Then and now;

              ATLANTA PORTLAND
BALTIMORE
BIRMINGHAM
BOSTON HASKINS & S E L LS PROVIDENCE
SAINT LOUIS
SALT LAKE CITY
CBHUAFFRALLOOT TE SAN DIEGO
CHICAGO CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS SAN FRANCISCO
SEATTLE
CINCINNATI TULSA
CLEVELAND WATERTOWN
DALLAS
DENVER BULLETIN DETROIT BERLIN
JACKSONVILLE LONDON
KANSAS CITY MANILA
LOS ANGELES PARIS
MINNEAPOLIS SHANGHAI
NEWARK
NEW ORLEANS EXECUTIVE OFFICES
NEW YORK 30 BROAD STREET. NEW YORK HAVANA
PHILADELPHIA MEXICO CITY
PITTSBURGH MONTREAL
VOL. X I NEW YORK, APRIL, 1928 No. 4
Then and Now
' T O merit whose esteem and approba-tion
will be his particular study." So
wrote David Franks, Conveyancer and
Accountant, 66 Broadway, New York City,
in the year 1786.
Franks was the compiler of the first New
York Directory, and used that medium for
the purpose of saying a word in his own
behalf concerning his services which, as an
accountant, he offered to the public.
In a preface to the directory, Noah
Webster writes as follows:
"Broad Street, extending from the Ex­change
to City Hall, is sufficiently wide.
This was originally built on each side of a
creek which penetrated almost to the City
Hall. The street is low but pleasant; and
that part which did not suffer by the fire
during the war, is generally well built; the
other is recovering from its ruins."
Today, the surface of Broad Street is
being covered with planking in order that
excavations may be carried on, under the
surface where the creek formerly ran, as a
part of the construction of an addition to
the subway system of the city.
History does not reveal how many times
the buildings which originally lined Broad
Street have been replaced by more modern
structures. But the evidence of progress
is revealed by the lofty monuments to
modern business which rise adjacent to its
sidewalks.
In one of these buildings, recently
erected, will be housed, after May 1, 1928,
an organization of David Franks' profes­sional
successors, a firm of accountants
which has striven to keep pace with the
development of modern business.
Perhaps a change of location and a new
physical outlook from a greater height will
bring new appreciation of what full service
to the business community requires. Per­haps
the change will result in a greater
consciousness of the fact that the practice
of accountancy today is no mean matter.
Perhaps there will be more cohesion of
organization, greater facility of operation,
and an increased amount of time in which
to think about the problems which con­stantly
face a large aggregation of account­ancy
practitioners.
Whatever may be the advantages or
disadvantages of the change, David
Franks' pledge to the business community
of 1786, slightly adapted, must live on—
"To merit whose esteem and approbation
will be their particular study."