The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-12-28
EXPERTS IN FIGURES
VARIETY OF ATTAINMENTs NEEDED
BY GOOD ACCOUNTANTS.
should BE Skilled in All Departments
of Business-Captain Carriers
Case an Instance.
lew York Commercial Advertiser.

N%N~NN.--NN~--Nf
expert work for the government has made
his name familiar TO every banker. ad-
dressed the students Of the School OF Com
merce, Accounts and Finance. OF New York
University, last evening on What an Ac-
countant Should Know" Prof Joseph
French Johnson, in introducing Mr.. Moxey.
referred 10 his connection with the sensa-
tional case Of ex-Captain Carter. and de-
scr!bed him as a man who seemed TO pos
sess an X-ray faculty for locating a mis-
chievous entry in any opaque body Of ac-
counts and also a system OF wireless teleg-
raphy from the zone OF which no defaulter
was able to escape"
Mr.. Moxey's address was an argument
for a broad education for the accountant.
"A mistaken idea prevails he said. that
any one who is able TO perform the duties
Of a clerk, no matter how limited his
knowledge of bookkeeping may be. is
| pable OF keeping a set OF books, and am
| sorry to say, that this idea is entertained
| by large number OF business men; and il
very often requires the sustaining OF a
| financial loss, caused by stupid bookkeep-
ing, to convince them OF their error. An
amusing incident is told of one Of those
| clerk bookkeepers whose books were in a
| tangle and who was unable to locate the
errors in the same. Upon being asked by
his employer. How do you account for the
discrepancy? he replied L can't account
! for it, that s the reason it's there
THE work of the accountant covers the
broadest field imaginable; il is of such a
diversified character that IL is impossible
for him to acquire any knowledge of bust
ness transactions and the methods OF con-
Quoting various businesses that will not
| be absolutely indispensable 10 enable him
| to perform his duties in proper manner
! The accountant should possess all the
| requisites that go TO make the competent
clerk, boOkkeeper and auditor. and in adj
ditiOn TO these qualifications should have
| thorough business training. possessing at
| least general knowledge OF how The prln-
| cipal businesses are conducted and the
relation of one business to another.
SYSTEM IN BOOKKEEPING.
IAN important branch OF the account
ants work Is the designing and organic
ing of systems Of keeping accounts. Many
a business man has been financially ruined
by not having his books and accounts kept
in such a form as to give at a glance all
! the information that is absolutely neces-
sary for the prudent and profitable con-
Quoting of the business in which he is
engaged. This is particularly true of
| manufacturer for the very foundation
upon which he conducts his business is the
| knowledge of the cost price OF the goods
| manufactured. system OF Keeping ac-
| counts must. therefore, be used that will
| give this information in an accurate and
| readily accessible form.
ut devolves upon the accountant to con-
/ struct the system which must meet the
/ requirements not only of the business
itself, but also of the volume of the bust
ness. A system which would be perfec-
ton in one character OF business would
| be worthless in another What accountant
could therefore, devise a good system Tor
anv business without having considerable
| Il, g Tlnf hrrcf Absolutely
none
For illustration 1 will take the obelin
NJ. Carter case. In speaking OF this case
L will only give those parts which nave
become public property through testimony
offered in court, which therefore Is not
now confidential information. Captain
of the United States government, had
charge of the construction work in the
river and harbor improvements near Sa-
vannah, Ga, and Fernandina, Fla. After
some time he was transferred TO another
district and another negineer placed IN
charge, VINO discovered that the quailty
of the work done by the contractors was
far below that called for by the contract.
Further investigation revealed the tact
that the government had been victimiZed
| out of an enormous sum of money. Captain
Carter court-martaled, found guilty
and sentenced to Leavenworth Peniten-
tiary1 where he is now imprisoned for his
CAPTAIN CARRIERS CASE.
ut is of the accounting work that I
will speak The payments made to the
contractors were all by checks on the
United States subtreasury at New York
or on the government depository at Sa-
vannah, Ga. These checks which aggre-
gated about s., 10000. were about the only
tangible pieces of evidence in the possession
of the government number or these
checks aggregating very large amount OF
: money were paid in currency by the paying
:
urer at New York. while others were depos-
tied in various banks and trust companies
in New York and other cities, TO the credit
Of one or more of the contractors. After the
contractors had obtained the money on the
I government checks, either by having them
! cashed by the subterasury or depositing
them in bank. they made monthly division
Z with Captain Carter, the payments TO Cap
z tain Carter always being made in currency.
Some of the government checks received by
the contractors were deposited 70 their or
their representatives credit In several
banks at Savannah, Ga. The total or these
was about $780, which was the amount
maid by the contractors for the work done
, Under the contract and for which the gov
eminent paid them about 100000. The
> remainder Of the government checks re-
!; ceived by the contractors, aggregating
d about 81 800. 600. represented the profits made
y on the contract OF which Captain Carter
= received one-third, or over 10000.
LAS have said. the payments TO Captain
L ! Carter were made In currency, and on the
y same day that many OF them were made
2 large
: in a trust company in New York TO the
. | credit OF Captain Carter or 10 that OF his
n | father-in-law, paid 10 bond brokers for
s stocks and bonds purchased by Carter.
: In many cases the total amount thus used
on a particular date was exactly one-third
z | Of the amount OF the government checks
y | deposited by the contractors In New York
= city on the same day large portion or
e the over 500 600 received by Captain Carter
e was invested in gilt-edge railroad stocks
and bonds The number OF the bonds
n | purchased from various bond brokers.
5 | which were all coupon bonds and payable
r TO bearer, were obtained, and at various
u ! dates the coupons were deposited by Cap
u | tain Carter in a trust company 10 the credit
| Of his account about the time that the cou-
| pons became due and payable. Several
/ years after these investments were made
by Captain Carter some OF the Identical
bonds were traced 10 some OF his relatives
q and friends. principally through their col
lecting the coupons Within the last few
o weeks securities and money I'm their pos
z session belonging 10 Captain Carter aegre-
& eating over $4,000 have been attached
by the government and are now In the
: custody OF the court pending proof or own
4 ership.
r None except those who have had ex-
perience I'm this particular line OF account
IL ing can estimate the amount OF tact and
Il labor il involves 20 trace money when
&c different accounts in many banks and trust
q companies I'm various cities have been used
n in the endeavor 10 conceal the transac C.
n tons and how apparently hopeless the