Public Accountancy

3865

Public Health

Public Accountancy is the name given to j disease, and the promotion of physical and
accounting work of a professional nature, j mental health and efficiency in the commu-
wherein the accountant offers his services to

the public for compensation. The public ac-
countant differs from the bookkeeper, in that
his qualifications are of a more expert nature.

New York was the first State to recognize
the profession in this country, and provision
for it was made in 1896 by 'an act to regu-
late the profession of public accountants.'

The work of the public accountant consists
generally in making audits, investigations,
and examinations. The work in general con-
sists in checking and proving the cash receipts
and disbursements, obtaining certificates from
banks where funds are on deposit, and re-
conciling the balance with that shown by the
cash book.

Investigations differ from audits in that
they are usually conducted for some special
purpose. Rather than to prove the correct-
ness of the bookkeeping, they are for the
purpose of determining whether or not of-
ficers and other employees of a concern are
capable, have used good judgment, and have
been faithful to their trusts and duties. Ex-
aminations, like investigations, are conducted
for special purposes.

The report of the public accountant de-
pends upon the nature of the engagement. In
an audit he usually submits a balance sheet
and a statement of the income and profit and
loss, to which he certifies as being correct,
and which he accompanies with comments.
In investigations, examinations, and special
engagements the form of his report depends
on the circumstances in each particular case,
and his certificate is so framed as to cover
specifically the work which he has done.

Each State in the Union has its own Public
Accounting law. See BOOKEEPING. Consult
Journal of Accountancy; Dicksee's Auditing;
also Bibliography of Works on Accounting by
American Authors (1934), by Harry C. Bent-
ley and Ruth Leonard.

Publican!, or Publicans, in ancient Rome
were contractors for public business gener-
ally, such as bridge or road making, but par-
ticularly for the farming of the state revenues,
the collection of which was let out by the
censors to the highest bidder.

Public Health, or State Medicine,
means the practice of preventive and pro-
tective medicine under the direction of the
community, state, and nation. It is a co-
operative enterprise in which official and un-
official agencies join forces for the preven-
tion of premature death, the reduction of

nity and the individual. The conservation of
the public health is one of the essential func-
tions of government; therefore local health
departments possess unusual powers to con-
trol individuals in a community.

With the gradual elimination of the pestil-
ences due to environmental filth, and with
the growth of the science of bacteriology, the
attention of the public health administrator
at the end of the igth century turned to the
control of the diseases which spread directly
from one individual to another by personal
contact. Isolation of cases, bedside sanitation,
control of carriers, and vaccine and serum
therapy made possible notable advances ir,
the suppression of maladies of this type
Among outstanding achievements of public
health work may be mentioned the conquest
of yellow fever in Cuba and the Panama
Canal Zone, the control of pellagra, beri-beri
and hookworm diseases in the southern
United States; and the wonderful transforma-
tions accomplished in Porto Rico and the
Philippines.

Sanitary administration in the United
States is a function of the National, the State,
and the local government. The Public Health
Service under the Treasury Department is
the most important national bureau dealing
with health. It is now housed in a new ad-
ministration building on Constitution Ave.,
Washington, D.C., completed in 1933 at a
cost of about $1,000,000. In charge of its
work is Dr. Hugh S. Cumming, Surgeon
General, U. S. Public Health Service. The
Department of Agriculture's chief interest
centers in foods. Its Bureau of Chemistry en-
forces the Pure Food Law; its Bureau of
Animal Industry places the stamp of govern-
ment approval upon wholesale meat and
dairy products; its Bureau of Entomology
wars against disease-carrying insects; its
agents go into rural districts to educate the
people in such public health matters as farm
water supply, sanitation, etc. The Depart-
ment of Labor seeks to improve the physical
conditions of workers. It controls immigra-
tion, administers the quarantine laws, and
makes medical inspections. Its Children's Bu-
reau is active in such matters as the birth
rate, infant mortality, juvenile courts, or-
phanages, desertion and child labor. The De-
partment of Commerce collects statistics
showing prevalent diseases and the success of
the fight against them. The Department of
the Interior through its Bureau of Education