Book reviews;

              78 HASKINS & SELLS October
Book Reviews
Stockwell, Herbert G. How to Read a
Financial Statement. (New York, The
Ronald Press Company, 1925. 443 p.).
The purpose of this book is stated as
being "to show the business man, in a
manner not too technical, how to ascertain
the financial condition of a business from
its financial statement in whatever form
presented, or at least to judge whether or
not the statement is a true and frank rep­resentation
of the facts."
The book is limited to a discussion of
the balance sheet. After a brief introduc­tion
concerning the various forms in which
balance sheets may be prepared, the items
of assets and liabilities composing a
typical balance sheet are taken up in the
order in which they usually appear. There
is explanation as to what is comprehended
under each item; the way in which it
should be set forth in order most clearly to
show the facts; and the things to be con­sidered
in determining its value with rela­tion
to the general financial condition of a
concern.
Comparatively little matter is included
concerning statistical ratios and the com­parison
of balance sheets prepared at
different dates.
The latter part of the book is devoted
to a discussion of various special features,
such as intangibles, different kinds of
capital stocks, reserves, surplus, consoli­dated
statements, etc.
The book is designed primarily as an aid
to the business man with a limited knowl­edge
of accounting rather than for the
professional accountant. As such it fulfils
its mission. It is very interestingly
written.
Young, Benjamin Franklin. Statistics
as Applied in Business. (New York, The
Ronald Press Company, 1925. 639 p.)
With recent developments in business
organization, some sort of statistical service
for the use of executives has become essen­tial
to the success of an enterprise. The
present work describes the procedure in
building up and directing such a service,
and presents the essentials of elementary
statistical organization, in such a way that