ABSTRACT
One ordinarily would not expect to find a person’s dissertation among a compilation of his writings. A dissertation is frequently too long and, after forty years, is likely to be too out of date to be included. However, this dissertation is different. It is relatively short (79 pages without the appendix) and is as relevant today as when it was written in 1934. It has significance, not only because of its continued relevance, but also because of what it portrays about the life of a man. When you meet a person for the first time who is in the prime of his career, you are prone to speculate about how he arrived at all of his talent, his wisdom, and his knowledge, in this case accounting knowledge. Some of those characteristics may have come from the accident of heritage, but you can depend on the fact that much of a person’s talent comes from what he has done with his life. Much of the talent, the wisdom, and the knowledge have been built up brick by brick with self-disciplined perseverance, hard work, and a strong purpose in life.
