discrepancy occurs in every sale of bonds between interest dates; usually it is the seller that takes the advantage of the buyer, who advances the amount of the accrued interest for some months, and gets no interest on the advance.

Another interesting feature is a sort of "getting square" table, which shows how many coupons collected will put the buyer "on velvet" with 3 per cent. interest. Thus, if you buy a 6 per cent. bond at 38, and the company issuing it holds out for seven years, or 14 coupons, and then goes to smash, you may comfort yourself with the thought that you have had your money back. If it lasts more than seven years, you win.

It is a pity Mr. Little did not put a more distinctive cover on this book to prevent its being taken for his Annual Bond Tables, an entirely different book.

Mr. Chase Favors a Comptroller.

Harvey S. Chase, who has had much experience in municipal affairs, has submitted to the Finance Commission his views concerning a new city charter for Boston. He said in part:

Whatever may be said for the practicability of new forms of charter -great powers for the mayor or lesser powers; a larger City Council or a smaller one-consolidation of executive and legislative functions in one body, or more emphatic separation of them in various bodies, there is surely this one point upon which all earnest citizens can agree and apparently do now almost universally agree-the necessity for widespread publicity of the facts and finances of municipal government.

"If our voters are to exercise the franchise intelligently, they must be informed regularly, intelligibly, and in such a manner that illuminating comparisons can be made of the results, financial and other, of one municipal administration with corresponding results of another.

"I should urge that provisions requiring a monthly statement of accounts be included in your charter for Boston.

"I can not emphasize too strongly, as the result of my experience in municipal affairs, the importance of the office and the personality of the comptroller. No more important duty can fall upon those who, under the new charter, shall select the heads of departments than the appointment of a comptroller, whether this be done by a mayor or a council or a council committee or by a commissioner, either a civil service commission or a special municipal commission, created for the primary purpose of selecting the heads of departments.

"The method of appointing heads of departments, of judging their qualifications and providing for suitable tenure of office is perhaps the most important of all the questions before your board. Upon the solution of this problem the success or the failure of all other questions in great part depends."-Boston Transcript, Aug. 18, 1908.

Legal Department.

Conducted by ALEXANDER MCCLINCHIE, LL. B.

Organized efforts are being made in all professions to give to professional codes of ethics the sanction of law. It is interesting to learn the effect given by courts to statutes framed by professional organizations for the punishment of violators of the professional code. The amount of discussion centering about the question of professional advertising shows the importance of this question, and we are not surprised to learn that the medical profession has attempted to regulate advertising by act of legislature. It will be interesting to the accounting profession to know the character of the legislation and the interpretation placed upon it by the court.

Section 15 of Chapter 344 of the Laws of 1907 of the State of New York provides that any person not a registered physician, who shall advertise to practice medicine, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. It will be noticed in the first place that the sponsors of the statute did not assume the right to dictate to members of their own profession. Indeed, one of the judges in writing his opinion pointed out this fact, and said it was probably the purpose of the medical profession to punish their fellows guilty of unprofessional conduct in their own way, and not to turn them over to the Criminal Courts. A reasonable inference is, of course, that the judgment of their peers and the punishment prescribed by them are the most effective way of dealing with pariahs.

The very first case decided under the statute, known as PEOPLE VS. WOODBURY Dermatological Institute, 124 App. Div. 877, struck immediately at the vexed question. If an individual may not advertise without infringing ethical and legal codes, what is to prevent him from becoming the hireling of a corporation of his own creation, a corporation that can advertise without fear of the profession's damnation or court's condemnation? The trust companies, for instance, have appropriated a large part of the lawyer's heritage; the title companies have cramped him still further; and, after all, the arteries of the companies' life are newspapers and street-cars. If, housed with a thousand other souls seeking the where withal in the same way under the same roof, you take up your position at the end of a circuitous corridor to be reached only after a lift of eleven stories, and hide your identity still further by encasing it in a corporate form-and advertise-you may get some transient business. Otherwise you may take comfort in “The Honorable Peter Sterling." Well, there's the process of reasoning that has led to much incorporating and much guarded advertising.

In the Woodbury case, it is pointed out that only a licensed person can advertise. Query: can a corporation ever be licensed? Answer: no; for it can not take the preliminary examinations. Can a corporation,

then, advertise? One judge said it can, for the statute was by implication not intended to apply to corporations. Two other judges said it can, if its charter provides for the employment of licensed physicians to do the work advertised. They say further, "It is quite immaterial whether it advertises that it prescribes for and treats the patients or that this is done by its employees." The remaining two judges held: "It could not have been the intention of the Legislature to restrict an individual from practicing medicine unless he had complied with the very careful provisions of the act for testing his competency to practice, and yet allow a corporation through its agents to practice without any examination or license whatever. It is also manifest that it was the intention to prohibit any one not legally authorized to practice medicine from advertising to practice. Under this act, a corporation never could become legally authorized to practice medicine."

The case is extremely important, especially to the comparatively new profession of the accountant. The fact that three separate opinions were written in the Appellate Division shows that the questions it involves are by no means one sided. We are informed by counsel that the case is to be taken still higher. If so, we await the decision of the Court of Appeals with interest.

Decisions and Legal Notes of Interest.

Handwriting. The Texas Court of Civil Appeals held that a character produced on a sheet of paper, covered by a sheet of carbon and another sheet of paper, by the pencil of one writing on the uppermost sheet, constitutes the handwriting of the writer, and, as such, may be introduced into court as evidence of handwriting for comparison. WADE vs. GALVESTON ETC. R. Co., 110 S. W. Rep. 84.

Accounting.-One who is given power of attorney for the purpose of relieving the principal from worry and care concerning his financial interests, and who, under this power, is to hold, invest, and distribute certain personal property delivered to him, and to sell the same if necessary, is nevertheless the trustee of property received by him, and is liable to account to the children of the so called principal upon the latter's death. If the instrument creating the power of attorney required the appointee to deliver the property to the creator's children on his death' it was not revoked by death, and the children in their individual capacity may require the appointee to account as a trustee. MERSEREAU VS. BENNETT, 124 App. Div. (N. Y.) 113.

Collection of Judgment.-THE NEW YORK CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE, Section 1391, was amended by the Legislature at its latest session, and now provides that a judgment creditor, after the return of an execution unsatisfied, may collect ten per cent. of the salary, exceeding Twelve Dollars. due or owing to the judgment debtor out of wages, debts, earnings, salary, income from trust funds, or profits. This amendment is a long step in the right direction, and is of great importance in every path of business life.

C. P. A. Question Department.

CONDUCTED BY LEO GREENDLINGER, M. C. S.

Criticism and exchange of ideas will clear many a doubt and at the same time improve shortcomings. To solve, compare, and criticize C. P. A. problems, [and thereby to aid in bringing about a uniform American standard for C. P. A. examinations, is the object of this department. With the aid of suggestions and criticism from the professional brethren, it can undoubtedly be achieved. Inquiries will be cheerfully answered.

The following are representative problems of the C. P. A. examination papers set by the Michigan State Board of Accountancy, at the examination held June 26-27, 1908, with solutions.

QUESTIONS:
I.

The Western Grain Co. has this day been incorporated under the Laws of this State by the following incorporators: C. H. Benton, J. W. Walters, F. Rowland, and A. B. Miller, all of this city, wth an authorized capital of $25,000.00, divided into 250 shares of $100.00 each.

The purpose of this corporation is to buy and sell all kinds of grain, and the subscriptions to the stock of the Company are as follows:

C. H. Benton 60 shares, J. W. Walters 60 shares, F. Rowland 100 shares, and A. B. Miller 30 shares.

Pursuant to an agreement between the firms of Benton and Walters and F. Rowland, and the Western Grain Co., the former two individual concerns agree to sell to the latter all their assets, consisting of stock of Merchandise, Real Estate, Accounts and Notes Receivable, Goodwill, etc., etc., in consideration of the assumption by the Western Grain Co. of all the liabilities of the two individual concerns as well as for the payment in capital stock of the Company for the balance which the assets may exceed the liabilities. The Balance-sheet of each individual concern is taken as exhibiting the exact value of each plant, as given on page 366.

The Goodwill of Benton and Walters is valued at $1,500.00, while that of F. Rowland is valued at $2,000.00.

To enable the corporation to carry out this agreement the original subscriptions of Benton, Walters and Rowland are therefore amended as follows:

C. H. Benton subscribing 20 shares, Walters 20 shares, and Rowland 27 shares. A. B. Miller pays in cash for his subscription, and Benton, Walters and Rowland donate each 5 shares of the capital stock of the Company to provide a Reserve for Contingencies.

Draft the necessary Journal Entries for the opening of the corporation books and all the other facts mentioned above, and create the Ledger Accounts.