Imagination;

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VOL. XII N E W Y O R K , APRIL, 1929 No. 4
IN the hall-way of one of New York's
historic buildings, now replaced by a
modern sky-scraper, stood a bronze statue.
The statue was that of the founder of the
company to which the building belonged.
The pedestal on which the statue rested
bore the inscription, "Honesty and truth
guard the defenseless."
The company, when it was organized
some seventy years ago, entered upon a
new line of business. It has passed through
some stormy periods. At one time it was
the victim of mismanagement and was the
subject of legislative investigation. Today,
it stands at the head of companies in its
field, with assets valued at figures too big
for the average mind to apprehend. The
faith of its founder long since has been
justified.
There are those who see in accountancy
only a humdrum day's work; a means of
eking out an existence. There are others
who look upon it as a business in which
success is measured in terms of "gross"
and "net." Still others there are who
view accountancy as a profession; who
get a sense of satisfaction out of its prac­tice
as such, and who believe that service
motivated by the desire to make each job
a good job, cannot help but bring the re­ward
of increasing practice.
The correct concept of accountancy, if
but one there be, may represent a horde of
bookkeepers out of jobs. It may be a
group of technicians, more or less skilled,
pursuing financial gain. Again, it may be
an assemblage of artisans who delight to
do well and faithfully work of which they
may be proud. The chances are that ac­countancy,
in its true light, is a combina­tion
of technical skill and business ability,
bound together with honesty and fearless
adherence to truth.
Perhaps no one man, in the early days
of the profession, had the vision to see
that accountancy, as early as the year
1929, would have reached a point in­volving
twenty-five thousand practitioners
throughout this country. It is doubtful if
any of the pioneers imagined a volume of
practice reaching, probably, well-nigh
$100,000,000.00. Probably it was never
anticipated that a time would arrive when
accountants would be certifying to balance
sheets carrying figures in billions.
But, undoubtedly, those who founded the
root-organizations of accountancy in this
country saw an image of the growth and
development in which that service, guided
by honesty and truth, has come to con­stitute
a bulwark on which the great credit
operations of the country rest.
To see in the mind's eye still greater
things for accountancy does not require
Imagination