The various revenue acts of the United States have neither included nor excluded charitable and similar contributions by corporations as deductible items. The Commissioner and the courts have ruled that they are not deductible. But the laws have made the ordinary and necessary of conducting a business, deductible, and among these expenses the Commissioner, the courts, and the Board of Tax Appeals have included certain contributions by corporations that appeared to have been made with the expectation that direct and immediate benefits would accrue to the corporations as a result of the contributions. Contributions are made by business men either from motives of philanthropy or because they believe that certain benefits will accrue there from to their business. In the case of the individual contributor, both types of contributions should be allowed as deductions. In the case of the corporation, the second type should properly be allowed in practically all cases, in as much as the judgment of the corporation's officials as to the benefits likely to be secured is presumed to be as reliable as that of the Commissioner or his agents.

Reviews the book "Industrial Balance Sheets," by Myron M. Strain.

Reviews the book "Accounting," by Paul-Joseph Esquerré.

Reviews the book "Consolidated Balance Sheets," by George H. Newlove.

This article discusses the problems in determining total cost of distribution. It is not the purpose of this paper to discuss a functional comparison of costs within one institution, such as a wholesale grocery house. Neither is any attempt made to compare the costs between two or more institutions operating at the same level in a particular trade; for example, clothing chains. Because of the limitation of time, neither will it be possible to do much more than point out the objectives, methods, and problem connected with total distribution cost analysis. The solution will have to wait upon the further study and experimentation of accountants and marketing men. Many people fail to realize that distribution costs, such as those for transportation, storage, financing, and selling, are incurred long before a product is ready for final processing. A number of the best known marketing institutions handle raw materials and semi-processed goods prior to final manufacture. A study of the accompanying bar charts, however, discloses the fact that distribution costs start with the selling costs of the manufacturer and do not include an additional seven cents, classified as elevator margin and transportation from the producer through the elevator to the manufacturer.