THAT DRUNKEN DEN.

NZ Truth, Issue 140, 22 February 1908, Page 6

THAT DRUNKEN DEN.

MORE ABOUT THE WORKING MEN'S CLUB. A Suggestion for the New Manager. Open a New Set of Books and Bring Out a Decent Balance-sheet. With regard to that dreadful drinking den, the Working Men's : Club, arid its precious private balancesheet, -issued recently and severely criticised m "Truth" last weeic, this paper intends to have a. little further say and ask some questions; The last balance-sheet, as was pointed out last week, was such as could not be signed by the Club's auditors. This, was due, we have since been informed by a person who ought to know, to an error of about £17 m cash, which instead of being* banked was either still m the hands of the stewards or had not yet been collected from members. The auditors, we believe, were willing to sign the balance-sheet with a tag to this effect. "Whether this is ! so or not "Truth' 1 does not know, nor does it care. It has no intention of juggling with figures, but of exposing the methods upon which these balance-sheets are compiled. With the balance-sheet under review last week we • have" no fault to "firidfrom an accountant's point of : view, but it is to' -the methods^ of- -.itscompilation that we- riiqst seriously object ; because it is apt to be misleading to members. A balance-sheet 1 of a club of this sort should be ' AS SIMPLE AND AS EXPLICIT . as -possible so that every membershall hjj-ve a ehancc of knowing . exactly m what position the Club stands. Previous half-yearlyVnalance-sheets of,, the Club have beetrnKitie up m the same mantier as the one reviewed last week, to show that this style of balance-sheet is imsat-. isfactory, we- quote an article • m "Business Life,"' of September last, referring to the balance-shee^' f or 'the year ending June, 1907 :~ ■ '■'■ ■ „ ' "/A" cursory glance at the" figures ' reyeais the fact that the . accounts combine trading ' transactidns - ami . the records of the Club; and .a dif-: fi.culty . is.-i thus .created at once, m endeavoring to submit accounts, because ..these essentially different parts of the undertaking as a whole require different treatment, Viewing the Club as a trading' concern, it requires to keep a' Trading Account, showing the profit or loss, on . sale of tobacco, lkf<uor,. and .re-; ■ fresliments. .Apparently 'this has been done, so as to show the- gross profit, on the- turnover, m this departnvent.: An ordinary' 'trader would then carry this gross profit to a Profit and- Loss Account,- ami ehar&e against it the expenses' of l-hc administrative part o£- -the 'iin-, dertaking. 'To do" this- effectively m the present 'case, it - would be necessary to analyse such items", as "Salaries and ' Wa-ges," "Fuelj" "Ltg-htiive;," "Printing,'' '"Advertising," "General "Expenses, 1 ? "Rent," etc., etc., and ■ ehargev .a fair pfoportdon against the gross profit of trading, and part Against the revenue from Members' Subscriptions. * If this were done, we would have a Goads' Account showing the gross profit on sale of refreshments, etfc., and a- Profit and Loss Account showing whether or not that gross profit was suffici&ntIv lar-ge to leave a net profit, after :' charging the office and general'administrative expenses, necessary ...to conduct this part of . the- Club 's business. .'■.....".'.,..-.,.' We would also have an incroinc arid Expenditure Account, credited vwiftj Members' Subscriptions, '; Entrance Fees, etc., and debited With that • proportion of the. general' expenses necessary to '; the upkeeD of ,tlie Club as ,a J . social instiiutibii". '-.'.'. i ' .. If- the records were kept m this' way,, some light might be thrown on the unsatisfactory position i'evealed by the year's Prdliti "ami Loss Account. It will be secn.tliaii the Club has gone hack to the extent of about £60, for a balance of ■ £368 was brought forward from last. year's Profit and • Loss Account, whilst the final balance ; : In ■ th-is year's 'accounts is only £308.; ■ As the accounts are framed, it N is not easy for the members oi the' ■ Club to decide as to the cause of this drift. It may he. a net loss on. the trading part of the; venture, caused by selling prices being too low, or by administrative expenses being too high, or i^ may be due ; to leakage (m more senses than one) of stock. On the other hand, it may be that the subscriptions, entrance fees, etc., are not his'b. enough to pay for the cost o! providing the social and other advantages generally associated with Club life. It shows very plainly, that the Club's methods' of book-lceeping is faulty and that the new manager should open up a new set of books and see that the Club's financial transactions are made plain to mem-' bers every half-year. The late manager had \the article we refer to brought under his notice, but m spite of that the accountant who made up the last balance-sheet was given instructions to make it up m exactly the same. way. • The accountant was in -no way to blame, and m reflecting upon the balance-sheet, we do not wish to implicate him m the j nefarious business. It is the rotten system of bringing a balance-sheet down on such lines that members can-» not tell why the profits are so small. Certainly the last half-year has shown much improvement upon the previous half year. The balance-sheet ending m June last shows m Profit and Loss Account ' a balance of £308 9s 3d and a balance brought iorwavd of £368 2s Sri, leaving A LOSS OF £59 13s 2d for the half year, whereas the half year just past shows a profit of £500 odd, a very big difference, truly. But I this is not enough. Everyone knows ! what an enormous bar trade is done, i That the Club is m reality a huge drinking den. There is no bar m town ' that does an equal drinking trade, and yet publicans can pay £GOOO and £7000 for five and six year leases, pay exorbitant rents and sell just as good liquor as the Club, and still show a. profit. If the Club can only make a profit of £450 m j the year, how do the publicans keep out of the*, bankruptcy court ? Or, to put it more pertinently, if the pub.-

lican can make a profit with the big load be lias tq carry, what the-deyil does the Club do with its money? The billiard-room should show * handsome profit, the library should neaivy pay ior. H itself, -the tobacco accoun i; should-' show a small p'rofii?; and the bar takings of £10,000 should sho- .,-,; a profit of 50 per cent. But instead of a profit of £2500 we get- under £500. If this isn't enough to mak'.s members think and ask questions and smasli things, this paper doesn't know what is. When the Governmsnt allots this class of drinking, clcn to have a license it should appoint someong. to examine its hooks each year and send Peter Hayes rounci. to collect ..the income tax. A show that sells £10.000 worth of grog a. yei.r and can only show a profit of £500 wants examining ba,dly. It's either the crimsonest sort of a damn .fool; or the damnedst kind o£ a crimson, rogue. .<