ABSTRACT
The Federal Trade Commission, under the direction of the Vice-Chairman, Edward N. Hurley, is aiding and co-operating with trade associations and with individual merchants and manufacturers in improving accounting methods and business practice. The preliminary work of the Commission has shown that an amazing number of smaller merchants and manufacturers have no adequate system of determining their cost and that they fix the prices of their goods arbitrarily. There are in the United States 250,000 corporations exclusive of banking, railroad and public utility corporations. It is of great importance to the manufacturers of an industry that they agree on the elements or fundamentals of a cost practice, especially to make sure that all the elements of cost are included in their calculations. Production costs, determined by a uniform practice, it has been demonstrated, improve trade conditions to a remarkable degree.
