I4& CONSTRUCTION AND MANAGEMENT OF SMALL GASWORKS. 



to go to either extreme. The office is not the place where 

 the profits are earned, and a manager worth the name will 

 be something more than a recording angel. But sometimes 

 the clerical work seems to fill all his time. He is at the books 

 from morning to night, entering up in copperplate style, 

 ruling and balancing, while the real business at the works 

 and in the district is suffering from want of competent 

 supervision. The books are in excellent order, but as 

 much cannot be said for the working results or the profits, 

 and it is a poor look-out if the manager is really only the 

 clerk. Frequently, this state of things is brought about by 

 the lack of a proper grasp of the position on the part of the 

 directorate, who require very elaborate reports and returns, 

 and regard an error of 2d. in the cash account, or an 

 incomplete ruling in the ledger, as matters of vital import- 

 ance. They may be apt to imagine that the manager is 

 best kept up to concert pitch by continual overhauling of 

 the books, and long wordy disputes and discussions. I 

 once knew a manager who was so harassed by the directors 

 who met every week, and, in effect, conducted an incom- 

 petent, pettifogging, ill-tempered sort of informal audit, 

 that he lost all interest in the work, and at last the results 

 were so unsatisfactory that both parties were anxious for a 

 change. Under more favourable surroundings, he proved 

 a most capable and satisfactory officer. I have said 

 that profits are not earned in the office; and as much 

 applies to the board-room. While the manager is explain- 

 ing to the directors, he is not earning anything for the 

 company. It is surprising that many who would at once 

 see the absurdity of setting a stoker to wheel a barrow-load 

 of coke or coal round and round the yard entirely fail to 

 see the desirability of encouraging the manager to apply 

 his time to the best advantage. 



