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of the Census plan, and modification of these charter functions may be expected later. My point to-night, then, is this: When charters are prepared for "government by executive council" for Massachusetts cities, let us begin at the beginning, and arrange the division of functions in accordance with the necessities of accounting, and so group the departments that reports uniform with the Census schedules will automatically come forth, needing no changes, no reclassification and no long delays before being put in the hands of those who can and will use them to the great advantage of every class of citizen, whether taxpaying or nontaxpaying.

Pennsylvania.

The regular quarterly meeting of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants was held in Philadelphia at the office of President Ross, on October 21st.

The members were particularly interested in receiving the report of the delegates who had just returned from the meeting of The American Association of Public Accountants at St. Paul. The delegates were President Adam A. Ross, Jr., C. N. Vollum, and Robert H. Montgomery.

Mr. Vollum gave a very complete account of the proceedings. He also reported that the next Annual Meeting of the American Association would convene at Atlantic City on the third Tuesday of October, 1908, upon the invitation of the Pennsylvania Institute.

He further reported that the New York and New Jersey State Societies of Certified Public Accountants would join with the Pennsylvania Institute in providing for the care and entertainment of delegates and guests who may assemble at Atlantic City.

The President was directed to appoint a general committee on entertainment.

The following members were present: President Adam A. Ross, Jr., T. Edward Ross, William M. Lybrand, J. M. Pugh, Charles N. Vollum. James W. Fernley, Robert B. Vollum, Dr. A. R. Barrett, J. E. Sterrett, J. D. Stinger, Alfred L. Sellers, Herbert G. Stockwell, E. Elmer Staub, George Wilkinson, and William W. Rorer.

The members of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants were the guests of the Faculty of the Evening School of Accounts and Finance at a dinner at the University Club of Philadelphia on Saturday evening, October 26th.

The dinner was in recognition of the part which the Pennsylvania Institute had taken in the establishment of the Evening School, and that the members might be advised of the graduation of the first class of students.

The dinner was presided over by Dr. Edward Sherwood Meade, Director of the Evening School. The other speakers were: President Adam A. Ross, Jr., C. P. A., of the Pennsylvania Institute; C. N. Vollum, C. P. A., President of the State Board of Examiners; J. J. Sullivan, Esq., William M. Lybrand, C. P. A.; Charles Weisinger, C. P. A., a graduate of the Evening School, and Professor Hatfield of the University of California.

Regulations of New C. P. A. Boards.

The Connecticut State Board of Accountancy, created under the Act passed July 11, 1907, announces that the C. P. A. examinations of the State will include questions on:

1. Theory of Accounts.

2. Business Organization and History of Accountancy.

3. Practical Accounting.

4. Auditing.

5. Commercial Law.

The Board also promulgates "to avoid misunderstanding" the following interesting definition of a practicing public accountant:

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One who is skilled in the science of accounts, both in theory and practice, who maintains an office, advertises and caters to the public for accounting business (a clerk or bookkeeper, or one holding a salaried position only, is not a practicing public accountant)."

The Colorado State Board of Accountancy, consisting of A. E. Fowlie, President, J. B. Geijsbeek, Secretary, and J. H. Kingwill, Treasurer, announces that its examinations may include questions on:

(a) Theoretical Accounting.
(b) Practical Accounting.
(c) Commercial Law.

(d) Commercial Arithmetic.

(e) Auditing.

The Board has issued a circular letter to applicants, from which the following paragraphs are taken:

We would not feel at liberty to grant certificates to any applicant, however expert or experienced he might be in certain limited fields of accounting practice, whose knowledge of the fundamental principles of accounting and their application to modern conditions and whose general experience would not qualify him to make reliable examinations or audits, or to install and conduct practical and efficient systems of accounts adapted to different lines of business upon being furnished with the facts and figures pertaining to the particular business in question. By this we would not be understood as requiring or expecting that the applicant should be as expert in every line of business as the person who had made that particular business a specialty, but that he should be well qualified to do good and reliable work therein.

As regards "Commercial Law," we can only consider it "as affecting accountancy," and do not require any applicant to pass such an examination therein or to show such knowledge thereof as would be required of a candidate for admission to the bar, however valuable such knowledge might be to any practicing accountant.

As regards the educational standard required by Section 8, it is certainly the least that could be expected, and is practically required by the accountancy laws of all the states. If the applicant is a graduate of a high school, college or university, we shall expect proper evidence of that fact. If claiming an "equivalent education," we shall expect the preparation of his application and of the documents accompanying it, and of his examination papers to bear out the claim. We regard the diploma merely as one evi

dence of fitness, and the fitness itself, when exhibited, as evidence of the "equivalent education."

Under the strict legal definition of "good moral character," any person is considered to possess this who has not been convicted of crime or fraud, and the applications prepared by the accountancy boards in most of the states require evidence of this negative fact. But more than this is due from the applicant for a certificate as a qualified public accountant, and will be required in order to obtain such a certificate in Colorado. On the other hand, no certificate will be refused on account of any mere rumor or hearsay reports against the character or ability of any applicant coming to the knowledge of the Board, until such charges have been definitely made and supported by proper evidence, and the applicant against whom they may be directed has had every possible opportunity to meet and disprove the same.

The three years' experience in the practice of accounting" required by Section 8, is considered by the Board to include much more than mere bookkeeping, and to be such experience as will qualify the applicant to perform with credit the work expected of a public accountant.

It is the intention of the Board to base all the questions covered by this examination, so far as possible, on actual transactions of comparatively recent date in various lines of business, and we would be pleased to receive from any of the parties to whom this may be addressed, any questions which may have occurred in the actual course of their experience and which they deem may be of use to us in this connection. We do not desire or intend to use any mere puzzles or catch questions, but those which will most clearly bring out the ability of the applicant to meet the problems which must come to him in the course of his practice—both usual and unusual ones.

The foregoing remarks, regarding applications for certificates by examination, under Section 8 of the law, will apply generally to those applying under the waiver clause, contained in Section 13, and the reciprocity clause, contained in Section 14.

In general, it may be said that while this Board does not consider it part of its duties to refuse to issue its certificates to candidates who may show themselves fully qualified to practice as public accountants, but who may be at present employed exclusively by a single party, it does not expect or intend to encourage the application for such certificates by persons who have no expectation of engaging in public practice, but merely wish them as exhibits of their proficiency, and as perhaps enhancing the supposed value of their services to their present or prospective employers. It is our desire to do everything in our power to increase the value of a Colorado certificate to its holder, and to do nothing to disparage it.

Michigan.

The Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants held an open meeting for accountants and bookkeepers on October 9. The speakers were: Prof. D. W. Springer, of Ann Arbor, president of the Michigan association, who spoke on "The Accountancy Profession in the United States "; Wilton C. Eddis, of Toronto, whose subject was "The Work of an Accountant"; Hon. H. M. Zimmerman, State Bank Commissioner, on 'The Accountant, the Lawyer, and the Business Man.”

Newspaper reports state that N. G. Hawkins of Detroit is to be made a member of the Michigan State Board of Accountancy to succeed the late John R. H. Clegg. Mr. Hawkins is head of the accountancy firm of N. A. Hawkins and Company.

Book Department.

INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. A System of Training for Men Entering upon Trade and Commerce. By Harlow Stafford Person, Ph. D. 86 pages. Boston and New York. Houghton, Mifflin & Company.

Price $1.00.

1907.

This essay took first place in the competition in 1905 for the Hart Schaffner and Marx $1,000 prize for the best contribution on certain economic subjects. The author states that when it was written he “did not contemplate the possibility of its ultimate publication; the subject is not so fully developed, therefore, as it would have been had that outcome been in mind." Even in its present form, however, it contains many fresh ideas which will interest broadminded accountants, business men, and educators.

The author refers at the beginning with something like reverence to the German system of industrial education, to which he ascribes in large part the success of Germany in international trade in spite of her inferior natural resources. Some objections at once suggest themselves. In the first place, Germany's industrial success is probably exaggerated. Her large export business is hardly a fair test, for it is due in part to her limited home market. In the next place, Germany has natural advantages of location which compensate to a large extent for her lack of resources. Finally, German education, however excellent it may be, is not "industrial," as the author uses the word, but technical. As a matter of fact, the German universities and schools in the field of commercial training are imitators, not leaders. It may well be doubted whether the German business man proper has the initiative, the foresight or the practical education of his American competitor. It is in technical, not commercial, science that Germany stands preeminent.

Just what Dr. Person means by "industrial education" is not clearly stated. Effective education for business is not a hodge-podge of studies in applied science, in finance, in manufacturing, in accountancy, and in mercantile affairs. It must proceed in an orderly manner along some one of these lines, not along all of them at once. The reader gathers from the context that Dr. Person has in mind only the education of men for manufacturing business, and is unconsciously applying the standards of this kind of business education to all other kinds-an underlying fallacy that leads to some rather absurd conclusions.

It is the source, for instance, of this remark about the New York University School of Commerce, Accounts, and Finance: "As compared with the commercial departments of the colleges and universities, except in accounting, its technical subject-matter is not so advanced, and it does not offer the liberalizing training of the social sciences." The author has evidently failed to observe the distinction between the broad education of a man of affairs and the professional education of a business specialist. Without such confusion it would hardly be possible for him to con

clude that "general education should be pursued by all students for as long a period as possible." So extreme an assertion could be rationally applied only to those favored young men who can step almost at once from the university into managerial positions. Even in their cases the practical knowledge and drill that specialized professional training gives. would perhaps equip them better for their duties.

THOUGHTS ON BUSINESS, By Waldo Pondray Warren.
Chicago. Forbes & Company. 1907. Price $1.25.

237 pages.

This book is a collection of about 200 business editorials which have appeared from time to time in a number of leading newspapers. Probably most of THE JOURNAL's readers have already seen a number of the little essays. It would do no harm, however, to re-read them and to get acquainted with the rest of the series. The author says that he counts the acquisition of certain thoughts as red letter days." Now that he has made the thoughts public perhaps his readers will be equally gratified. Here are some of the thoughts:

"A man may work harder counting peanuts than signing treaties." "Don't hire Shakespeare to write plays and then keep him busy addressing envelopes."

"Freak advertising may amuse its originators, but common sense advertising will sell more goods."

BONDS AS INVESTMENT SECURITIES. Edited by Emory R. Johnson. American Academy of Political and Social Science. Philadelphia, Pa. 1907. Pages 235. Price $1.25.

This is one of the series of studies of live political and economic questions issued under the auspices of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. The volume before us is made up of twenty contributions dealing with different phases of the subject and written by men of high standing and authority. Among the contributors we note such well known writers as Charles E. Sprague, Professor of Accounting in New York University School of Commerce; C. M. Keys, of the World's Work; Montgomery Rollins, the author of a standard volume on Bond Tables; William C. Cornwell, the banker; George A. Hurd, author of "Urban Land Values," and F. A. Cleveland, Professor of Finance in New York University.

The lack of a proper understanding of many of the basic principles of the bond business has, probably more than any other cause, retarded the advancement of men at the outset of their careers in the financial world. To such persons a thorough study of the articles would be invaluable. Men in positions of judiciary trust and those engaged in the investment of capital will, also, find here much interesting and useful data compiled by men well versed in the intricacies of finance.

The first two contributions are by Professor Sprague. The author considers, in detail, the common fallacies regarding the valuation of bonds and describes the proper basis for bond accounts. This paper might well be used as a general introduction to The Accountancy of Investment by the same author. Such subjects as the effect of premium and discount

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