which the auditor starts in his endeavour to satisfy himself that the amount finally decided upon by the directors is, or is not, correct." He starts from the book values, but the use of this word evidently implies that he does not stop there. Where does he go next, and where does he arrive finally, and by what test does he satisfy himself that the figure finally decided upon by the directors is, or is not, "correct"?
If the realizable value of the assets is what ought to be shown, it is evidently a matter of guesswork because the realizable value of anything, except a very few securities and commodities in which there is a quoted price and a really free market, can only be known by taking it into the market and selling it. Moreover there will be a very great difference in the guesses that we shall make at it, according as we decide whether realizable value is to be old iron, scrap-heap value, or value as a going concern. If, by a great effort of the imagination, one could conceive the Bass brewery as a derelict failure, the value of its site, buildings, machinery, plant, book debts would be x; the value of these items as parts of a great concern that is earning a profit of nearly half a million pounds a year, is, or may fairly be argued to be, x multiplied by something considerable. But
