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ATLANTA BALTIMORE BIRMINGHAM BOSTON BUFFALO CHICAGO CINCINNATI CLEVELAND DALLAS DENVER DETROIT KANSAS CITY LOS ANGELES MINNEAPOLIS NEWARK NEW ORLEANS NEW YORK PHILADELPHIA PITTSBURGH HASKINS & SELLS CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS BULLETIN 3he7ax swekiecnssut t&3i9v tehse sltlos.,f nfbeiuwciled yisno grk PORTLAND PROVIDENCE SAINT LOUIS SALT LAKE CITY SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SEATTLE TULSA WATERTOWN BERLIN LONDON PARIS SHANGHAI HAVANA MEXICO CITY MONTREAL VOL. VIII NEW YORK, APRIL, 1925 No. 4 Theft Preventives JAMES RANDOLPH SMITH, as he may be called instead of by his own name, fell by the wayside through yielding to the temptation of using money which did not belong to him. His story is the typical one of youth, a quest for thrills, the lure of bright lights, and lack of means of his own with which to gratify his immoderate desires. Secure in the confidence of his employers, entrusted with considerable sums of money, not under bond, and surrounded by all the opportunity which could have been provided, the fall from grace almost might have been predicted. From the standpoint of the employer, there are two phases of that class of employment which involves fiduciary integrity. One phase concerns the moral side and falls in the field of social economics into which, in his latter years, that great economist, John Stuart Mill, was irresistibly drawn. The other phase has to do with reducing business risk in a coldblooded manner, which ignores sentiment as if there were no such thing. The principle is well settled, that risk of loss from pecuniary lapses of those who handle funds is minimized when such employes are surrounded with all the safeguards known to modern organization and management. The question of whether or not an employer has a duty to reduce the opportunity for dishonesty, of course, is open to argument. The ethical question of duty as a moral issue need not be debated and settled in order to give practical effect to the merit which is found in the idea. Means which circumscribe opportunity for artifice and wrongdoing automatically remove temptation to the degree that the means are sound in theory and effective in application. The device of bonding employes has the dual advantage of compensating the employer in case of loss and restraining the employe from hazarding his right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness by going wrong. Thoughtful planning of accounting control as it approaches the ideal diminishes the opportunity for moral defection. The person who sees no chance of stealing without the likelihood of being immediately detected is not apt to steal. Precautions of organization and system, and protective measures, irrespective of the motive which prompts their installation, accomplish a two-fold purpose. They tend to prevent loss from theft. They lessen, if not remove, temptation. Whether temptation is made a matter of primary or of secondary consideration is immaterial. If the removal of temptation is an incident to the desired result, qualms of conscience which anyone might have on the subject would be satisfied. The important desideratum is to prevent loss from theft.
Object Description
Title |
Theft preventives |
Author |
Anonymous |
Subject |
Embezzlement Surety and fidelity insurance |
Citation |
Haskins & Sells Bulletin, Vol. 08, no. 04 (1925 April), p. 25 |
Date-Issued | 1925 |
Source | Originally published by: Haskins & Sells |
Type | Text |
Collection | Deloitte Digital Collection |
Digital Publisher | University of Mississippi Libraries. Accounting Collection |
Date-Digitally Created | 2009 |
Identifier | HS Bulletin 8-p25 |