Q. 4.-If a Bill of Exchange be taken in payment for the price of goods sold, does the original liability revive in the event of the bill being dishonoured? Q. 5.-Define stoppage in transitu. A. purchased goods of B., and sent him a consignment note as follows:-" Please consign "goods to s.s. 'Orient' now loading for Melbourne in London and "India Docks." A. became insolvent, and B. gave notice stopping the goods, but not until they had been put on board the Orient.' Was the transit at an end, and is B. entitled to a return of the goods? Q. 6.—If an infant be a partner in a firm, what are his rights and liabilities? Q. 7.-Distinguish between partnership and co-ownership, and illustrate your answer by examples. Q. 8.-The Arbitration Act, 1889, Section 1, provides that a submission “shall have the same effect in all respects as if it had been made an Order of the Court." (a) What is the meaning of this provision? (b) Will the Court grant an attachment if one of the parties to the submission refuses to nominate an arbitrator? Q. 9.—In what cases has the Court jurisdiction to order a compulsory reference of all or any of the matters in dispute in an action? Q. 10.-An instrument which creates a contract between two parties contains a reference to arbitration of "all differences or disputes which may arise between the parties." Is the arbitration. limited to matters contained in the instrument ? It has already been stated that, in order to ensure success at the Intermediate Examination, the candidate should be a skilled bookkeeper, having a thorough knowledge of the general principles of doubly entry, and some (but not an exhaustive) acquaintance with straightforward propositions of law relating to bankruptcy and the liquidation of companies, together with a slight knowledge of the law relating to receivership. For the Final Examination it may be stated in general terms that the candidate is required to possess a thorough knowledge of all points in connection with accounts, such, for instance, as those arising in connection with the formation of joint stock companies, Cost Accounts for manufacturing concerns, income tax returns, the adjustment of Partnership and Executorship Accounts, &c.; indeed, there is practically no limit to what may be asked for by the examiners in this connection. With regard to auditing also, a very wide range of knowledge will be expected; but the probability is that the student will experience less difficulty in this connection, inasmuch as the text-book recommended will enable him to supply any deficiency that there may have been in his practical experience, whereas the questions which may arise in connection with bookkeeping are practically endless, and in its more advanced phases bookkeeping is a science which can really only be learnt by actual experience. For the legal papers a more intimate acquaintance with the law is naturally required than that which sufficed for Intermediate candidates. The field, moreover, is enlarged by the paper on Bankruptcy and Company Law, so that not merely insolvencies are dealt with, but also all questions of law relating to the formation and carrying on of joint stock companies. It is not anticipated, however, that these papers will offer any serious difficulty to the student who has had a reasonable experience, and has carefully studied the text-books recommended; the real difficulty in connection with the legal portion of the examination lies with the paper on Mercantile Law. This is so large a subject that in a paper of ten questions, which has also to deal with the Law of Arbitrations and Awards, it is practically impossible for even one question to be asked upon each of the main subjects. For example, mercantile law includes the law relating to the following matters :-Bills of exchange, sale of goods, agency, insurance, shipping, guarantees, carriers, con tracts, goodwill, together with questions on partnership law and other matters, which are already covered in the five previous papers. The probability is that not more than one-half of these subjects will really be dealt with in any one examination paper; nevertheless, the student is required to have, at all events, a rudimentary knowledge of the whole mercantile law, and this involves upon him a considerable amount of labour. He should, however, guard against looking upon it in the light of an infliction; for the probability is that in years to come he will find a thorough knowledge of the mercantile law even more valuable to him than any of the other subjects prescribed for the examination of the Institute. It has been stated in a previous chapter that the student who is articled to an office where he has reasonable opportunities of acquiring experience ought to be able to pass his Intermediate Examination without any further preparation than a careful study of the text-books recommended. The same can, however, hardly be said of the Final Examination, for the questions are naturally more searching, and it thus becomes increasingly difficult for mere reading to take the place of practical experience, while in the nature of things it is impossible to expect that, in any one office, opportunities will be afforded of absolutely exhausting every possible phase of Accountancy. It is, therefore, strongly recommended that the candidate for the Final Examination should obtain the assistance of a coach, and this not merely in order that he may make more certain of his ultimate success, but also that he may derive a greater and more permanent benefit from the time and energy which it is necessary for him to expend in preparing for the exami nation. A good coach can, to a very great extent, assist the student by so directing his studies as to save him from wasting time upon unprofitable matters; and also, by a few judicious explanations, can clear up points of difficulty from time to time as they arise, which would otherwise have the effect of not only wasting the student's time in endeavouring to himself arrive at a solution, but would also, perhaps, prevent him from actually appreciating the importance of subsequent points, merely because (in the absence of a proper explanation) he is unable to appreciate the precise bearing of other matters upon which the question at issue directly hinges. The results of the Final Examination are published at the same time as those of the Intermediate and Preliminary; those candidates who obtain more than a certain number of marks are awarded certificates, and placed or the pass list in order of merit, and prizes are awarded to the first few candidates if their papers are of sufficient merit to justify the examiners in recommending the Council so to do. As a conclusion to the present chapter, it will doubtless be of interest if we append a table showing the number of candidates who have attended each examination since 1883, together with the number of passes and failures, and the percentage of the latter on the total : |