El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-04-26

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higher accounting officials of nearly
all the railroads Of the country will be
/ IN attendance. This association in the
past has played leading part in form
ulating the fiscal policies of the rail-
| roads, and has blazed the way Of the
accountant in his effort to make his
bookkeeping system meet the growing
demands Of gigantic and constantly
| expanding business.
The average individual has little con-
ception of the extent to which account
Keeping Is carried by the railroads. So
complex IS the financial operation of
| big road that without a most elaborate
accounting system intelligent operation
would be impossible. 1t is from the re-
ports Of the accounting officers that
the railroads are able TO tell what parts
of their business are profitable. ex-
actly what charges must be made to
| afford a given income, precisely what
economies may be effected, and a thous-
and other things essential for the in
formation Of the successful railroad
manager.
In the past few years the railroads
have found it necessary to keep their
accounts on the forms, and after the
manner prescribed by the Interstate
commerce commission. Now the ac-
counting officers association is direct
Ing its efforts principally toward Sc
curing rulings by the commission which
will meet with the approval of the
railroads. Under the old order of things
it was almost impossible for the Inter-
state Commerce commission or the
courts to make head or tail out of a
railroads accounts. Each road had its
own variations Of general system, its
secret records, and its involved &C.
counts. and in this way could so man
ipulate its finances that no outsider
could audit Its books.
This became so su5versive Of Justice
that congress decided to empower the
Interstate Commerce commission 10 re-
quire the filing of annual reports of
comprehensive nature and to prescribe
the forms of all accounts, records and
memoranda provision was also
adopted inflieting a heavy penalty for
the keeping Of any records other than
those prescribed by the commission, for
the making of false entries and for the
failure to make complete entries. It
also provided that no records of any
kind should be Destroyed except under
the sanction Of the commission.
Uniformity Required.
In keeping with these provisions OF
the railroad law the Interstate Conn
meTce commission has prescribed a sys-
most part 1t has had the full cooper
alton of the railroads and their account
ing officers. The commission promul-
gates certain rules Of classifying rail-
road accounts. In one pamphlet it
gives full directions for the classifi-
cation of all entries pertaining TO the
operating expenses 1t sets forth in
detail just what items shall be charged
TO maintenance of way and structures,
hot TIT Of
ment, what to traffic expenses. what to
transportation expenses and what 70
general expenses. In another pamphlet
are given the rules for classifying all
items for expenditures and bettermenus.
In still another the rules for entering
items with reference to expenditures
for road and equipment are given |
Other pamphlets set forth the rules for
other general accounts. and when a
railroad has complied with ali these
provisions its financial operations are I
easily understood by the officers au-
thorized to investigate them.
When the Interstate Commerce COM
mission first was empowered to take !
up the question of uniform accounting, !
the Association Of American Railway !
Accounting officers appointed COM I!
mittee of 20 to cooperate with the COM I
mission in drafting the rules for the I
counts. From that day to this there !
has been a working agreement between
the accounting officers and the COM !
mission, and the result is that today the !
United States has a method of railroad /
accounting consisting Of the very es- /
sence Of all the good ideas heretofore !
used.
Railroads Object.
Sometimes the railroads have OBJ /
jected to certain classifications oe- !
manded by the commission, one in par
ticular being the regulation of depre-
citation charges. The commission claims
that there ought to be fixed percent
age of the valuation OF the equipment
of a road deducted each year so that
when the equipment Is retired TO the |
junk heap Its entire value will have /
been charged off the books of the COM
pany The railroads object 10 this for
number of reasons. They assert that
they ought to be allowed to charge de-
precia ton in their own way-makfng
large charges in fat years and small
ones in lean years. They assert that
this will enable them to make a con-
slant financial showing instead Of
one
There lis a demand on the part of
some of the state railroad commissions
that the railroads be required to segre-
gate their interstate operations from
their interstate business, SO that the
states will have the figures upon which
to predicate their action in regulating
lntra-state rates. 1t is probable that a
way will yet be found to do this, al
though it is agreed that it is hard TO
segregate everything pertaining TO
Interstate business from the things
e-hich enter into intra-state operation.
The regulation which the Interstate
Commerce commission has adopted with
reference to the destruction of the rec
ords OF railroad company is interest
ing as we'll as useful. 1t sets forth
now long every paper must be kept and
provides in detail how they shall there
after be destroyed. The reports of /.
agents and conductors must be pre-
served for five year, Waybills demand
eight years of preservation In fact.
he only records that may be destroyed
n less than seven years are such in
things as duplicate re-
PORTS records Of employment, sleeping
ar diagrams and berth checks, dining
ar checks, audited tickets. duplicate
opies OF tariffs. etc. /;
willing Compliance.
The compliance of the railroads with |
he demands of the accounting division