Then and now;

              ATLANTA
BALTIMORE
BIRMINGHAM
BOSTON
BROOKLYN
BUFFALO
CHARLOTTE
CHICAGO
CINCINNATI
CLEVELAND
DALLAS
DENVER
DETROIT
JACKSONVILLE
KANSAS CITY
LOS ANGELES
MINNEAPOLIS
NEWARK
NEW ORLEANS
NEW YORK
PHILADELPHIA
HASKINS & S E L LS
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS
BULLETIN E X E C U T I V E O F F I C ES
30 BROAD STREET, NEW YORK
PITTSBURGH
PORTLAND
PROVIDENCE
SAINT LOUIS
SALT LAKE CITY
SAN DIEGO
SAN FRANCISCO
SEATTLE
TULSA
WATERTOWN
BERLIN
LONDON
MANILA
PARIS
SHANGHAI
HAVANA
MEXICO CITY
MONTREAL
VOL. IX N E W Y O R K , N O V E M B E R , 1926 No. 11
Then and Now
T I M E was, two or three decades ago,
when secretiveness in the nth degree
was preserved in corporate affairs. Pub­licity
of financial statements was shunned,
lest it give aid and comfort—ammunition
even—to the enemy.
One bit of evidence that we now live in
a somewhat different era, may be found in
the 1925 printed annual report of one of the
country's largest corporations. This docu­ment
consists of some hundred pages of
statements, graphs, and comments, setting
forth the details of the company's financial
condition and the results of its operations
for the year. To each item in the financial
statements there is appended a parentheti­cal
explanation in language intelligible to
the layman. The statements bear the
signature of certified public accountants.
Admittedly, there are many stars in the
firmament of corporate reports which shine
less brightly as yet. Others still are ob­scured
by a cloud. Nevertheless, it cannot
be denied that the atmosphere gradually
is clearing. With a little patience, appar­ently,
it will become pellucid eventually.
That the affairs of a business organiza­tion
are of no concern to anyone except
those responsible for its creation and con­tinuance
may be sound doctrine when
applied to small concerns, but not when
applied to large concerns in which the
public is interested, either directly as share­holders
or indirectly through the influence
which the conduct of such concerns may
have upon general business conditions.
If corporations continue to draw capital
from hundreds of thousands of small in­vestors,
they must make available full and
reliable information as a basis for making
investments intelligently. They must
supply their thousands of shareholders—
who obviously cannot take part in the
management—as speedily as possible with
complete and trustworthy information as
to the results of the undertaking.
Further, incorporation is a privilege
granted by the people; and the people have
a right to adequate corporate reports, that
they may judge whether or not abuse has
been made of the privilege. Publicity of
certified financial statements by all cor­porations
would forestall public uneasiness
regarding them, and would eliminate un­scrupulous
attacks of politicians and others.
Mr. Sells, in 1911, advocated full pub­licity
of the financial affairs of corporations,
at a time when there was much agitation
against them. He wrote:
"It could not be said that all corporations
are free from censure, but publicity would
act as a restraint upon these and would