CO129-485 - Governor Sir Stubbs - 1924 [8-12] — Page 308

之淨赢又必太多且機車原價即鐵路原有資本 之一部分今此資本之一部分消滅於無形又無 新資產為之彌補此不啻誤算資本為營業贏餘 僅就一機車而論其數微若以所有機車運 車橋梁軌枕房屋等等合併計算則每年誤算資 本爲贏餘之數必至巨萬今如開始營業十年或 二十年中每年不顧修理與捐費而誤將資本 移作净利則表面上營業似甚發達當事者或膺

consumed. The locomotive on the other hand may have a life of twenty five years, which fact means that it takes twenty-five years, instead of a single trip as in the case of coal, to consume a locomotive. Different as the length of time may be, nevertheless consumption has taken place in one case just as it has in the other. Therefore, one twenty-fifth of the cost of the locomotive should also be included in the operating expenses for each year, so that the earnings of that year may bear their proper liabilities, and that when the locomotive is retired the accounts will show a reserve equal to the cost of a new locomotive. Failure to make such a charge will result in an understatement of the cost of transportation and a corresponding over-statement of the net operating revenue. If we limit our attention to one locomotive for one year, it will mean that one-twenty-fifth of the amount originally invested as capital in that locomotive has vanished during the year, but for which no

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上賞數年後一旦路產壊修理改建動需巨 則不致破產將大受恐慌此皆不適當之會計 所致現統一會計亟宜防患未然此本會議決 適用折支出之原因也惟折舊一項不獨於車 輛爲然除地產外舉凡鐵路產業皆有耗損之虞 皆宜列折舊一項此次所定營業用分類則例 中折舊一項僅以車輛為限似属疏漏惟念理想 中所謂完善之法往往不適於實用定法太嚴或

new asset has been made, and that the vanished capital is mistaken as net earnings of the year. The error arising from failure to re- cord in the accounts one-twenty-fifth of the capital cost of a single locomotive is slight; but if the same policy is followed for all locomotives and all cars, bridges, sleepers, buildings. etc., it is evident that a very considerable amount of cash can be wrongly taken out of a railway as net earnings which really is a part of the capital of that railway. Thus a railway may be declaring a big net profit during the first ten or twenty years out of capital by neglecting both current costs of repairs and deferred costs of depreciation. And it may be mistaken or even rewarded as doing splendid business, while at the end of that period, when renewals and replacements come in a lump, it may suddenly break down or at least get into serious embarrassment. It is to prevent, or at least to show such a state of affairs when it exists that depreciation reserves are recommended.

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