I. Conditions in the tobacco industry, 606. — II. The TWIU before the First World War, 607; thereafter, 607. — III. Reasons for the Union's policy, 612. — IV. The problem of organizing the Negro workers, 613. — V. Development of a rival union, 615. — VI. The TWIU convention in 1939 and the developments preceding it, 618. — VII. The TWIU under the new administration, 622. — VIII. Reasons for the displacement of the old leaders, 625.

Journal Article The Relationship Between Total Output and Man-Hour Output: Comment Get access Lawrence R. Klein Lawrence R. Klein Berkeley, California Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 56, Issue 2, February 1942, Pages 342–343, https://doi.org/10.2307/1881938 Published: 01 February 1942

Consumers' Surplus and Index-Numbers Get access J. R. Hicks J. R. Hicks Manchester Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Review of Economic Studies, Volume 9, Issue 2, Summer 1942, Pages 126–137, https://doi.org/10.2307/2967665 Published: 01 July 1942

Objective examinations in accounting are a subject on which a good many people seem to have very definite and adverse, opinions. Perhaps the objective examination is usually thought of as consisting of a more or less formal list of true-or-false questions; and when the material of an accounting course does not seem to be particularly well adapted to this type of question, the conclusion is easily reached that the objective examination has little place in accounting. The object of this paper is, among other things, to suggest some of the possible forms that the objective examination in accounting may take in order to cure the difficulties of the true-or-false question. It may be that with adequate variety in the testing devices the objective examination may appear feasible as a testing device, if not positively desirable. An objective test in accounting has been defined as a test designed to cover a large amount of material, to have a large number of questions requiring very brief answers, the answers to each unit being the same for every student who answers the questions correctly.

Because of its relation to both law and economics accounting contains a number of challenging problems. In the solution of these the accountant is influenced largely by the requirements of the basic philosophy and the purposes underlying and supporting his own field of endeavor. In some instances the legal point of view may dictate the decision, as for example in the division of corporate invested capital into capital stock and capital surplus; in other instances the economic or business point of view may be the influential factor, as when a building purchased on the contract plan is recorded as an asset even though title has not been acquired. In the main, however, accounting has its own story to tell. Where that can be done without too gross a violation of either of the supporting lines of endeavor the path of action appears to be clear. The accountant is at least free to go behind the formalistic and somewhat mechanical interpretation of the twin handmaiden to accounting that he represents.

The article discusses some problems of last-in-first-out method of inventory valuation. It must be recognized that accounting for inventories on either a physical or a value basis is not and never can be an exact science. Quantities and values are often no more than approximations or estimates. Regardless of the accounting method used, human judgment is a vital factor in the final results. Consistency of policy relating to inventory valuations within the individual company will still continue to be an important criterion of acceptability to the Treasury Department. Uniformity in detail between different companies in their treatment of inventories is not so necessary. The last-in-first-out amendment is no more of a straitjacket than the income-tax law itself. From its very nature, the last-in-first-out method is appropriate only in those businesses where continuity of related operations and the resultant continuity of inventory position are present. It has no application whatever in a series of short time unrelated, speculative ventures. This is emphasized in the provisions of the law whereby replacements of reductions in inventory below the starting point must be carried on the books at the new cost.

The revised statement of "Accounting Principles," prepared by the Executive Committee of the American Accounting Association and published in the June 1941 issue of "The Accounting Review," is a decided improvement over the statement of principles previously published in June 1936. Nevertheless, it still contains spots where further burnishing would appear to contribute both to desirable refinement and to greater harmony between the principles and the fundamental thesis upon which they are based. In the preparatory note the Committee states that "In the corporate field the most important use of accounting lies in the preparation of statements of financial position and of operating results." In the basic assumption the Committee also refers to the accounting statements as financial statements. The term financial position is equivocal. While it implies that it is the general monetary position of a firm that is being presented, or that a firm's status is being exhibited in monetary terms, the financial position presented in the balance sheet is a specific variety of financial position.