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項用費加入之理由不得不有所陳明蓋鐵路營 業用款分類則例之緊要原理係使運輸費之 全數得以明顯確實也因鐵路運輸之事業無異 製造凡鐵路所載貨物里程乘客里程即鐵路之 產額也猶之磚廠屨鋪以所製磚屨數目為其產 額製造之業旣須確知其出品之原價則運輸之 業亦莫不然惟運輸之業欲就某某時期以內精 算所載貨物乘客里程之原價其事匪易若更以 每顺每哩或每客每里為單位而核算其原價則
the co-operation of the Chief Accountants of the railways and the Accounting Officers of the Ministry, who constitute this Com- mission, we endeavoured to examine the various questions from different points of view, with the hope that what the Commission recommends may prove of practical value.
The Classification of Operating Expenses is divided into six Accounts or Main Heads, each one of which is again divided into a number of major, minor and sub-heads, so as to allocate the different items of expenses as definitely as practicable. One of the underlying principles is to allocate the numerous items of expense to the respective officers which are responsible for these items, so as to encourage economy and efficiency.
Special attention has been paid to sub-dividing, as far as possible, wages from material. This will help to economize con- siderably. The separation of salaries from allowances, and the two from office expenses will also be of help to compare the economy of the corresponding department of the different railways.
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更難一路所用之工資燃煤用水以及尋常修 理各項支出自屬簡明而易於歸納其他用費尙 多然不甚顯明即如折舊→項其重要雖與前述 各項相等而具體不明經時較久易於忽略蓋折 舊者即路產價值因時遞減之謂亦無形之費 用其原因多概言之略有三端一篇尋常磨擦 之耗損此項尙屬明顯每於營業支出項下直接 開支於每年凈贏無甚影響二為普通腐蝕之耗 損此以歷時之久暫為衡而非可以尋常修理補 救者三為舊不適用之耗損近世科學日進製造
A new and most important feature in the Classification is depreciation; and to that question, therefore, we want to call special attention. It may be pointed out that the underlying idea of the Classification of Operating Expenses is, as it should be, to record as correctly as possible the exact cost of producing trans- portation. Like any other kind of commodities, a certain number of ton-miles and passenger-miles are produced. It is just as im- portant for the railway management to know exactly as possible how much those ton and passenger mile cost as it is for a brick kiln or a shoe shop to know how much its bricks or shoes cost. But in the case of the railway to find out such costs of any particular period is not an easy matter, while it is entirely impos- sible to find out that of any individual unit of production. Such items of expense as wages, coal, water, current repairs are obovious and are usually charged off to operating expenses as they are incurred. But there is another kind of expense which, although
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