A book kept for the record of employees and wages paid to them week by week, ruled to meet the requirements of the particular business in which it is employed. Thus, in an engineering business the number of hours each day, the weekly total, the rate per hour, and total due, are provided for, and in a retail establishment the weekly wage, any premiums due, and the total. Provision must also be made to meet the requirements of the National Insurance and Unemployment Acts.

A book in which particulars of every transaction of whatever nature is entered as it takes place. Waste Books are not now often kept by any but the smallest firms, although it is fairly common to find firms keeping rough Cash Books, which are practically Waste Books, for cash transactions.

This term is applied to such assets as diminish in quantity or are consumed in the process of earning revenue, and which will not, in the nature of things, be renewed by the substitution of similar assets. Under this heading may be included quarries, mines, cemeteries, etc. From a financial point of view, it is highly desirable that the loss of capital incurred in the consumption of these assets should be made good out of revenue. But, from a legal point of view, it is possible that dividends may be paid by a limited liability company out of the revenue arising from such assets without making any provision for the reduced values,of the assets if the articles give power, although it will be necessary to make good any loss arising from circulating assets. If this latter course is adopted by the companies dealing with wasting assets, the auditor should make it clear in his report to the shareholders that no provision has been made for the diminution of the capital values, so that the shareholders may, if they wish, make suitable provision for the maintenance of their own capital out of the dividends which are paid to them, since such dividends include a proportionate part of their capital. (See also Depreciation, p. 394.)

Capital raised by a company by way of shares or stock in excess of what is warranted in view of the profits and prospects of the company, the effect of such issue being to reduce the rate of dividend, and, consequently, the market value of the shares or stock. This is usually accomplished by the inflation of values of assets, especially that of goodwill.

A charge levied for drawing minerals through land belonging to proprietors other than the principal landlord, usually calculated at a rate per ton of mineral so drawn.

A Will is a written document in which a person sets out the way in which he wishes his property to be divided after his death. In order that legal effect can be given to such a document, it is necessary that it shall comply with the provisions of the Wills Act, 1837, and the amending Acts of 1861 and 1918. Before the passing of the Wills Act, a variety of rules existed and, under these, wills by word of mouth, holograph wills, wills made by minors in respect of personalty were recognised. Under the Wills Act, however, writing is necessary in all cases save in case of members of His Majesty’s Forces on Active Service; signature and attestation of two witnesses are formalities now required, and minors, except soldiers and sailors, have no longer power to order the devolution of their property by will. ESSENTIALS OF A VALID WILL.Under the Wills Act, a will is required to be in writing, signed by the testator in the presence of two or more witnesses present at the same time. The actual signature may be made on behalf of the testator, and it should then be acknowledged by the testator in the presence of the witnesses. The signature of the testator appears at the foot or at the end of the will, that is, in such a position that it may be said to govern the whole of the writing. The witnesses must sign in the presence of each other and the testator, and in order to save trouble on the death of the testator, a statement known as an attestation clause should appear setting forth that the necessary formalities have been complied with. The attestation clause takes the following form Signed by the said John Jones as his last will and testament in the presence of us both, being present at the same time, and who, at his request, in his presence and the presence of each other, have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses. (Signed) William Brown. (Signed) Frank Robinson. WILLS OF PERSONALTY.The whole of the property at the testator’s disposal will pass under his will made with the formalities above mentioned. The will is operative, even without an attestation clause, but difficulties arise when probate is required. Personal property differs from realty in many respects, the chief being that it is capable of moving and following the person of the owner. In consequence of that fact, the same considerations do not apply to personalty as to realty ; and the Wills Act, 1861, provides that a will of personalty made by a British subject outside the United Kingdom is properly executed if it is (1)According to the law of the place where it is made; or (2)According to the law of his domicile at the time he makes it; or (3)According to the law of that part of the “Dominions in which he had his domicile of origin. Thus, a Scotsman, resident in Sweden, and formerly domiciled in the United States of America, may dispose of his personalty in England by means of a will according to Scottish law ; according to Swedish law ; or, if the will was made whilst he lived in the United States, according to the law of the States. CODICILS.Where a testator desires to make alterations or additions to his will, he may do so without affecting the main provisions by means of a codicil. Such a document must be executed with all the formalities of a will (i.e. it must be signed by the.testator and witnessed by at least two witnesses). REVOCATION.A will may be revoked either (i) by subsequent marriage of the testator; or (ii) by destruction of the document with intent to revoke either by the testator himself or by some other person in his presence and at his request; or (iii) by a later will or codicil formally executed and containing either an express intention to revoke or dealing with the property disposed of in a manner altogether inconsistent with the former will. Since a will speaks only from death, all property in the testator’s hands at the time of his death and coming within the terms of the will passes under it, thus a gift of ” all my real estate ” passes property not in the hands of the testator at the date of the will but purchased before death. (See also Executorship Accounts, p. 447 ; Investigations, p. 589.)

The Trading Account of a business whose gross profit is derived from working a natural product {e.g. quarrying, coal-mining, etc.). The account is debited with all expenses of conducting operations, and credited with the sales, the balance being the gross profit.

Securities of West Australia, particularly mining, which are dealt in upon the London Stock Exchange.

A sale made of a new security conditional upon an uncertain date as to its issuance. (See last two subjects.)

Prices gradually declined. The market worked off fractionally; prices declined an eighth or a quarter per cent., for example. The fall in prices was by fractions and not whole points.

One who dishonestly and secretly connects a telegraph or telephone instrument with a public or private line for the purpose of stealing news or information of which profitable advantage may be taken.

The Southern Indiana Railway Co. (successor to the Evansville & Richmond R. R. Co.), the Illinois Southern Railway Co. (part of this system was formerly the Centralia & Chester R. R. Co.), and the Chicago Southern Railway Co.

Of all the different purposes for which a municipality may borrow money, it is conceded that bonds issued for supplying the inhabitants with water are the most desirable for investment purposesNo public improvement is more necessary, besides which, the water plant is not only usually self-sustaining, but frequently earns enough to pay the interest on the water bonds, and often something in addition.

Money worth less than its face value, or worth nothing at all. Many of the notes formerly issued by our State banks were so termed. Wildcat is used to denote anything deceptive or unreliable, and is thus often applied otherwise than as a qualifying adjective to money.

The stock market is, or prices are, said to be weak when declining; a tendency to a fall rather than to a rise in prices.

The usual trading unit is in contract lots of 5,000 bushelsThe commission charges of the Chicago Board of Trade for the purchase, or for the sale, or for the purchase and sale, are at the rate of $7.50 per 5,000 bushels or multiples thereof, and $2.50 per 1,000 bushels or multiples thereof, in lots of less than 5,000 bushelsFor further information upon this subject see Grain.

Uniformed officials, who occupy positions by the various doors of the London Stock Exchange, and who call out the names of the firms whose representatives are wanted by messengers, visitors, or for telegrams, etc.

A London term for the ordinary stock of the Great Western Rwy.

A debtor who takes advantage of the law to evade the payment of a debt, which, though not enforcible in a legal way, is considered an honourable obligation.

Used to denote a total loss of one’s possessions, or the loss of a margin.

Two losses, occasioned by making a purchase at the highest price and selling out at the lowest; or the reverse.

This has the same meaning as charge off.

Export. Indicates that a quantity of grain has been sold for export purposes. It is not necessarily understood, however, that the grain is being actually delivered by the elevators or warehouses.

One broker orders another to sell a certain quantity of stock at a fixed price, and when it is sold on the stock exchange, the first broker buys it back againThe stock does not actually change hands, but the -ticker reports the sale and gives a false impression as to the activity of the stock, and no commission is received by the broker making the purchaseAn example of a *wash transaction would be between two stock exchange houses; the first, Smart & Co., orders Clement Bros, to sell a thousand shares of Union Pacific stock at a certain price, for which, of course, they will receive a regular commissionSmart & Co., however, buy this stock in at the time the sale is made, but as this stock had belonged to them, they receive no commission on the purchaseThis sort of business is against the rules of the stock exchanges, and when discovered, the perpetrators are penalizedHad John Astor, not owning a seat on the exchange, given Smart & Coan order to sell this stock through Clement Bros., and then again had ordered Smart & Coto make the purchase, so that an actual commission had been paid a broker for both the buying and the selling, the transaction would have been legal, so far as the rules of the stock exchange are concernedBut for John Astor it would have been a wash sale, as he was endeavouring to establish an apparent activity in the stock which really did not existSuch a transaction would come under the head of manipulation, rather than a wash sale, because, from a stock exchange point, it would not be technically the latterAs early as 1820 a rule was passed prohibiting such transactions upon the New York Stock ExchangeDos Passos’ Law of Stock-brokers defines wash sales, on the basis of judicial decisions, as not real sales, but made by persons interested in each other, for the purpose of giving a fictitious value to the stock.

Has the same meaning as charge down.