The article presents information on accounting for depreciation. Depreciation may be defined as an accounting cost which is arrived at by the use of methods which do not "attempt to measure the exhaustion which actually takes place within a given period," we thereby divorce the depreciation problem from the everyday world of business experience in which managerial decisions are made. Unquestionably, managements in their selection of depreciation methods have sometimes had purposes in mind other than an accurate accounting for depreciation. They have sometimes been motivated by an undue regard for financial conservatism. Even aside from the selection of methods, their depreciation policies have sometimes brought accounting results which have been positive misrepresentations of the facts. However, the accounting profession cannot afford to countenance such practices and still less can accountants afford to make them a basis for their own analysis of the problem of depreciation. The fact that managements have used methods of depreciation with different ends in view does not mean that the different methods rest upon basically different assumptions.

The article presents information on tax simplification. During the past few months, numerous committees representing various business and professional organizations have been working at the task of suggesting ways of "simplifying" the Federal income tax law. Their purpose is to make recommendations to Congress which, if adopted, will presumably result in a plainly written, easily understandable statute, supplemented (it is hoped) by equally clear regulations. The announced objectives of the tax planners are threefold: (1) simplification; (2) elimination of "inequities" and (3) encouragement of "risk capital." After studying the recommendations, Congress may proceed in one of two ways to bring about the desired reforms: it may repeal the existing Internal Revenue Code and enact a brand-new law, or it may retain the Code in its present form and make such changes as appear to be in order. Despite the apparent advantages of making a clean sweep and starting over, it would probably be impractical to discard the accumulated body of law and precedent; hence "simplification" will likely be accomplished by revising the present Code. To help bring about the maximum "simplification," it is suggested that certain sections be entirely removed from the Code.