THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DIRECTORATE.
Above all, Mr. Withers does well to emphasize the supreme importance attaching to the personnel of the directors of public companies, and in that matter he brings to his aid no less a person than Sir Mark Webster-Jen- kinson, an eminent accountant. No man more than a professional accountant, who is studying balance sheets every day of his life, should be able to obtain from the figures almost everything he wants to know about the company. Indeed; such a one, we might think, would be almost indifferent to the personnel of the directorate, trusting rather to his expert knowledge of accounts to give him all the guidance he requires. And yet, with a facility for rhyme which we do not usually associate with our eminent accountants, Sir Mark said :—
Though your balance-sheet's a model of what balance-sheets should be,
Tand ruled with great precision in a type that all can see ; Though the grouping of the assets is commendable and clear, And the details which are given more than usually appear ; (Continued on page 252.)
• The Quicksands of the City and a Way Through for Investors. By Hartley Withers. Jonathan Cape. 6s. net,
(Continued from page 2M.) Though investments have been valued at the sale-price.of the day,
And the auditors' certificate shows' everything O.K., One asset is omitted—and its worth I want to know, That asset is the value of the men who run the show.
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