the amount of premium that will have to be paid, it may safely be stated that it is not nearly so heavy as the premium which will be required by a firm of solicitors of equal standing in their profession; while a further point, which ought not perhaps to be altogether lost sight of, is that the stamp duty upon the articles of clerkship to a solicitor in England or Ireland is £80, whereas with articles of clerkship to a Chartered Accountant the duty is half-a-crown.

It is also well worth consideration that the crucial question is not so much what is the actual amount of premium payable as what will be the probable return for the money which has been so expended. And in taking this point into consideration it is not only necessary to consider what facilities will be afforded to the student, both by personal attention and by the ordinary experience of office work in that particular office, but there is the further point, namely, the position which the articled clerk will one day inherit as having received his training in the office of such-and-such an Accountant.

It must be remembered that before articles of clerkship can be entered into it is necessary that the student should either pass the Preliminary Examination prescribed by the Institute, or obtain a certificate of exemption from such examination, and both these matters will be duly considered in the next chapter. Within one month from the date of their execution articles must be lodged with the Council for registration, and any transfers or assignments of any articles (whether caused by the death of the principal or otherwise) must likewise be lodged for registration.

During the term of their articles articled clerks are not allowed to engage in any other business or occupation, unless with the permission of the Council, and it may be taken that this permission will not be accorded save under the most exceptional circumstances. The following Bye-Laws of the Institute, which relate to articled clerks, should be carefully studied :—

52. Before a member of the Institute receive a person to serve with him under articles, he shall require of such person the

production of a Certificate of the Institute to the effect that such person has passed the Preliminary Examination of the Institute or has been exempted therefrom.

53. The articles of every articled clerk shall, within one month after execution thereof (or within such extended period as the Council may in any case specially allow), be lodged with the Council to be registered, together with such evidence as to age as may be required.

54. If the employer of an articled clerk cease to practise, or cease to be a member, or be suspended from membership, the articles may be transferred to another member; or in the like events, or in the event of the death of the employer, the articled clerk may enter into fresh articles for the remainder of his term of service.

55. Articles may be assigned by agreement between the articled clerk and his employer.

56. The articled clerk shall lodge the transfer, assignment, or fresh articles with the Council, to be registered, within one month of such transfer or assignment, or of the execution of fresh articles, or within such extended period as the Council may in any case specially allow.

57. An articled clerk shall not be admitted to the Intermediate or Final Examination unless he shall have complied with the provisions of the Bye-Laws respecting registration, or the Council shall have (notwithstanding the expiration of the time limited in that behalf) allowed registration."

58. No member shall have in his service at the same time more than two articled clerks; provided that in the event of the decease or retirement from practice of any partner of a firm, any articled clerk or clerks of such deceased or retiring partner may complete his or their term of service with a surviving or continuing partner, and shall not for the purposes of this Bye-law be held to be in the service of such surviving or continuing partner.

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59. No person who is under sixteen years of age shall be articled to a member of the Institute.

60. No member shall be competent, while not in practice, or while he is suspended from membership, or while he is a clerk to a Public Accountant, whether a member or not, to retain or take an articled clerk. An articled clerk of a member who has been suspended or excluded from membership may be transferred to another member without being counted as one of the articled clerks of such member within Bye-Law 58.

61. No articled clerk shall, during his term of service, except by the permission of the Council, engage in any other business or occupation.

62. In the event of any complaint of misconduct being made against any articled clerk, the matter shall be investigated by the Committee to be appointed under Bye-Law 103, who shall report to the Council; and upon the report of such committee, the Council may, with or without other evidence, at a meeting at which there shall be present and voting not less than twelve of the members of the Council, pass by a vote of not less than three-fourths of those present and voting a resolution to the effect that the said complaint has been proved and is of such a nature as to make the said articled clerk unfit to become a member. On the passing of such resolution the articles under which he has been serving shall, for the purposes of the Royal charter and these Bye-Laws, be deemed to be at an end, and the registration of the articles shall be cancelled; and no member shall, except by the permission of the Council, retain or take him as an articled clerk.

CHAPTER III.

THE PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION.

S already stated, the Preliminary Examination is, under ordinary circumstances, the first formal step that has to be taken, and, as a matter of convenience, it is generally desirable that the candidate should present himself for this examination as soon as possible after leaving school, while his mind is still fresh with the various branches of scholastic knowledge which the examination comprises. It frequently happens, however, that it is not until after the candidate has left school for some little time that it is definitely decided that he should take up Accountancy as a profession, and in this case it is often surprising-and by no means gratifying to parents to find how fleeting the memory is with regard to these scholastic subjects, with which, in the majority of cases, the mind is not occupied at all after the school days are once over.

The examination imposed by the Institute is, in point of fact, rather a serious undertaking (as may be seen by the table of results which is appended to this chapter), and unless, therefore, there is absolutely no doubt upon the subject, it is, under ordinary circumstances, very desirable, in order to save valuable time, to secure the aid of a regular coach in order to make the necessary preparation for the examination with a reasonable prospect of success at the first attempt. It is possible that this preparation may not necessarily engage the whole of the student's time during the intervening period, and if this be the case, it would be as well that arrangements should be made in the meanwhile with the Accountant

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to whom it is proposed to article the student, so that the latter may attend at the office for a few hours daily and obtain some little insight into business matters in the meantime. This plan especially commends itself, inasmuch as it is always expedient, from both points of view, that the student should come to the office for a few weeks upon trial before being definitely articled; and if this can be done before the Preliminary Examination, it is, of course, just so many weeks saved.

The Preliminary Examination, like all the other examinations of the Institute, is held twice in every year, the usual times being the first week of June and the first week of December. In addition to being held in London, examinations are also held simultaneously in certain provincial centres, the most usual being Birmingham, Manchester, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, if the number of candidates from any of these towns or their immediate neighbourhood renders such a course desirable in the judgment of the Examination Committee.

About six weeks before the date of the examination, which is always advertised in The Accountants' Journal, it is desirable that the candidate should obtain from the Secretary of the Institute the necessary form giving notice of his intention to present himself for examination. This form must be duly filled up, and, together with the examination fee of £2 2s., must be lodged with the Secretary at least 30 days before the date of the examination. In due course— i.e., seven days before the examination commences-the candidate will receive a formal letter intimating the place and hours of the examination. This letter will have a reference number attached, and constitutes the candidate's admission ticket to the examination room. This reference number must be written on all his work, and on no account must his name appear upon his papers. As, however, the letter in question is accompanied by a detailed list of "instructions" to be observed by candidates, it is unnecessary to go further into the matter here.