tion is to be properly carried on and the best results obtained, the work should not be left to a comparatively few to do.

There has never been such a demand for trained accountants as at the present time. A satisfactory solution of the problems during the reconstruction period will depend largely upon the ability of the accounting profession to keep executives accurately posted as to the effect changing conditions will have upon the business which they represent. In order that the expectation of the executives may be met by the accounting profession, it is essential that proper adjustment of wages should be squarely faced in order to attract the proper type of accountants. There must be a larger number of men in this profession with executive ability to meet the increasing intricate demands occasioned by Government and State regulations, income tax requirements and financing.

If these problems are to be solved satisfactorily, it is essential that executives of member companies realize the necessity of properly supporting not only the Accounting Section, but their own Accounting Department, and that this attitude be reciprocal on the part of accountants by realization of the important work they have confronting them. The accountant in all branches of an organization should receive the same consideration as members of other departments often considered more important but not so in reality.

In view of the difference in opinion on certain fundamental principles of accounting, it is suggested that a special committee be appointed under the supervision of a special sub-committee of the Public Policy Committee to deal with such accounting principles as affect public policy. It would be better for all concerned if these issues were squarely faced.

Personally, I desire to express my heartiest appreciation and thanks to each one of the officers of our Section and to all committee chairmen and members for the great cooperation extended to me under times of stress, and my thanks, as well as yours, are due to the writers of the various reports to be submitted.

THE CHAIRMAN: The next thing on our program is the appointment of the Nominating Committee. For this committee I will appoint the following gentlemen: Mr. H. M. Edwards,

chairman; Mr. F. A. Birch, Mr. H. B. Lohmeyer, Mr. L. L. Edgar and Mr. W. A. Jones. This Committee will report tomorrow afternoon at the meeting to be held in this room at 2:00 o'clock. I think Mr. Jones has a resolution he desires to present. PAUL R. JONES: A great many of the older men of this organization who knew Mr. L. M. Wallace, of Boston, will greatly regret to hear of his death. He was a man greatly loved by all, and a man who had given long years of faithful service to the Accounting Section. It seems fitting that proper resolutions should be prepared and sent to Mr. Wallace's family, and with your permission, as Chairman of the Section, I will request that Mr. Edwards and Mr. Allegaert act as a committee to present appropriate resolutions expressing the regret and sorrow of this Section at Mr. Wallace's death.

THE CHAIRMAN: The next business is the report of the Committee on Classification of Accounts and Committee on Accounting Relations with other Associations. The report will be presented by William Schmidt, Jr., of the Baltimore Consolidated Gas, Electric Light and Power Company, Chairman of the Committee.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON UNIFORM CLASSIFICATION OF ACCOUNTS, 1918-1919

THE YEAR'S ACTIVITIES LIMITED

In common with many undertakings of a similar nature, the work of the Committee on Uniform Classification of Accounts has been handicapped during the past year as a result of the prevailing war conditions. Lack of adequate assistance in their forces placed increased burdens upon accounting officials in a majority of the companies, and prevented them from devoting any or even a part of their time to Association affairs. Practically the same condition prevailed among the state Public Service Commission officials, who, it was expected, would cooperate with our Committee in formulating a standard system of accounts. For these reasons, the Executive Committee of the Association, on May 27, 1918, ordered the gradual curtailment of committee work until the termination of the war, or until conditions again made it advisable to resume. The Committee has, therefore, been practicallly inactive until a recent meeting of the Executive Committee, when it was decided to take up the work where interrupted, and make a further effort to obtain the adoption of a national standard classification of accounts.

As this work has been going on for some years, it might be well to review briefly the ground covered by the Committee during the past few years.

REVIEW OF PAST PROGRESS IN NATIONAL STANDARDIZATION

The present standard classification of accounts was adopted at the Philadelphia Convention in 1914, and since that time no changes have been made in the system of accounts. Several of the Public Service Commissions have adopted it as their standard, and although others have been urged to adopt it, for some reason they have failed to do so. It was then decided that perhaps better cooperation could be secured by working through committees instead of dealing with the Commissions direct.

It was the opinion of the Committee that the best way to

was to

secure a national standard classification of accounts make a comparison between the accounts prescribed by the various Commissions and the National Electric Light Association's classification of accounts, and then submit the comparison to a committee of accountants representing the National Association of Railway and Public Utility Commissioners. The work at the outset consisted in securing from the State Commissions which had adopted standard systems of accounts copies of such accounts applicable to electric lighting companies, and in writing for these copies the Commissions were advised of the purpose of collecting same. Favorable comment was made by many of the Commissions with which we communicated, and numerous questions were received and answered. A comparison was then begun of the titles of all of the accounts of the Commissions' classifications with the titles of the accounts in the Association's classification, which work required almost a year to complete. When finished, the members of the Accounting Committee were furnished a copy of the comparison, which pointed out the dissimilarity existing in the various classifications in the titles of practically the same accounts. The Committee then mailed a questionnaire to all Class A members, asking whether they were using the N.E.L.A. classification of accounts, and, if not, what system they were using; what criticism, if any, they had to make, and what changes they would care to recommend in the Association's standard system of accounts. This inquiry was mailed to 1,115 companies, of which about 40 per cent responded and furnished many interesting and useful suggestions. Detailed mention of these was made in the Committee's 1917 report.

Upon completion of the comparison of the titles, the Committee next undertook the task of comparing the text of the accounts in the Commissions' classifications with the text of the Association's classification of accounts. This entailed an enormous amount of work and was impossible to complete in one term. It was not, however, allowed to drag, but was pushed through to completion as rapidly as possible, and copies were furnished to the Committee members as in the case of the previous comparison.

The question of a national standard classification of accounts had in the meanwhile been brought to the attention of the

National Association of Railway and Public Utility Commissioners and was favorably received. A special committee was appointed by the Chairman of the Committee on Statistics and Accounts of that Association to make a study of the proposed uniform system of accounts, and arrange for a series of meetings with your Committee to discuss the subject. With the outbreak of the war, however, and a change in the chairmanship of the Railway Commissioners' Accounting Committee, the work of trying to establish a standard classification was brought temporarily to a standstill.

COMMISSIONERS' COMMITTEE APPOINTED

Following the recent resumption of the N.E.L.A. activities, the Chairman of your Committee communicated with the President of the National Association of Railway and Public Utility Commissioners, Mr. Chas. E. Elmquist, 724 Eighteenth Street N. W., Washington, D. C., who stated that he is very much interested in a national standard classification of accounts for public service companies, and that only a few days before a representative of the Accounting Section of the American Gas Association had approached him on the same subject. President Elmquist has since appointed the following committee to confer with representatives of the associations of both the gas and electric companies:

Messrs. J. PRInce Webster, Rate Expert, Georgia, Chairman.
R. S. ELY, Associate Counsel, Virginia.

U. G. POWELL, Rate Expert, Nebraska.

W. M. HAMMOND, Statistician, Illinois.

H. C. HASBROUCK, Accountant, New York, 2nd District
HARRY BOGGS, Accountant, Indiana.

O. O. CALDERHEAD, Statistician, Washington.

Your Committee has learned that the American Gas Association is also making a comparison of its classification of accounts with those of the State Commissions, and it has been suggested that better results could be obtained by the cooperation of the two Associations.

Your Committee finds that the majority of the accounts of the various Commissions are in accord with those of the National Electric Light Association, the principal differences being in