THE CRITTENDEN COMMERCIAL ARITHMETIC AND Business Manual. DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF MERCHANTS, BUSINESS MEN, BY JOHN GROESBECK, CONSULTING ACCOUNTANT, PRINCIPAL OF CRITTENDEN'S PHILADELPHIA COMMERCIAL COLLEGE. Sixth Edition, Revised and Enlarged. SAN FRANCISCO: H. H. BANCROFT & COMPANY. GA102 slept. "Knowledge is the guide of practice." "If a man's wits be wandering, let him study arithmetic."-BACON. "Washington studied the intricate forms of business. He copied out bills of exchange, notes of hand, bills of sale, receipts, and all the varieties of the class, with a precision and elegance that were remarkable." Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the EDUCATION DEPT. STEREOTYPED BY MACKELLAR, SMITHS & JORDAN, PHILADELPHIA. PRINTED BY J. B. RODGERS. PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. THE object of this book is to impart that practical knowledge which is daily required in business life. Business is based upon comprehensible principles and facts, a knowledge of which will promote efficiency in actual transactions. Practice only can impart skill in application; but practice enlightened by knowledge sooner acquires proficiency, and is saved from many errors and much useless labor. Among the qualifications necessary in mercantile pursuits, none are more essential than a thorough acquaintance with the methods of calculation employed, and a familiarity with the various forms of business papers. The limits of the text-books on Arithmetic in common use prevent that extended explanation of commercial customs and regulations, and the presentation of the requisite details, necessary for a clear understanding of the manner in which the calculations are to be applied; and, while the principles of numbers are M249532 3 fully elucidated, the short, practical, and labor-saving methods actually used by business men are omitted. The pupil frequently finds, when he enters into active life, that he is poorly prepared, and that he must learn more expeditious and varied methods of calculation than those he has been taught at school. Success and advancement in any pursuit depend in a great measure upon the qualifications possessed when entering upon it, as the exactions of active life leave little opportunity to remedy deficiencies of preparation. He who would succeed must not wait until surrounded by the bustle, demands, and complications of actual business, any more than the captain should defer obtaining a knowledge of navigation until his vessel is at sea, or the physician put off the study of medicine until called upon to prescribe. He should go prepared into the busy walks of life, ready to surmount every difficulty and to excel in every thing he undertakes. The calculations presented in the following pages have been selected as the best and most important in actual use in business circles, and which are daily becoming more and more necessary to be well understood by those who wish to make an efficient preparation for the employments of the counting-house. Several of them, it is believed, are now published for the first time. Not only the principles, but the mechanical processes, should be completely mastered, in order to acquire that readiness, rapidity, and accuracy of appli cation which are essential to secure an eminent position as an accountant, or to become a competent business man. The forms of papers are those with which every person should be familiar, and include a greater variety than has yet appeared in any one collection. They are accompanied by explanations of their nature and use, and the obligations and relations of the parties to them, and will impart such accurate ideas of business practices as will be of great service to those of limited experience. Many subjects have been introduced which, though rarely taught in schools, are of great importance in the counting-room and in actual life. The student of bookkeeping especially will find much to aid him in his attempts to acquire a knowledge of that science. The author has been connected for the last eleven years with Crittenden's Philadelphia Commercial College, for which this manual was primarily prepared, and, in addition to his knowledge of the wants of the student, has been frequently consulted by merchants and others upon difficult questions that have occurred in their practice. These difficulties have been carefully noted, and many of their intricacies are here solved and explained. He takes this opportunity to acknowledge his indebtedness to numerous friends for their valuable assistance in the preparation of the work, and to render |