ABSTRACT
Mr. Lawrence W. Robson, acutely points out that the desire so expressed is not the equivalent of a demand for Governmental planning and control; he puts the matter the other way round and reminds us that 'the future depends more on the individual than on the Government'. The co-operation within industries that is thus seen to be necessary reflects itself on the oft-expressed demand for 'uniform costing methods', and the value of Mr. Robson's lecture seems to us to lie in his discussion of the real meaning of uniformity. The trade association is the most effective rallying point. The necessary degree of mutual confidence already exists, not to speak of the appreciation of special difficulties. It has been said that the function of the accountant is to gather information, to collate it and to give it out again. The definition is as helpful or unhelpful as most attempts at generalisation, but it contains a germ of truth.
