CHAPTER VI. 



AUDIT OF BOOKS. 



Many people confuse tlie auditor with a book- 

 keeper or office accountant. This is a great 

 mistake. The expert auditor or certified public 

 accountant is one of the most higlily trained 

 and technical professional men of the present 

 day. He is in the same rank with the consult- 

 ing civil engineer and the expert investment 

 analyst. He is educated deeply in his special 

 work and taught to go to the very heart of con- 

 ditions in the most direct and thorough man- 

 ner. Nothing escapes his trained and vigilant 

 scrutiny. The cruiser estimates the timber sup- 

 ply and future possibilities. The auditor writes 

 the history of the business. The auditor does 

 not care particularly for glowing prospects ; he 

 wants accomplished facts. The auditor brings 

 together every branch of the business in a clear 

 and concise form. He shows receipts and dis- 

 bursements, earnings and outlays, profits and 

 losses, assets and liabilities as they actually 

 exist. 



Up to the present time investment buyers of 

 timber bonds are furnished only with the bal- 

 ance sheet appearing in the circulars of the 

 house selling the securities. These buyers 

 should be provided with an annual statement of 

 the affairs of the company whose bonds they 



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