Annual meeting of the American Association of Public Accountants, held at the Hotel Hartman, Columbus, Ohio, on October 23, 24, and 25, 1906; Year-book 1906

              Annual Meeting of the American Association of Public Accountants.
The annual meeting of the American Association of Public Accountants was held at the Hotel Hartman, Columbus, Ohio, on October 23, 24, and 25, 1906.
Tuesday, October 23d.
In the absence of Mr. John R. Loomis, president, who under authority of the by-laws had delegated the duty of presiding to Mr. J. S. M. Goodloe, the president of the Ohio State Society of Public Accountants, the preliminary meeting was called to order by Mr. Goodloe in the convention hall of the Hotel Hartman at 11.30 A. M.
Addresses of welcome were delivered by Hon. Lewis C. Laylin, Secretary of State of Ohio, representing Governor Andrew L. Harris, who was unable to be present, and by Hon. DeWitt C. Badger, Mayor of the city of Columbus. Hon. William Harman Black, ex-Commissioner of Accounts of the city of New York, responded, as follows,—after which suspension of rules and adjournment of regular business was taken until 10 A. M. Wednesday:
Mr. Chairman and Ladies and Gentlemen: This life is one of many surprises. I left New York to get out of what I regarded as a heated political campaign; I come here to Columbus, Ohio, and find myself in the midst of another presidential election. As both candidates are my friends, I have resolved myself into an " Independence League."
In regard to all the pleasant things the Mayor has said about you, gentlemen, I will admit they are all true. He didn't say quite enough, and probably if he had known you better he might have said more.
The American Association of Public Accountants, as you know, is the national body of accountants in America. I said to one of them on the train this morning that they were the evangels of morality, and he smiled so pleasantly that I corrected the statement. I said: " I don't mean personally, but professionally." And I am serious when I say that bookkeeping is at the very foundation of honesty in the United States. If we had had honest bookkeeping, there would have been no "yellow dog" fund in the insurance case; if we had honest bookkeeping, public officials would see that corporations toe the mark.
As soon as we came to Columbus and looked out we saw that it was a city of thrift, prosperity and aggressiveness. We noticed your magnificent buildings, your well-paved streets, your well-groomed women, your well-dressed men, and I said to myself: " This is a modern, pro-gressive city, this city of Columbus," and I looked around for some evidence of sentiment in addition to the commercial idea. And as we approached your magnificent capitol I noticed a monument. I barely caught a glimpse of the two figures at the bottom, but at the top I saw the majestic figure of William McKinley (loud applause) ; and I said to myself if the citizens of Columbus, Ohio, have William McKinley as their model, then Columbus is indeed a model city, and the American Association of Public Accountants have done well to select the city as the place for their annual meeting.
We thank you very much, Mr. Mayor, for your kind words; we will attempt to deserve them, and we thank you especially for the blue badge of immunity; the blue badge of immunity and the red badge of courage we will have constantly before our eyes. (Laughter.)
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