290 PROPOSED SYSTEM. 



tion, and that different lots of material of the same name may be 

 in all of them at once. 



In all such cases the old question between clerks and foremen 

 will arise : How is the foreman to know whether the material he 

 is using has been paid for or not? and how is the clerk to know 

 to which of the classes named the material which the foreman has 

 been expending belongs? Then, if the clerk could know, how is 

 he to express the facts without greatly elaborating the accounts? 



The attempt to distinguish these differences, if carried out con- 

 scientiously, would paralyze the manufacturer; and, if achieved, 

 would only prove the aggregate truth of the cost sheet. The 

 distribution of the charges within this aggregate will always, what- 

 ever precautions are adopted, be within the discretion of the 

 immediate authority. 



I discuss this at length because it has been from the first the 

 goal at which I aimed, and because it has attracted the attention 

 of others as well as myself. 



I find the proof of the aggregate truth of the cost sheet in the 

 following considerations : 



A. As to services. This is proved by direct comparison with 

 the aggregate disbursements for services on the abstract of dis- 

 bursements. 



B. As to material. This is proved by the two necessities: 

 first, of accounting for all material received, whether paid for or 

 not; and second, of charging to some shop-order all material 

 expended or subject to expenditure, whether by accident or design. 



It would of course be quite possible to strike a yearly balance 

 sheet debiting all remittances and the aggregate value of the last 

 inventory and crediting cash balances, special expenditures not 

 for manufactures, and the aggregate of the present inventory. 

 The balances, generally speaking, should be the aggregate cost 

 of the fabrications at their reported prices, together with a cor- 

 rection to the account of shop expenses which should be dealt 

 with as described page 217. 



