Allen.

Tips, Old and New," Hon. Victor Smith, D. S. P.

The New Jersey Society at Columbus, St. Paul and Atlantic City," Edwin E. Gano, C. P. A.

Standard Municipal Schedules.

At a meeting of the Executive Committee of The American Association of Public Accountants, held at Atlantic City on January 24, 1908, a resolution was passed authorizing the appointment of a Committee on Standard Schedules for Uniform Reports on Municipal Industries and Public Service Corporations.

In accordance with the terms of the resolution, the following Committee was appointed: Harvey S. Chase, Chairman; A. Lowes Dickinson, L. H. Conant, Duncan MacInnes, S. R. Mitchell, R. H. Montgomery.

The Committee is expected to give consideration to the financial schedule of waterworks, together with the instructions accompanying it, recently submitted by Mr. L. G. Powers, Chief Statistician of the Bureau of the Census of the Department of Commerce and Labor, at Washington.

Messrs. Lester Herrick and Herrick, certified public accountants, announce the restoration of their offices in the Merchants' Building at San Francisco, and the establishment of their branch office at Portland, Oregon.

To the Editors:

Correspondence.

Endorsing the article of Mr. Chas. N. Vollum, Certified Public Acccountant of Pennsylvania, in the 1907 "Convention Number" of your JOURNAL, relative to the organization of a National Association of Certified Public Accountants, distinct from the present American Association of Public Accountants, I beg to relate, as an item which may possibly be of interest in connection therewith, that after the passage of the C. P. A. law in Michigan, and the first examination held under it, in July, 1906, the six Grand Rapids accountants who received the degree, and of whom the writer is one, were requested to become members of the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants, into which the old Association of Public Accountants had been reorganized, although only a portion of the membership were certified. All of the accountants referred to have thus far failed to avail themselves of the invitation then extended because of reasons identical with the objections raised by Mr. Vollum against The American Association of Public Accountants.

Concerning this matter, I will say for myself (and I do not hesitate to attribute the same feeling to the other certified accountants in Grand Rapids), that when an association of certified public accountants is formed, with a constitution in harmony with the law enacted by the several states, it will receive whatever support is requested.

Yours truly,

C. H. WINKE, C. P. A.

Uniform Accounting in Massachusetts.

State Auditor Henry E. Turner of Massachusetts in his annual report submitted January 9, 1908, says among other things:

"The additional duties imposed upon the auditor by chapter 139 of the Acts of 1907 he has endeavored to discharge. The accounts which he was required by said chapter to audit have all been carefully examined at least once during the year. Many changes in methods have been made, and all suggestions made by him have been cheerfully acceded to. It is his intention during the coming year to see that a uniform system of bookkeeping is installed in all the institutions."

Mr. Edward A. Ashdown has opened an office in the Mutual Life Building, New York City, where he will continue the general practice of accounting and auditing.

New York University Dinner.

The Annual Dinner of the students of New York University School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance was held at the Hotel Knickerbocker, New York City, Saturday evening, February 1, 1908. The dinner was the largest and most enthusiastic that this department of New York University has ever held. Most of the members of the School Faculty and a number of distinguished guests, including several prominent accountants, were present. The toastmaster was Colonel Charles E. Sprague, Professor of Accountancy in New York University. The speakers and their subjects were as follows:

66

'Panics and Politics," Hon. William B. Ridgely, Comptroller of the Currency; "Philosophy of Panics," Hon. Lyman J. Gage, Former Secretary of the Treasury; "New York University," Dr. John H. MacCracken; Accounting as a Panic Prophylactic,” Prof. Leon Brummer; "Panics and Bad Laws," Hon. John DeWitt Warner; "Panics and Municipal Bonds," Hon. Herman A. Metz, Comptroller of the City of New York; "Hard Times Come Again No More," Dean Joseph French Johnson.

Readers of THE JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTANCY will be especially interested in the remarks of Prof. Leon Brummer, Secretary of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. Professor Brummer said in part:

Since the days of Nebuchadnezzar, writings on the wall have been most unpopular. The writings on the walls" of to-day do not, as of old, appear as if by magic in the banquet halls of the rich and mighty, but they are nevertheless quite as startling and painful, and frequently quite as unexpected when they appear upon the outer walls of our banking and industrial institutions for the delectation of those strictly on the outside; and though we may read between the lines "You have been weighed in the scales and found wanting," very often the post-mortem shows that the hand which held the scale and which measured the balance was an unfair, trembling hand stricken with the palsy of panic.

The undermining force of a disease is none the less dreadful because of the cures that are available; the devastation of an invading army is not effaced by the bravery of one's own soldiers in eventually driving the invaders from the land; nor are the pangs of sin entirely stilled because we have found religious comfort and hope for forgiveness. Better by far, had the physician kept the disease from us, the soldier repelled an attempted invasion, the religious instructor taught us to ever walk in the paths of righteousness and shun sin. However, pestilence does not now stalk abroad; unrighteousness is not particularly popular; there is no threatened invasion of our blessed land. But the monster Panic, rising from the most unexpected places spitting germs which appear to inoculate all, uncombatable, uncontrollable, from this do we shake with fear. And for this dreaded disorder, do we offer Accountancy, a Panic Prophylactic.

Consider the effectiveness of endeavors of the bank president facing a line of depositors surging around the wrong window, this president

assuring these depositors of the solvency of his bank, even though his neighbor on the right and his neighbor across the way have been obliged to close their doors; and then consider this same bank president appearing before these depositors holding aloft a banner inscribed with the two magic words "ACCOUNTANT-CERTIFIED," supporting his assurance of the solvency of the bank with the statement of a properly accredited accountant, showing that a recent examination made by this accountant discloses a stated amount of actual cash on hand, loans in sums from $1,000 to $50,000 made to some 8,000 merchants, all of whom are in good standing, all of whom have filed sworn statements of their affairs with the bank, and in no case have these loans been beyond an amount which the statement and the standing of the merchant would justify. That the loans which the bank has made on securities were upon securities of a preferred class which had not been subject to violent fluctuation within the year, and which were safely margined, and that such loans amount to a stated sum.

Consider the very careful and conscientious meditation of any executive officer who knew that his actions would be reviewed and a report made to all interested by the impartial and unbiased accountant. Consider the value to the institution whether financial or commercial, of the varied experience and the independent criticism of the independent accountant. Consider the ready acceptance by the public of the statements issued by the independent accountant, and I believe that you will agree with the suggestion that accountancy can and will prevent financial panic. In making this bold claim for accountancy, we do so with more confidence in our ability to undertake the great work which will come to us, than we have before had. Some six or seven years ago the accountant may have felt that the onward strides of commerce and finance were getting beyond him; he recognized that the coming generation of accountants would need better than he had; he recognized that there was need for a strong professional school, and for a strong leader. His anxiety on this point is gone, for such a school now exists, and is known as the School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance of the New York University, and such a leader is now at the head of the school-I refer to Dean Joseph French Johnson. To this school have come, and around the standard of this leader have gathered students of character and intelligence, honest, earnest, eager and capable upon graduation, to accept the responsibility as accountants which we feel satisfied an ever increasing demand will impose upon them.

May the banner of accountancy long wave, upheld by graduates of our beloved school, supported by the zeal and fervor of the accountant, and spurred to noble work by the ever growing confidence of the public who shall grant proper recognition, and freely believe and acknowledge the force of accountancy as a Panic Prophylactic.

Book Department.

THE CAUSE AND EXTENT OF THE RECENT INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS CF GERMANY, by Earl Dean Howard, Ph. D., Harz, Schaffner, and Marx Prize Essays. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1907, 147 pp. Price $1.00 Dr Howard has divided his book into two parts, the first treating of the extent and the second of the causes of Germany's industrial progress. He introduces Part One by a brief discourse upon industrial progress in general, and after giving the economic conditions in Germany before 1871, and the progress of the country since then, he concludes the first section by a review and some statistics of the various industries, drawn from numerous German texts.

The writer states that the causes of this recent progress are found in the Germans themselves, a law abiding people, remarkable for physical vigor, and capacity to organize and coöperate. The German merchant and manufacturer goes at his business in a systematic and thorough way, having spent considerable time in learning the languages and business customs of his prospective customers, and adopting their methods after investigating them at first hand. Another reason for Germany's progress is her thorough system of industrial and commercial education. There is a special class of schools for each "Stand"; the higher schools for the managers and entrepreneurs, a middle school for the assistants, and lower schools for the skilled workmen. The writer reviews the work done by all other schools as well, and devotes a number of pages to the curricula of the industrial and commercial schools.

In the chapter on "The German Workingman," he takes a very optimistic view of present conditions, much more optimistic than some of the German writers, and more optimistic than the average German workingman himself. He dwells upon the increase in wages in all industries since 1871, and the reduction in the number of hours' work per day. He states that wages have kept comparatively above the price of living. In spite of the settled condition of things and the lack of opportunity for the workingman to rise above his class, he sees a very bright side in the workingman's "philosophy of life, in his protection against sickness and accidents by state insurance laws and factory legislation, in his frugality and contentment, and lastly, in his sobriety compared with other European nations.

In conclusion, Dr. Howard states that the greatest problem of Germany to-day has to do with is the increasing population. He points out the importance of extending her foreign commerce, and the dangers attending the modern views of other countries, especially Great Britain, on free trade. Emigration he considers the only solution when Germany can no longer support the population at home. In closing, the writer says: Probably we can put down as one of the most fundamental and important causes of the present prosperity of the German Nation, the close relations