ABSTRACT
Kenneth Macneal makes a strong presentation of his side of the argument. He is supported by some prominent accountants on both sides of the Atlantic. But it must be remembered that there are others among whom, to mention only two, are George O. May and Professor Eugen Schmalenbach, who hold that accounting is essentially a process of allocating historical costs, and not one of valuation. The decisions seem merely to hold that in certain peculiar situations such reduction does not affect the amount which may legally be paid as dividends. The history of bookkeeping contains a number of inaccuracies as to names of authors, titles and dates of books, and even as to the nature of their contents. These errors are evidently due to the author having accepted without further inquiry the statements contained in a crudely inaccurate book published in the United States a few years previously.
