In the footsteps of tradition;

              78 HASKINS & SELLS August
In the Footsteps of Tradition
THE mental laggard is as a rule devoid
of initiative. It apparently hurts
him to think; at least he finds it disagree­able.
He follows the crowd and does what
everyone else is doing.
The thoughtless man is only one step
removed from the mental laggard. He
goes along doing his work mechanically;
following form and getting results such as
they are.
The slave to tradition is of the same
family. New thoughts may rise in his
mind, but they are whipped back and
perish without fruition. He fears to take
a new step lest it be out of harmony with
established custom.
Tradition is often the rock on which
progress comes to grief. It rears its head
like some mighty force which will not be
denied. It encompasses society, business,
and finance. There is scarcely a field of
activity which does not feel its power. In
a way this is highly desirable. A basis is
thereby afforded which serves as a guide.
And who can gainsay the value of a guide?
But to follow blindly in the footsteps of
tradition is unsafe and unsound. Such
procedure is bound to make for trouble.
It is sure to bring results which are unsat­isfactory
if not worse. It is a check to
initiative and hinders healthy growth.
There is no field perhaps where tradi­tion
is a greater hindrance, except when
properly treated, than in accountancy.
There is no activity in which more atten­tion
needs to be given to cutting the cloth
to the specifications of the suit. Every
individual who is engaged in accounting
work has to be alert to the needs of the
situation before him. A knowledge of
principles and practice is not enough.
They must be intelligently applied to the
case under consideration if most effective
results are to be obtained. Because a cer­tain
engagement has been handled in the
same way for fifteen years is no reason
why it should be so handled the sixteenth
time if the conditions relating to it have
changed.
Cases are numerous where machine or
department rates have, in systems of cost
finding, been established and used from
year to year without change. Blank
papers in place of securities are reported
to have been passed by twenty-four suc­cessive
bank examiners because the first
examiner had sealed the packages and it
did not occur to any of the others during
a period of ten years to scoff at tradition,
break the seals and examine the contents.
Following in the footsteps of tradition in
this case made possible embezzlements
aggregating three or four hundred thous­and
dollars.
The treasurer of a large and well-known
manufacturing corporation was permitted
to have in his possession from time to time
over a period of several years large num­bers
of notes signed in blank by other
officials whose signatures were necessary
to make them effective. When signed by
the treasurer they obligated the corpora­tion
for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Because the practice had been established
and in existence for years it was long after
someone should have thought of it that
the president of the corporation suddenly
awoke to the opportunity which the trea­surer
had of obtaining money on the notes
and putting the money in his pocket.
This situation was corrected by placing
the notes in the custody of the auditor
who issued them, after registration, to the
treasurer.
Taking payroll receipts for years and
years from several hundred office employes
illustrates again the slavery to tradition.
In this case thousands of dollars of un­necessary
expense for paper and time of
employes in preparing the receipts would