ABSTRACT
The preparation and publication of the Annual Abstract of Accounts is the job more than any other which is associated directly and personally with the office of Chief Financial Officer. This attitude of mind is particularly true of the average municipal finance student. If he permits himself to indulge in day-dreams of the future when his ambition shall have been achieved, the Abstract of Accounts will loom large in the picture. It is regarded by him with much the same feelings of veneration and pride as, we can believe, the poet regards the privately-published book of his verse. Later on, I believe, it assumes its proper proportion as part of the work of the office. But the “Abstract” is not published solely for the edification of the Chief Financial Officer; it is published in pursuance of a statutory duty. It is open to the inspection of any ratepayer who may if he choose acquire a copy at a reasonable cost. Yet the “Abstract” has not become a “best seller,” and the ratepayer who may be jealous of his right of inspection is certainly not “thronged” when he chooses to exercise it.
