Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1880-09-15
gether. And the good peon,o .


tleman, whose name will ever gen
vered, assigned as a sufficient r ~e re
Tor their apprehension, the fact t5oo
parcel of boys Were encora5 'il 3!t
men, in carrying timbers and I,7T LIKE Ike
them, without any directions p P'a 1
proper places. But who Ca, u linen Inelr
this good man? He believed o "
had been taught, and when b oS he
this church finished and fleI say, saw
worshippers, frankly admitted tb "t' a
was framed by the true rule; and Ha =.
simplicity, in opposition to preT ;ia,
and error, will ever predominant >D''
This same Scribe Rule, which ,r,.
supposed to be used only BY n na'
chanics, has also long been used br
certain class of Accountants
TENS have been written bv w.,
learned men on the science of RoI
keeping, all Of which open BY A.
Square Rule of debiting those with
whom you deal for what tbev own ra
you, and crediting them for what vor
owe them.
Simple as this may appear, # !,
nevertheless the grand First primo
pie which underlies every conceivable
operation in the whole Science Of A.
counts, and that Accountant who a.
ways keeps this principle in view, and
makes his work conform strictly toit
is sure to bring ont the proper result
every time.
But, in order to do this, he must
not forget that the same principIs
applies to things as well as persons
and that, according to this law, he
owes CASH. If CASH pays an ac-
count for him, Just as much as he
would owe John Smith if he paid tbs
same account, and when this idaa !,
fully carried out, it will be seen q,
the result, that we never owe any
amount without some person, Or
thing, or both combined. owing us
the same amount, and Uice uers4-ws
never have anything owing to us
without our owing just as much our.
selves. Hence in the accounts of anv
person, or company of persons, if
fully kept, there is always an exact
equilibrium between the debts and
credits resulting from the entire bus,
mess.
The carpenter who wrought by the
Scribe Rule, did not know that his
frame would come together-some
sticks might be tenonlong, some ten
on-wide-and in his uncertainty. he
concluded that he would know at the
raising. just so the Accountant who
works in the same manner, andisn not
governed by the true principle, con.
soles himself with the reflection. that
when his work is brought togetherat
some future day he will prove his
books by balancing them.
The carpenter, at the raising, found
thai the Square Rule which he had
abandoned for the sake of using the
Scribe Rule, acted faithfully i'll cor
recting his errors and mismeasure
ments; and. convinced of its super
or utility. he adopted it as a princiBs
to govern hisfuture labors. But not
so with the Scribe Rule Accountant,
he brings his accounts together and
they do not balance; the true rule
being applied, faithfully corrects his
errors. and his accounts assume a per
spicuous character but, blinded by
habit and false authority, he again
pursues his old course, and under the
uncertain operations of the rule by
which he IS guided, he is again soon
lost in a sea of perplexity and doubt.
No merchant or other business man
whose books are kept in this manner
is really safe In hundreds of in
stances men have supposed they were
doing a prosperous business and
making money, but when they ''took
stock and balanced their accounts.
they found they were ruined. Anot
able instance of this kind recently
came under our observation. In our
College we not only teach the stu
dents the usual form of making en-
tries, but, from the beginning to the
end of our course of training, VEIN
press upon them the importance OF
thoroughly understanding tie pm
ciple that should govern theminther
MI