The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-03-20

Of emergency. were furnished to ali
! assembled.
y gentleman was then introduced to
ca, is In no wer connected with the
| state board. Ho distributed cards iu-
closed In plain envelopes. These cards
lon2, to take e. montal motto OF the
| number drawn. to sign namc to the
card and all papers to be returned to
nothing else. We lnolosed these card 5
In the envelopes, sealed them and ro-
turned them to the the trustee, who,
| as we wore told. was to be their Gus
todian untii after tho board had como
| to It's decision OF the result In each
| particular case. This procedure ellm-
| mated all chances OF extending or be-
Ing influenced by any personal tavors
or feelings towards the applicants.
Alter few minutes delay the qucs-
ton papers were handed out. and the
| members of the honorable state board
! present assumed their places on the
nigh leather chairs OF tho presiding
speaker and officers.
could not help envyinE the peace
OF mind which must have been In the
! minds of tho examiners In contra
distinction to that of tho applicants. I
, am glad to say. however. that 1 have
| not felt ut any time that 7 considered
! inc board as a natural enemy: or the
contrary, 1t occurred to me to look at
Mno simply desire to be assured by
| evidence and test that those upon
H Wnom they eventually will confer the
! uesrco are we'll qualified and OF good
! report to undertake tho Important
work OF public accountants: and l am
siaa this Is so. for wero 1T otherwise
thc standard and value OF virginia
( certincaio would soon dopreciate.
II Is with n great deal OF iustinable
pride to be Informed that our State
ranks with the best OF tho c. = A.
F, States. and various favorable comments
! received and expressed by somo of
| our leading Journals and authorities
aoout the selection OF questions set ut
F! the hrst examination. are the best and
! most reliable basis OF such assertion.
| -, y superficial review OF the papers IN
lhcory and auditing of tho first days
I Oily They contained some original
questions. but. as Il whole. seemed -
me. comparatively simple with what !
/ had anticipated and for which I was
! prepared. Tho time allowance was
ample to allow the candidates time TO
mink before writing their answers. 1t
REQUIRED seventeen sheets closely writ
J ten Tor my answers to theory and eight
sheets in auditing.
Tho second day was tho real day of
The battle. 1t IS an established fact
that there exists more scope of va
| riety In the practical Subjects than In
the theoretical ones Students who
nave nave taken examinations in other
! ioh members of State boards spend
the silent watches OF tho night" in
thinking out some difficult ard i'm
i
IN practice, and propound them. d.
, iuted with water, inflated with gao
I and hot air. clothed in highly tecnni-
cal and often ambiguous language
| Even as l am writing, can vividiy
recall my sensation when, on tho
morning of the second day, the papers
! the paper convinced mo that no time
could he lost in analyzing tho dues-
| lions.
| The first problem was one involving
I
than was necessary, in my opinion. to
pring out tho principle; the grouping
OF Items, bringing down monthly ball
enee and including interest charges.
| first considered the advisubility Of
! Deg inning with solutions OF tho fol-
lowing questions and to do VIVA.
ton OF number one. Upon reconsider
alton, however l concluded that I
could work about as fast any CT
the other candidates. and went ahead
with number one. Whom I had ctm-
pleted this It was ll:i5 o'clock: fifteen
minutes loft to work on the other four
else had advanced much further a.
this time. Without stop went to
work on the othcr questions, and ewing
| to the libernlity OF the board in ex-
tending the time until 6 o'clock, was
the first candidate to nnish-by 2:45
o'clock
o'clock. AT this time we were assem-
beld and the work on question six was
taken up.
The time allowance of four hours. as
stated on the paper must adaiit, was
very limited again, but the previous
experience in the extension of time
at the morning session gave me conf
dence that eventually this. TOO, might
be rearranged.
We worked without interruption
from 1 o'clock to II. and then. some
| had not entirely completed heir solu-
ton The question was one exceeding
~ Wei planned To develor the pri,c-
teal knowledge and analytlcll ability
OF the applicants Tho REPRESENTATIVE
o! The board delivered In a few words
some remarks In explanation OF what
Bearing In mind the cffo.t If tho
hrst day. siv hours morning session OF
the second. and then seven hours in
| the evening, you will agree with me
that the questions submitted were well
selected to test the staying" qualities
OF the candidates, and ii Is no wonder
that we all felt pretty much Knocked
out" after these rounds. ] covered the
solutions OF the practical questions on
thirty six sheets.
Without assuming the right TO criti-
| he state board, but considering it rs
a privilege in writing this paper, per-
init me to say that evidently there
was some Misrepresentation on the part
of the candidates.
preston, and presumed In this m
stance that the origlnatorS of the
questions and at least several mem
bers of tho examining board, have
worked out their solutions, wniving
their familiarity with the situation as
presented. without aid OF books or any
outside help. before submitting them
to the candidates, In order TO have II
sure basis OF reasonable time allow
ance. If l am correct in this prosump-
ton the six candidates have either
misunderstood the questions, especially
number six; gone into more detail than
the question intended to require and
must have been cNcecdinglly slow in
their conception as Well az execution.
BE this as 1t may. the subsequent time
allowance has overcome this objection,
or, ns my lawyer friends might say.
the motive for extension has rebutted
my presumption.