award of damages are in order, the rights of the parties in this relation are determined usually by the courts of law. The statutes governing this phase of the question in different States are not wholly uniform, and in many cases the only way in which damages can be properly ascertained is through an action on the injunction bond. Damages can not be assessed on account of anything which is not the direct result of the injunction, and it is not permitted to recover for remote or speculative damages. Decisions differ in regard to whether damages may be awarded in excess of the amount stated in the bond, or not, and also in regard to the assessment and award of exemplary or punitive damages. Costs, etc.-As a general rule the expenses attaching to the dissolution of an injunction may be recovered after dissolution is effected, and in certain cases counsel fees also have been allowed. Evidence is frequently required to prove that legal services have been rendered, and the court usually is guided in rewarding such services, not only by the time expended, but also by the magnitude of the interests involved. XII THE BALANCE SHEET How it Differs from Statements-Arrangement of BalanceSheet-Special Precautions-Classification of Assets-Freehold and Leasehold Investments-Good-will-Plant, Machinery, Tools, etc.-Furniture and Fixtures-Permanent Investments-Deferred Charges to Operations-Inventories-Accounts and Bills Receivable-Cash on Hand and in Bank-Liabilities-Capital-Secured Creditors-Bills and Accounts Payable-Contingent Liabilities-Surplus Balances-Interpreting the Balance-Sheet-Recovery of Invested Capital-Conclusion. A XII THE BALANCE-SHEET BALANCE-SHEET may be defined as a concise statement prepared to ascertain the financial position of an undertaking at a given date. It is not necessarily a statement of assets and liabilities, although when dealing with the principles of elementary bookkeeping it is so regarded. A balance-sheet rarely shows the fixed assets at the market or salable value, while among the so-called "assets" and "liabilities" are included items of a suspense nature, which although appearing in the books as debit and credit balances can not be regarded as resources or liabilities. How It Differs from Statements.-The term balancesheet is often incorrectly used by the uninitiated as describing an income and expenditure account, a summary cash account, or, in fact, almost any summary statement of accounts which shows the same totals on debit and credit sides. It is not unusual to hear of a "Balance-sheet for the year ending December 31st,' whereas it should be a "Balance-sheet on December 31st." It differs materially from a statement of affairs, which also is a summary of assets and liabilities at a particular date. A statement of affairs is drawn up with a view of presentation to creditors, generally in cases of insolvency. It is designed to give such a view of the debtor's affairs as will enable the creditors to know how to act, and it therefore brings together all possible assets at the values they may be expected to realize, and all possible liabilities at the figures for which it is expected claims might legally be made; the difference between the two sides resulting in a "surplus" or "deficiency," as the case may be. A balance-sheet, however, looks at the company or individual, not as a debtor accounting to creditors, but as a going concern. It includes the assets and liabilities at the figures at which they properly stand in the books of a concern, and it might be described as simply bringing together the balances in the books in proper order, provided first of all it be assumed that the books are properly written up and adjusted. It by no means follows that assets must always, in the case of a going concern, be set down at figures which they would yield by realization. An example will show this. A company may be trading at a loss, and be on the eve of liquidation, but an item of "good-will" may quite properly appear among the assets, although it may be obvious that, if the goodwill were put up for sale, it would realize nothing, and on a liquidation supervening, the good-will would find no place in the statement of affairs. There will less often be differences between the liabilities side of a balance-sheet and a statement of affairs, since liabilities are, with very few exceptions, definitely ascertainable amounts in prosperity as well as in insolvency. There may, however, be contingent liabilities whose real existence is not sufficiently determined to warrant or require their inclusion in a balance-sheet, which yet would properly and necessarily appear in a statement of affairs. The clerical work involved in the conversion of the trial balance into the balance-sheet and profit and loss account has been referred to in Bookkeeping, Vol. I; the purpose here is to deal with construction and criticism of the balance-sheet, per se. Arrangement of Balance-Sheet.-The arrangement of the items herein is a matter worthy of more attention than it sometimes receives. It is desirable to see at a glance not only the total amounts of the assets and liabilities and of what those totals consist, but also the strength or weakness of the company's financial position. It should show not only whether the company has actual property to meet its actual debts, but also whether it has available property to meet its immediate pressing debts. Suppose, |