doubtful debts but for definitely stated bad debts, seems to indicate that Mr. Leake's likelihood is not always a certainty.
Stock-in-trade should be capable of fairly close calculation if it be estimated on the basis of cost of materials plus cost of work put into it; but there is probably a considerable difference in the practice of one management and another in the care and caution with which these estimates are made.
Mr. Pixley, indeed, says that "The amount to be taken credit for in respect of stock is of supreme importance in many companies, as it is no exaggeration to state that it is frequently possible to double or treble the apparent profit, where the directors and manager together, or even the latter alone without the knowledge of the former, succeed in deceiving the auditor, and consequently the shareholders. The auditor cannot, of course, be held responsible for the value assigned to this stock, as it is manifestly impossible that he should, even if he were qualified, be able to take or to check the actual measurement or counting of stocks, whether of raw materials or manufactured articles, either by number, weight, or otherwise, but he must use reasonable discretion, when the valuation of the stock is handed to him in satisfying
