after the accounts were closed. In these circumstances,
in the cases of large concerns with wide ramifications and
numerous transactions, it is necessary that auditors should
have the help of trained assistants, and thus the personal
examination of details by the auditor himself is, to a large
extent, rendered unnecessary and the cost of audit materially
reduced. This delegation of duty by auditors is generally
well understood, and is in accordance with the requirements
of those concerned; but there has been a tendency of late
years to enlarge the responsibilities of auditors to an
extent which, if persisted in, might render it dangerous
for men of reputation and means to accept the duties.
Organization.
While the number of practising accountants has of late years
been steadily increasing and their services are correspondingly
appreciated, the necessity for controlling those exercising
the profession and for improving its status has naturally
become apparent. The first important steps in this direction
were taken by the accountants in Scotland--the Society of
Accountants in Edinburgh being incorporated by royal charter
in 1854; similar societies in Glasgow and Aberdeen being also
incorporated by charter in 1855 and 1867. The Institute of
Accountants was formed in London in 1870, but did not receive
a royal charter until the 11th May 1880, when all the then
existing accountants' societies and institutes in England
were incorporated as the Institute of Chartered Accountants
in England and Wales, and means were provided by which all
the then practising accountants in these countries could
claim membership thereof. In the year 1885 the Society of
Accountants and Auditors was incorporated, but has obtained
no charter; this body, while numbering among its members a
considerable number of practising accountants in the United
Kingdom, also includes treasurers and accountants to cities and
boroughs in England, as well as clerks to chartered and other
accountants. A large proportion of its members also consists
of accountants practising abroad. In 1888 an Institute of
Chartered Accountants was formed in Ireland, and a great
many institutes and societies have been formed in the British
colonies and in the United States, some of which have local
charters. It is curious to note, however, that, outside the
United Kingdom, it was only in the British colonies that
associations of practising accountants existed, until, in
1895, an Institute of Accountants (Nederlands Instituut van
Accountants) was founded in Utrecht for Dutch accountants;
when, although the principles of accountancy have been well
understood and practised in Holland since the 16th century,
and probably earlier, it was found necessary to borrow the
words ``accountant'' and ``accountancy'' from the English
language to convey to the Dutch an idea of the meaning of the
terms. Three others have since been formed, the Nederlandsche
Academie van Accountants (1902); the Nationale Organisatie van
Accountants (1903); and the Nederlandsche Bond van Accountants
(1902). Sweden has a society, Svenska Revisorsamfundet,
formed in 1899; Belgium, the Chambre Syndicate des Experts
Comptables, founded in 1903. In South America, accountants
have acquired a certain status in Argentina, Uruguay and Peru.
In the United States the organization of professional
accountants is of quite recent growth. The first society
formed in America was ``The New York State Society of Certified
Public Accountants,'' and shortly afterwards (in 1896) the
New York state legislature passed an act authorizing the
State university to confer the degree of certified public
accountant (C.P.A.) on the members of the society, while
requiring all subsequent entrants to pass an examination.
This degree, however, can be obtained, like other university
degrees, without being a member of the society. Other
states, notably Pennsylvania, Maryland, California, Illinois,
Washington and New Jersey, have followed the example of New
York. In 1903 the various state societies formed themselves
into a federation. There is also an independent society of
practising accountants, the American Association of Public
Accountants, with objects similar to those of the federation,
but steps have been taken to bring about an amalgamation between
the two in order to form one central society to look after
their common interests, without, however, interfering with
the individual organization of the various state societies.
See R. Brown, History of Accounting and Accountants
(Edinburgh), 1905, the most comprehensive book upon the
subject; also G. W. Haskins, Accountancy, its Past and
Present (U.S.A., 1900); S. S. Dawson, Accountant's
Compendium; G. Lisle, Accounting in Theory and Practice
(1899); F. W. Pixley, Auditors and their Liabilities
(1901). The professional periodicals, The Accountant (vol.
i., 1877); Accountant's Journal (vol. i., 1883-1884);
The Accountants' Magazine (vol. i., 1897); Incorporated
Accountants' Journal (vol. i., 1889-1890); Accountics
(U.S.A., vol. i., 1897) may also be consulted, and also the
Year-books of the Society of Accountants and Auditors, and
of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. (J. G. GR.)
ACCOUTREMENT (a French word, probably derived from a and
coustre or coutre, an old word meaning one who has
charge of the vestments in a church), clothing, apparel;
a term used especially, in the plural, of the military
equipment of a soldier other than his arms and clothing.
ACCRA, a port on the Gulf of Guinea in 5 deg. 31' N., 0 deg.
12' W., since 1876 capital of the British Gold Coast
colony. Population about 20,000, including some 150
Europeans. Accra is about 80 m. E. of Cape Coast (q.v.),
the former capital of the colony. The name is derived from
the Fanti word Nkran (an ant), by which designation the
tribe inhabiting the surrounding district was formerly
known. The town grew up around three forts established in
close proximity--St James (British), Crevecoeur (Dutch)
and Christiansborg (Danish). The last named was ceded to
Britain in 1850, Crevecoeur not till 1871. Fort St James
is now used as a signal station, lighthouse and prison.
Accra preserves the distinctions of James Town, Ussher
Town and Christiansborg, indicative of its tripartite
origin. Ussher Town represents Crevecoeur, the fort being
renamed after H. T. Ussher, administrator of the Gold Coast
(1867-1872). The sea frontage extends about three miles;
there is, however, no harbour, and steamers have to lie
about a mile out, goods and passengers being landed in surf
boats. The streets formerly consisted largely of mud
hovels, but since a great fire in 1894, which destroyed
large parts of James Town and Ussher Town, more substantial
buildings have been erected. Christiansborg, the finest of
the three forts, is the official residence of the governor
of the colony. Westwards of the landing-place, where is
the customs house, lies James Town. Beyond the fort are
various public buildings leading to Otoo Street, the main
thoroughfare, which runs two miles in a straight line to
Christiansborg. This street contains a fine stone church
built in 1895 for the use of the Anglican community, a
branch of the Bank of British West Africa, telegraph offices
and the establishments of the principal trading firms. In
Victoriaborg, a suburb of Ussher Town, are the residences
of the principal officials, and here a racecourse has been
laid out. (Accra is almost the only point along the Gold
Coast where horses thrive.) Behind the town is rolling grass
land, which gives place to the highlands of Aquapim and
Akim. At Aburi in the Aquapim hills, 26 m. N. by E. of
Accra, are the government sanatorium and botanical gardens.
Accra, the first town in the Gold Coast colony to be
raised (July 1, 1896) to the rank of a municipality, is
governed by a town council with power to raise and spend
money. The council consists in equal proportions of
nominated and elected members, no racial distinctions being
made. Accra is connected by cable with Europe and South
Africa, and is the sea terminus of a railway serving the
districts N.E., where are flourishing cocoa plantations.
ACCRETION (from Lat. ad, to, and crescere, to grow),
an addition to that which already exists; increase in any
substance by the addition of particles from the outside. In
law, the term is used for the increase of property caused by
gradual natural additions, as on a river bank or seashore.
ACCRINGTON, a market town and municipal borough in the
Accrington parliamentary division of Lancashire, England,
208 m. N.W. by N. from London, and 23 m. N. by W. from
Manchester, on the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway. Pop.
(1891) 38,603; (1901) 43,122. It lies in a deep valley on
the Hindburn, a feeder of the Calder. Cotton spinning and
printing works, cotton-mill machinery works, dye-works and
chemical manufactures, and neighbouring collieries maintain
the industrial population. The church of St James dates
from 1763, and the other numerous places of worship and
public buildings are all modern. The borough is under a
mayor, 8 aldermen and 24 councillors. Area 3427 acres.
Accrington (Akerenton, Alkerington, Akerington) was granted by
Henry de Lacy to Hugh son of Leofwine in Henry II.'s reign, but
came again into the hands of the Lacys, and was given by them
about 1200 to the monks of Kirkstall, who converted it into a
grange. It again returned, however, to the Lacys in 1287,
was granted in parcels, and like their other lands became
merged in the duchy of Lancaster. In 1553 the commissioners
of chantries sold the chapel to the inhabitants to be
continued as a place of divine service. In 1836 Old and New
Accrington were merely straggling villages with about 5000
inhabitants. By 1861 the population had grown to 17,688,
chiefly owing to its position as an important railway
junction. A charter of incorporation was granted in
1878. The date of the original chapel is unknown, but it
was probably an oratory which was an offshoot of Kirkstall
Abbey. Ecclesiastically the place was dependent on
Altham till after the middle of the 19th century.
ACCUMULATION (from Lat. accumulare, to heap up), strictly
a piling-up of anything; technically, in law, the continuous
adding of the interest of a fund to the principal, for the
benefit of some person or persons in the future. Previous
to 1800, this accumulation of property was not forbidden
by English law, provided the period during which it was to
accumulate did not exceed that forbidden by the law against
perpetuities, viz. the period of a life or lives in being,
and twenty-one years afterwards. In 1800, however, the law
was amended in consequence of the eccentric will of Peter
Thellusson (1737--1797), an English merchant, who directed
the income of his property, consisting of real estate of the
annual value of about L. 5000 and personal estate amounting
to over L. 600,000, to be accumulated during the lives of his
children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, living at the
time of his death, and the survivor of them. The property so
accumulated, which, it is estimated, would have amounted to
over L. 14,000,000, was to be divided among such descendants
as might be alive on the death of the survivor of those lives
during which the accumulation was to continue. The bequest
was held valid (Thellusson v. Woodford, 1798, 4 Vesey,
237). In 1856 there was a protracted lawsuit as to who were
the actual heirs. It was decided by the House of Lords (June
9, 1859) in favour of Lord Rendlesham and Charles Sabine Augustus
