Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1908-08-15

ness enterprlSeS-lnteIll9 enCe' GSOh
omy, Honesty, at a Premium-Sueh
Qualities Often Lacking In the Ad-
ministraton Of Government Bureaus.
BY ELIJAH W. SELLS. c. P. A.
The position of the public accountant
In respect to corporations and their
management Is always an independent
one. Unlike the attorney, he is not
expected to make out case. The
character of the service he renders Is
tmpersonal All he can do IS to tell
what the facts are, and they exist for
his examination in forms so tangible
and so subject to other scrutiny than
his own that even if he were willing
to prostitute his calling he would never
dare to do so. 1t is equally true that
the knowledge he obtains of the af-
fairs OF corporations is necessarily in
Innate, accurate and substantially
complete.
We are told that the corporation man
ayers are dishonest, that they exploit
the people and their utilities, that they
put their own enrichment above their
duty to the Stockholding interest or to
the patronizng public and that before
there can be a return Of the splendid
prosperity we were enjoying the cor
poration must be regulated and the
government must step in with sharp
eye and big stick.
My experience in the conduct of in
dependent and impartial examinations
of books of account and affairs has
covered many years and has been con-
Cerned with the federal government,
state governments and city govern
ments 1t has covered the field also
of railway, street railway, light, pow
er and other public service corpora
lions. 1t has dealt with Industrial cor,
porations, the so called trusts. 1t has
taken me into banks, trust companies
and insurance companies, into educa-
tional and charitable Institutions. |
think ! may say it has taken me pretty
generally over the whole field Of pub
lie and private business and if | am
to judge by what my eyes have seen
1t is the unassailable truth that almost
any one Of the men who stand at the
head Of our great business Institutions
is far more competent to run the gov
eminent and would run it more eco
nomically, more wisely and more hon
estly than any of those who are in the
business of running governments.
l know rs a matter of fact that the
management Of our great properties is
generally intelligent and economical
and that the management of our gov
eminent bureaus IS generally loose, If
regular and frequently dishonest, and
when read the articles with which SO
many of our newspapers and maya
zines are filled nowadays rejecting on
the men whose genius Is developing
the cOuntry's resources and when |
hear the proposals Of politicians from
the most eminent to the least for TIL"
passage of laws to hamper and restrict
the energies of these men on the theory
that their integrity is open to suspicion
my mind inevitably brings up the con
trast that l always observe between a
corporations way of doing things and
a governments as disclosed by their
respective records and books Of ac-
count.
For the purpose Of this comparison
incompetency and dishonesty need not
be separated. Putting them together,
1t is my deliberate estimate that, judg-
ed by the highest standards prevailing
in the best conducted corporations,
there is less than 10 per cent of both
among men in the management Of cor
porations generally and at least 90 per
cent of both among public Otficeholders,
and l base this estimate upon my ex-
perlence as public accountant
The men intrusted with the manage
ment of the corporations are better fit
ted to administer the affairs Of such
corporations and to exercise judgment
In matters concerning both the investor
and the public, which takes their prod
uct or utilities their franchises, than
are those men who hold public office
qualified to fill even their own posi-
tons, much less to undertake admin
istrative control over corporations.
The facts that prove this do not deal
with the mere matter of honesty and
efficiency. The organization of pub
lie bureau is much less compact, much
less harmonious in It's operation, than
the organization of great railway or
a great industrial corporation.
The men at the head of such business
organizations in practically every case
are experts, working diligently in har-
mony and ready to work to the limit Of
their endurance, with full and direct
control of their subordinates. On the
other hand, nothing can be more no.
torious-the results are obvious to ev-
cry public accountant who investigates
Y-than the fact that In nine cases out
Of ten the head of public department
spends most Of his time promoting his
political interests, and the employees
generally, protected by the civil serv-
ice regulations are looking to see how
little rather than how much work they
can get into their appointed short
hours.