The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-20
WORK FOR BUSINESS MEN
 IN COLLEGE MANAGEMENT
MODERN METHODS THE UNIVERSITY RELIED UPON MAN NOT "coLLEGE-
 

order to separate the different kinds of
 entries. what had formerly been the most cumbersome and troublesome work of the college once at once be- came the simplest and easiest, and the plan devised fifteen years ago Is still fin use with very slight notifications, while the general method has been
 adopted in all the large educational in- stitutions of the country.
 So successful did the introduction of the business man into student manage
 ment prove in this particular that it was given further trial. Mir. Chamber lain was made secretary of the Law renee Scientific School. which is Har- oreticai technology, and then of the Harvard Summer School. Both these branches of university work were small at that time, but in ten years they had grown to twelve or fifteen times their original size.
 Harvard University. by the institu- tion of its new system of registration. adopted methods which are fast becom- ing familiar to the business world and was thus a pioneer in the movement for simplicity and clearness in busi- ness accounting. In fact, MT. Cham berlain, who Is now the manager of the New England Audit Company. has found his Harvard experience of great
 value in working out new systems of
 bookkeeping which he has originated,
 the verification of accounts and meth
 ods of keeping them.
 In present-day industrial conditions an auditor is quite different sort of a person from what he used to be. His work brings before him constantly comedies and tragedies, romances and sordid stories of wrong doing as much | stranger than the tales told in books | as the truth of the proverb is than fic- tion. That hs must first of all be skill
 ed in the understanding of figures goes
 without saying; but further than that he must have an intuitive understand | ing of men, an almost instfnctive jump ing to conclusions. dogged persistence,
 incorruptibility, and, withal, the tact and gentleness that often bring com fession of things so well concealed that | oven on suspicion they cannot be dis covered.
 An auditor of wide experience will tell you that the world increases in
 honesty, but that many a business loss
 Is caused not by criminal intent but by ignorance. There has been a universal
 change in every branch of business
 buying, selling. manufacturing. and Vi
 more than in any other department, old-fashioned methods cling. yet there is where the large scale of modern en- terprise, the speed with which trans actions are carried through nowadays, the close profits and the intricate pay roll have most effect. Over and over again 1t is found that a falling off in
 profits can be traced to losses in man.
 ufacture. or insufficient cost allow
 ances, which are so buried and confused
 in the intricate extensions of old time
 account methods that they escape mo-
 tice for years. it may Joe. until a com
 piete overhaulinS of books brings them
 to light. On the other hand, the stren-
 uous competition Of the new century
 has been known to lead perfectly we'll
 intentioned officials into seemingly in-
 nocent misrepresentations of affairs
 through the charging of items on one
 account when they belonged on another which there is temptation to make
 look well. What proportion of commercial failures could be prevent ted if precautions were taken against a ccncern's misunderstanding it's own business in these ways cannot be call culated, but 1t is safe to say that 1t would be surprisingly large.
 It used to be that private business rarely thought of having an audit made unless it's affairs were found to be in bad shape, or its control was to be sold, or 1t was to be closed up altogether for some reason. Such occasions as these. calling for special audits as they are professionally known, still arise every day. of course; but the custom of having firm and corporation accounts gone through by an expert at least once each year, just as A bank is periodical iy examined. is increasing rapidly. It Is no longer regarded as a reflection on mans character when his books are put through" once in so often, but Is held to be as much of c protection to the individual as to the interests in his charge. and probably this spirit of business discretion has been fostered more by the broadening of the account ants profession than by any other one influence.