ABSTRACT
In our issue of the 20th January 1894, we drew attention to certain facts in connection with this company which seemed to be of general interest to the profession. It will be remembered that the position of affairs then was that one of the auditors, Mr. Robert Forrest, F.S.A.A., had declined to sign the Balance Sheet on account of certain transactions to which he had taken exception, and which were fully recorded in the circular issued by him to the shareholders, which we reprinted in our issue of the 20th January 1894. It seemed to us at the time—and, indeed, we wrote to that effect—that certain of the transactions to which Mr. Forrest took exception were hardly of sufficient importance to merit the attention which ho so specially directed to them: and we further ventured to express a doubt as to whether the main point of difference between him and the directors, namely, the question as to the necessity for providing depreciation before arriving at the profits, was one which could be decided off-hand in Mr. Forrest’s favour. On the other hand, we did not hesitate to state our view that Mr. Forrest had done the only possible thing for him to do, under the circumstances, in taking special steps to acquaint the shareholders with the precise reasons that induced him to decline to certify the accounts submitted for his inspection.
