Discussant's response to has the accounting profession lost control of its destiny?;

              Discussant's Response to
Has the Accounting Profession Lost Control of Its Destiny?
K. S. Gunning
Thome Riddell & Co.
I deem it a privilege to be invited to your country to offer my views on the paper presented to you by such a distinguished member of our profession, and one, to boot, whose career has sprung from the fruitful wellsprings of academia.
Accordingly, I felt it incumbent on me to commence my remarks, as Doug did his paper, with some stirring and prophetic quotation from Homer or someone of equal relevance, having to do with destiny, or self-control, or professionalism.
After diligent search, I felt that I, standing here as a foreigner from the north, could do no better than to read to you the words that Representative Hiram Bell of Ohio said of my native land to your U.S. House of Representatives on January 10, 1853:
But, sir, there is a country and there is a people competent for self-government, that are prepared to take upon themselves the responsibilities of free men, and which we may find for our interest to receive among us—I mean peaceably—and allow them to become a part and parcel of this country, and I care not how soon. I refer, Mr. Chairman, to the whole British possessions upon the north, containing an area of two millions, two hundred and fifty-two thousand, three hundred and ninety-five square miles. That is something worth looking at . . . The ac­complishment
of that object peacefully will strengthen this Union, and add to its power and influence. The annexation of that territory to this Union (to use terms of gentlemen) Destiny has ordained, and it will ere long take place.
As Doug observed, man has not always been too successful in peering into the future, and I certainly don't intend to offer any comment on Hiram Bell's vision, even after 125 years; especially with what's going on in our country right now!
Anyway, enough of nothing, and let us consider Doug's most interesting and thoughtful paper.
There's been a great deal of ink spilled lately on the general theme of this paper—some in sorrow, some in anger, a lot in error. But little of the outpouring has considered our collective "destiny"—and, like Doug I think, I had a bit of trouble with the question posed. It's perhaps a bit like the old "have you stopped beating your wife yet?" angle—and maybe its better to answer "I never did" than get nailed for a simple yes or no.
87