Out of the past;

              Bulletin HASKINS & SELLS 31
Out of the Past
Charles Waldo Haskins, an American
Pioneer in Accountancy. (New York,
Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1923. 128 p. $2.50.)
In these days when the American public
is deriving so much of interest and inspira­tion
from the lives of some of the country's
great men, it need not seem strange if
students of accountancy find stimulation
in the biography of one of the profession's
pioneers.
The Americanization of Edward Bok,
said to be still coming from the press at
something like five thousand copies every
three weeks, has proved, in some opinions,
the most popular book of its kind since
the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
What Bok's book has been to the general
public, Charles Waldo Haskins' life, from
an inspirational point of view, may well
be to the vast army of accountants in the
making.
In addition to furnishing some of the
historical background of American ac­countancy,
through the contribution of
certain rare information bearing on the
inception and early development in that
field, the book offers opportunity for meas­uring,
to some extent, the progress which
the profession has made in the last two
decades. As one looks on the situation
today, with laws making provision for the
practice of accountancy in every state in
the Union, including the District of
Columbia, thousands of students taking
accountancy instruction in hundreds of
educational institutions, a large and ever
growing body of practitioners serving per­haps
thirty to forty per cent. of the busi­ness
concerns of the country, one might
easily imagine that Mr. Haskins projected
his thoughts twenty years into the future.
Seeing not only what the marvelous de­velopment
in accountancy might be, but
what would be needed for the successful
building of a body of trained men, com­petent
to render a high type of profes­sional
service to the business world, Mr.
Haskins prescribed the qualifications which
he regarded as essential to preparation for
such service. The following taken from
his address at the opening session of New
York University, School of Commerce,
Accounts, and Finance, is an example:
"No attempt will be made in the school to
foster the notion that commerce or accoun­tancy
is a royal road to wealth, or to leisure,
or to unmerited social position; but in addi­tion
to the intellectual qualifications of talent
for observation, power of perception, patience
of investigation, presence of mind, judgment,
reflection, order and method, aptitude for
calculation, abstraction, memory, mental ac­tivity
and steadiness, which it is hoped the
student will possess in some fair degree, the
moral virtues of honesty, candor, firmness,
prudence, truth, justice, economy, temper­ance,
liberality, politeness, good temper, self-control
and perseverance will be inculcated
as necessary to his own personal welfare and
the stability of the business world."
This, and many other choice passages,
exemplifying the clear vision, keen judg­ment,
and true wisdom of a great leader
who has been brought out of the past by
his biographer to speak again, should not
be without influence in elevating the ideals
of students, in helping to improve the
quality of instruction in accountancy
schools, and in refining the professional
practice of accountants who, taking a
quiet hour aside for enjoyable perusal of
the volume, will accept the message which
it carries.