Freight is charged on the weight of the produce only; not of the produce and packages together. This allowance is of old standing, and is to be traced less to the reason of the case, than to the competition prevailing among shipmasters.

Proceeds of 7 hhds., M. P. 1. to 7., sold by them at one month's credit, from
2d of April

234 0 0

To COFFEE Vittoria.

Proceeds of 20 tierces, J. F. 1. to 20., sold at one month's credit, from 3d of
April

676 5 6

910 56

2334

SUGAR CERES Dr. to SUNDRIES.

To INSURANCE ACCOUNT; for premium and policy
To FREIGHT ACCOUNT; for freight, primage, and pierage

515 6 244 H

TO CUSTOMS INWARD; duty and entry

107 5 0

4

sampling, 3s. 6d. ; and fire insurance, 6s.

43

4

4333

434

CHARGES; dock dues, 52s. 10d.; warehouse rent, 35s. 2d.; landwaiters, 168.;

TO THOMAS KEMBLE & Co.; brokerage, i
TO PROFIT AND Loss; for commissions
Interest on freight and duty

TO MORRIS PITMAN; proceeds due 2d of May, 1831

COFFEE VITTORIA Dr. to SUNDRIES.

To INSURANCE; for premium and policy

To FREIGHT ACCOUNT; freight, primage, and pierage

TO CHARGES; dock dues, landwaiters, insurance from fire, and public sale

charges

TO THOMAS KEMBLE & Co.; brokerage

To PROFIT AND Loss; for commissions

TO JAMES FORBES; nett proceeds due 3d of June, 1830

5 13 6 269

731

81 11 3

234 0 0

19 6 9 4426

13 18 7 616 7 20 8 1

571 13 1

£676 5 7

We have thus given an example of the transactions which form a great part of the business of our merchants; the export of manufactured goods, and the import and sale of produce received in return. Our next illustration shall be of a merchant's Cashbook: the following is an example of the entries for a month :

These transactions, when put into the Journal form, stand thus:

The above shows, that for all sums received, the account of cash is made debtor, and the parties paying the same are made creditors; while for all sums paid, the cash is credited, and the parties receiving them are made debtors.

We are next to state the mode of entering bill transactions.

BILLS RECEIVABLE.-We have seen by the Balance sheet that several correspondents are indebted to the house. The debts of correspondents abroad may be reduced by remitting either bills, specie, or merchandise for sale: from correspondents in England, bills are almost the only mode of remitting. When bills come to hand, the rule is to enter each in the bill book, with a minute statement of the date, term, sum, and other particulars thus:

BILLS PAYABLE.-The entries under this head are, of course, wholly different from the preceding, being for acceptances of the house given on account of sums owing by it to correspondents. Each acceptance is entered in the book of bills payable, thus :

Folio of

Ledger.

281

SUNDRIES DRS. to BILLS PAYABLE.

For the following bills accepted.

JAMES ALLAN & Co. No. 151. their draft, due 13th of June
G. & W. Fox. No. 152. their draft, due 25th of March

SIMON FRAZER. J. Clark's draft on his account, due 8th of March

£ s. d.

175 10 0

73 15 0

132 10 0

£ 381 15 0

The preceding entries, few as they are compared to the monthly transactions of a house of business, are sufficient to show the nature of a Journal as well as of the subsidiary books, (for cash, bills, invoices, and account sales,) from which it is composed. The Journal, being a complete record of the business of the house, is very varied and comprehensive in its nature, and may be termed an index to every book of consequence in the counting-house. But while in the cash book every payment or receipt is entered on the day it takes place, and in the bill books every bill is registered on the day it comes to hand, or is accepted, the Journal entries, being completed only at the end of the month, admit of being combined to a considerable extent, so as to exhibit a number of transactions in collective sums. Thus all the acceptances of the house paid in the course of the month appear in the Journal entry of Bills Payable Dr. to Cash; they are arranged in this entry as they fall due, after which the whole are added into one sum, which sum alone needs be carried to the Ledger. In like manner, all bills receivable, whether discounted, or kept by the house till they fall due, are collected under the head of Bills Receivable Dr. to Cash, summed up together, and carried to the Ledger in one line; a point of great importance, as we shall see presently, in facilitating the balance of the Ledger.

We proceed to give a specimen of the Ledger: the whole of the Journal entries in the preceding pages, when posted into the Ledger, will stand thus :