Reviewed by
James W. Jones
Baltimore, Maryland
Marshall Monroe Kirkman was a productive writer from 1877 through 1906. The Accountants’ lndex of 1920 lists twenty-three ar ticles, including this work, and a seventeen volume Science of Rail ways (undated). In 1877 he published a 499-page book, Railway Revenue. This work comprises two volumes; thirty-one chapters and two appendices in the first, and twenty-seven chapters plus Appendix C in the second, which displays the formats of fifty-eight forms for use in developing information for management.
Mr. Kirkman had an admirable command of the English language and obvious familiarity with railroads or railways which he used interchangeably. The two volumes are well-organized; the first, in brief review, pertains to the nature of the business, its objectives and its capitalization. The second volume deals with accounts, procedures, forms, audit and reports. His dissertation on the many areas of activity was quite thorough and many examples could be mentioned.
The author made many salient points, among which were: “There are few, if any, railroads in this country, at least, that have earned a fair return on what they cost” (p. 92). And, “Still other reasons than those we have given might be cited, if necessary, in explanation of the inability of our railroad companies to exhibit the full cost of their property” (p. 94). Also, “We shall find, for instance, if we carefully examine the working of our railway system, that the law of political economy, the law of supply and demand, as explained by those who have studied the subject, apply to our railway com panies with surprising accuracy; that the same influences, in fact, that operate in fixing the status and value of manufactured products apply equally to transportation, the manufactured product of rail roads” (p. 99).
The fifty-eight forms exhibited in Appendix C of Volume II are printed on forty-one different sizes of paper, some varying by only one-quarter of an inch. There seemed to be no reason for these differences; but, one can speculate that the dimension was deter mined after providing sufficient columns for the information sought, or, further, that the varying sizes distinguished the forms, perhaps for filing, although each was clearly headed.
When discussing the comparison of various figures, the author refers to the various factors bearing on operating results and con cludes with this sentence: “All of these things must be considered, and their influence accurately ascertained, before we can judge in-telligently of the management of a property.” He was a proponent of dual cognizance of transactions.
Eight pages are devoted to a discussion of inventories and it is interesting to note that they were to be priced at “cash value at the time the inventory is taken.” Such a practice could easily lead to appreciation or depreciation and questionable accounts.
There are many interesting items; one of which is the prepara-tion and forwarding of payrolls. Kirkman requires that they not be folded and to be forwarded in tin tubes (p. 17). Could this be the origin of payroll, inasmuch as the word was not found in three dic-tionaries consulted?
Kirkman identified in numerous places many types of accountants by titles: accountant(s), accountant in charge, division accountant, general accounting officer, fuel accountant, local accountant(s), road accountants, subordinate accountants, voucher accountant, accounting officer(s), railway accountants. In Appendix A—”Offi-cers and Operatives”—the number is limited to three, augmented by chief clerk for two of these; and six auditors by title, plus a gen-eral bookkeeper and a comptroller. On page 32 of Volume II, he expressed at some length a low opinion of embryo accountants.
Space does not permit a more extensive review which would dis close how far accounting procedures had advanced a century ago. This book will be interesting to present practitioners and historians for its perspective of accounting at that time.
