Ebook Data Analytics For Accounting Third Edition PDF Full Chapter PDF
Ebook Data Analytics For Accounting Third Edition PDF Full Chapter PDF
Third
Edition - eBook PDF
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebooksecure.com/download/data-analytics-for-accounting-third-edition-ebook-
pdf/
page i
Ver
non
J.
Ric
har
dso
n
Unive
rsity
of
Arka
nsas,
Baru
ch
Colle
ge
Rya
n
A.
Tee
ter
Unive
rsity
of
Pittsb
urgh
Kat
ie
L.
Terr
ell
Unive
rsity
of
Arka
nsas
page ii
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 LWI 27 26 25 24 23 22
ISBN 978-1-265-09445-4
MHID 1-265-09445-4
The Internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of
publication. The inclusion of a website does not indicate an endorsement by
the authors or McGraw Hill LLC, and McGraw Hill LLC does not
guarantee the accuracy of the information presented at these sites.
mheducation.com/highered
page iii
Dedications
My wonderful daughter, Rachel, for your constant love,
encouragement, and support. You always make me laugh and
smile!
—Vern Richardson
—Ryan Teeter
To the Mustache Running Club. Over many miles you all have
learned more about accounting data analytics than you ever
hoped for! Thanks for all of your support—on and off the trail.
—Katie Terrell
page iv
Preface
Data Analytics is changing the business world—data simply surround us!
So many data are available to businesses about each of us—how we shop,
what we read, what we buy, what music we listen to, where we travel,
whom we trust, where we invest our time and money, and so on.
Accountants create value by addressing fundamental business and
accounting questions using Data Analytics.
All accountants must develop data analytic skills to address the needs of
the profession in the future—it is increasingly required of new hires and old
hands. Data Analytics for Accounting, 3e recognizes that accountants don’t
need to become data scientists—they may never need to build a data
repository or do the real hardcore Data Analytics or learn how to program a
computer to do machine learning. However, there are seven skills that
analytic-minded accountants must have to be prepared for a data-filled
world, including:
page v
Adapted from Win with Advanced Business Analytics: Creating Business Value from Your
Data, by Jean Paul Isson and Jesse S. Harriott.
The IMPACT cycle is described in the first four chapters, and then the
process is illustrated in auditing, managerial accounting, financial
accounting, and taxes in Chapters 5 through 9. In response to instructor
feedback, Data Analytics for Accounting, 3e now also includes two new
project chapters, giving students a chance to practice the full IMPACT
model with multiple labs that build on one another.
Data Analytics for Accounting, 3e emphasizes hands-on practice with
real-world data. Students are provided with hands-on instruction (e.g.,
click-by-click instructions, screenshots, etc.) on datasets within the chapter;
within the end-of-chapter materials; and in the labs at the end of each
chapter. Throughout the text, students identify questions, extract and
download data, perform testing, and then communicate the results of that
testing.
The use of real-world data is highlighted by using data from Avalara,
LendingClub, College Scorecard, Dillard’s, the State of Oklahoma, as
well as other data from our labs. In particular, we emphasize the rich data
from Dillard’s sales transactions that we use in more than 15 of the labs
throughout the text (including Chapter 11).
Data Analytics for Accounting, 3e also emphasizes the various data
analysis tools students will use throughout the rest of their career around
two tracks—the Microsoft track (Excel, Power BI) and a Tableau track
(Tableau Prep and Tableau Desktop—available with free student license).
Using multiple tools allows students to learn which tool is best suited for
the necessary data analysis, data visualization, and communication of the
insights gained—for example, which tool is easiest for internal controls
testing, which is best for analysis or querying (using SQL) big datasets,
which is best for data visualizations, and so on.
1Jean Paul Isson and Jesse S. Harriott, Win with Advanced Business Analytics: Creating
Business Value from Your Data (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2013).
page vi
Vernon J. Richardson
Ryan A. Teeter
Acknowledgments
Our sincere thanks to all who helped us on this project.
Our biggest thanks to the awesome team at McGraw Hill, including
Steve Schuetz, Tim Vertovec, Rebecca Olson, Claire McLemore, Michael
McCormick, Christine Vaughan, Kevin Moran, Angela Norris, and Lori
Hancock.
Our thanks also to each of the following:
The Walton College Enterprise Team (Paul Cronan, Ron Freeze,
Michael Gibbs, Michael Martz, Tanya Russell) for their work helping us get
access to the Dillard’s data.
Shane Lunceford from LendingClub for helping gain access to
LendingClub data.
Joy Caracciolo, Will Cocker, and Tommy Morgan from Avalara for their
help to grant permissions usage of the Avalara data.
Bonnie Klamm, North Dakota State University, and Ryan Baxter, Boise
State University, for their accuracy check review of the manuscript and
Connect content.
In addition, the following reviewers and classroom testers who provided
ideas and insights for this edition. We appreciate their contributions.
Amelia Annette Baldwin
University of South Alabama
Dereck Barr-Pulliam
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Ryan Baxter
Boise State University
Cory Campbell
Indiana State University
Heather Carrasco
Texas Tech University
Curtis Clements
Abilene Christian University
Elizabeth Felski
State University of New York at Geneseo
Amber Hatten
The University of Southern Mississippi
Jamie Hoeischer
Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
Chris C. Hsu
York College, City University of New York
Venkataraman Iyer
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Andrea S. Kelton
Middle Tennessee State University
Bonnie Klamm
North Dakota State University
Gregory Kogan
Long Island University, Brooklyn
Hagit Levy
Baruch College, CYNY
Brandon Lock
Baruch College, CUNY
Sharon M. Lightner
National University
Kalana Malimage
University of Wisconsin–Whitewater
Partha Mohapatra
California State University, Sacramento
Bonnie Morris
Duquesne University
Uday Murthy
University of South Florida
Kathy Nesper
University at Buffalo
Kamala Raghavan
Texas Southern University
Marie Rice
West Virginia University
Ali Saeedi
University of Minnesota Crookston
Karen Schuele
John Carroll University
Drew Sellers
Kent State University
Joe Shangguan
Robert Morris University
Vincent J. Shea
St. John’s University
Jacob Shortt
Virginia Tech
Marcia Watson
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Liu Yang
Southeast Missouri State University
Zhongxia Ye
University of Texas, San Antonio
Qiongyao (Yao) Zhang
Robert Morris University
Vernon Richardson
Ryan Teeter
Katie Terrell
page viii
Key Features
NEW! Color Coded Multi-Track Labs: Instructors have the flexibility
to guide students through labs using the Green Track: Microsoft tools
(including Excel, Power Query, and Power BI); Blue Track: Tableau
tools (including Tableau Prep Builder and Tableau Desktop); or both.
Each track is clearly identified and supported with additional resources.
NEW! Lab Example Outputs: Each lab begins with an example of
what students are expected to create. This provides a clear reference and
guide for student deliverables.
NEW! Auto-Graded Problems: The quantity and variety of auto-
graded problems that are assignable in McGraw Hill Connect have been
expanded.
NEW! Discussion and Analysis: Now available as manually graded
assignments in McGraw Hill Connect.
Emphasis on Skills: Working through the IMPACT cycle framework,
students will learn problem assessment, data preparation, data analysis,
data visualization, control contesting, and more.
Emphasis on Hands-On Practice: Students will be provided hands-on
learning (click-by-click instructions with screenshots) on datasets within
each chapter, within the end-of-chapter materials, and in the labs and
comprehensive cases.
Emphasis on Datasets: To illustrate data analysis techniques and skills,
multiple practice datasets (audit, financial, and managerial data) will be
used in every chapter. Students gain real-world experience working with
data from Avalara, LendingClub, Dillard’s, College Scorecard, the
State of Oklahoma, as well as financial statement data (via XBRL)
from S&P100 companies.
Emphasis on Tools: Students will learn how to conduct data analysis
using Microsoft and Tableau tools. Students will compare and contrast
the different tools to determine which are best suited for basic data
analysis and data visualization, which are easiest for internal controls
testing, which are best for SQL queries, and so on.
page ix
End-of-Chapter Materials
page xi
page xii
Chapter 1
Added new opening vignette regarding a recent IMA survey of finance
and accounting professionals and their use of Big Data and Data
Analytics.
Added discussion on how analytics are used in auditing, tax, and
management accounting.
Included introduction to the variety of analytics tools available and
explanation of dual tracks for labs including Microsoft Track and
Tableau Track.
Added “Data Analytics at Work” box feature: What Does an Analyst
Do at a Big Four Accounting Firm.
Added six new Connect-ready problems.
Implemented lab changes:
All-new tool connections in Lab 1-5.
Revised Labs 1-0 to 1-4.
Chapter 2
Edited opening vignette to include current examples regarding data
privacy and ethics.
Added a discussion on ethical considerations related to data collection
and use.
Added exhibit with potential external data sources to address
accounting questions.
Expanded the data extraction section to first include data
identification, including the use of unstructured data.
Added “Data Analytics at Work” box feature: Jump Start Your
Accounting Career with Data Analytics Knowledge.
Added six new Connect-ready problems.
Implemented lab changes:
Revised Labs 2-1 to 2-8.
page xiii
Chapter 3
Refined the discussion on diagnostic analytics.
Improved the discussion on the differences between qualitative and
quantitative data and the discussion of the normal distribution.
Refined the discussion on the use of regression as an analytics tool.
Added examples of time series analysis in the predictive analytics
section.
Added “Data Analytics at Work” box feature: Big Four Invest Billions
in Tech, Reshaping Their Identities as Professional Services Firm with
a Technology Core.
Added six new Connect-ready problems.
Implemented lab changes:
All-new cluster analysis in Lab 3-2.
Revised Labs 3-1, 3-3 to 3-6.
Chapter 4
Added discussion of statistics versus visualizations using Anscombe’s
quartet.
Updated explanations of box plots and Z-scores.
Added “Data Analytics at Work” box feature: Data Visualization: Why
a Picture Can Be Worth a Thousand Clicks.
Added six new Connect-ready problems.
Implemented lab changes:
All-new dashboard in Lab 4-3.
Revised Labs 4-1, 4-2, 4-4, 4-5.
Chapter 5
Improved and clarified content to match the focus on descriptive,
diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive analytics.
Added “Data Analytics at Work” box feature: Citi’s $900 Million
Internal Control Mistake: Would Continuous Monitoring Help?
Added six new Connect-ready problems.
Implemented lab changes:
Revised Labs 5-1 to 5-5.
Chapter 6
Clarified chapter content to match the focus on descriptive, diagnostic,
predictive, and prescriptive analytics.
Added “Data Analytics at Work” box features: Do Auditors Need to
Be Programmers?
Added six new Connect-ready problems.
Implemented lab changes:
Major revisions to Labs 6-1 to 6-5.
Chapter 7
Added new exhibit and discussion that maps managerial accounting
questions to data approaches.
Added “Data Analytics at Work” box feature: Maximizing Profits
Using Data Analytics
Added five new Connect-ready problems.
Implemented lab changes:
All-new job cost, balanced scorecard, and time series dashboards in
Lab 7-1, 7-2, 7-3.
Revised Lab 7-4, 7-5.
page xiv
Chapter 8
Added new exhibit and discussion that maps financial statement
analysis questions to data approaches.
Added four new Connect-ready problems.
Implemented lab changes:
All-new sentiment analysis in Lab 8-4.
Revised Labs 8-1 to 8-3.
Chapter 9
Added new exhibit and discussion that maps tax questions to data
approaches.
Added four new Connect-ready problems.
Implemented lab changes:
Revised Labs 9-1 to 9-5.
Chapter 10
Updated project chapter that evaluates different business processes,
including the order-to-cash and procure-to-pay cycles, from different
user perspectives with a choice to use the Microsoft track, the Tableau
track, or both.
Added extensive, all-new set of objective and analysis questions to
assess analysis and learning.
Chapter 11
Updated project chapter, estimating sales returns at Dillard’s with
three question sets highlighting descriptive and exploratory analysis,
hypothesis testing, and predictive analytics with a choice to use the
Microsoft track, the Tableau track, or both.
Added extensive, all-new set of objective and analysis questions to
assess analysis and learning.
page xv
With McGraw Hill Connect for Data Analytics for Accounting, your
students receive proven study tools and hands-on assignment materials, as
well as an adaptive eBook. Here are some of the features and assets
available with Connect.
page xvi
Problems: Select problems from the text are auto-graded in McGraw Hill
Connect. Manually graded analysis problems are also now available to
ensure students are building an analytical skill set.
Color Coded Multi-Track Labs: Labs are assignable in McGraw Hill
Connect as the green Microsoft Track (including Excel, Power Query, and
Power BI) and blue Tableau Track (including Tableau Prep Builder and
Tableau Desktop).
page xvii
Students complete their lab work outside of Connect in the lab track
selected by their professor. Students answer assigned lab questions designed
to ensure they understood the key skills and outcomes from their lab work.
Both auto-graded lab objective questions and manually graded lab analysis
questions are assignable in Connect.
Comprehensive Cases: Comprehensive case labs are assignable in
McGraw Hill Connect. Students work outside of Connect to complete the
lab using the Dillard’s real-world Big Data set. Once students complete the
comprehensive lab, they will go back into Connect to answer questions
designed to ensure they completed the lab and understood the key skills and
outcomes from their lab work.
Make technology work for you with LMS integration for single sign-
on access, mobile access to the digital textbook, and reports to
quickly show you how each of your students is doing. And with our
Inclusive Access program you can provide all these tools at a
discount to your students. Ask your McGraw Hill representative for
more information.
page xix
Top: Jenner Images/Getty Images, Left: Hero Images/Getty Images, Right: Hero
Images/Getty Images
page xx
GLOSSARY 588
INDEX 593
page xxi
Detailed TOC
Chapter 1
Data Analytics for Accounting and Identifying the Questions
2
Data Analytics 4
How Data Analytics Affects Business 4
How Data Analytics Affects Accounting 5
Auditing 6
Management Accounting 7
Financial Reporting and Financial Statement Analysis 7
Tax 8
The Data Analytics Process Using the IMPACT Cycle 9
Step 1: Identify the Questions (Chapter 1) 9
Step 2: Master the Data (Chapter 2) 10
Step 3: Perform Test Plan (Chapter 3) 10
Step 4: Address and Refine Results (Chapter 3) 13
Steps 5 and 6: Communicate Insights and Track Outcomes (Chapter
4 and each chapter thereafter) 13
Back to Step 1 13
Data Analytic Skills and Tools Needed by Analytic-Minded
Accountants 13
Choose the Right Data Analytics Tools 14
Hands-On Example of the IMPACT Model 17
Identify the Questions 17
Master the Data 17
Perform Test Plan 20
Address and Refine Results 23
Communicate Insights 24
Track Outcomes 24
Summary 25
Key Words 26
Answers to Progress Checks 26
Multiple Choice Questions 28
Discussion and Analysis 30
Problems 30
Lab 1-0 How to Complete Labs 36
Lab 1-1 Data Analytics Questions in Financial Accounting 39
Lab 1-2 Data Analytics Questions in Managerial Accounting 41
Lab 1-3 Data Analytics Questions in Auditing 42
Lab 1-4 Comprehensive Case: Questions about Dillard’s Store Data
44
Lab 1-5 Comprehensive Case: Connect to Dillard’s Store Data 47
Chapter 2
Mastering the Data 52
How Data Are Used and Stored in the Accounting Cycle 54
Internal and External Data Sources 54
Accounting Data and Accounting Information Systems 56
Data and Relationships in a Relational Database 56
Columns in a Table: Primary Keys, Foreign Keys, and Descriptive
Attributes 57
Data Dictionaries 59
Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) the Data 60
Extract 61
Transform 64
Load 67
Ethical Considerations of Data Collection and Use 68
Summary 69
Key Words 70
Answers to Progress Checks 70
Multiple Choice Questions 71
Discussion and Analysis 73
Problems 74
Lab 2-1 Request Data from IT—Sláinte 77
Lab 2-2 Prepare Data for Analysis—Sláinte 79
Lab 2-3 Resolve Common Data Problems—LendingClub 84
Lab 2-4 Generate Summary Statistics—LendingClub 91
Lab 2-5 Validate and Transform Data—College Scorecard 95
Lab 2-6 Comprehensive Case: Build Relationships among Database
Tables—Dillard’s 98
Lab 2-7 Comprehensive Case: Preview Data from Tables—
Dillard’s 103
Lab 2-8 Comprehensive Case: Preview a Subset of Data in Excel,
Tableau Using a SQL Query—Dillard’s 108
Chapter 3
Performing the Test Plan and Analyzing the Results 114
Performing the Test Plan 116
Descriptive Analytics 119
Summary Statistics 119
Data Reduction 120
Diagnostic Analytics 122
Standardizing Data for Comparison (Z-score) 123
Profiling 123
Cluster Analysis 128
Hypothesis Testing for Differences in Groups 131
Predictive Analytics 133
Regression 134
Classification 137
p-Values versus Effect Size 141
page xxii
Prescriptive Analytics 141
Decision Support Systems 141
Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence 142
Summary 143
Key Words 144
Answers to Progress Checks 145
Multiple Choice Questions 146
Discussion and Analysis 148
Problems 148
Chapter 3 Appendix: Setting Up a Classification Analysis 151
Lab 3-1 Descriptive Analytics: Filter and Reduce Data—Sláinte 153
Lab 3-2 Diagnostic Analytics: Identify Data Clusters—
LendingClub 157
Lab 3-3 Perform a Linear Regression Analysis—College Scorecard
160
Lab 3-4 Comprehensive Case: Descriptive Analytics: Generate
Summary Statistics—Dillard’s 166
Lab 3-5 Comprehensive Case: Diagnostic Analytics: Compare
Distributions—Dillard’s 169
Lab 3-6 Comprehensive Case: Create a Data Abstract and Perform
Regression Analysis—Dillard’s 174
Chapter 4
Communicating Results and Visualizations 180
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
CHAPTER II
CINCINNATI AND WASHINGTON
One day after we had been married less than a year my husband
came home looking so studiously unconcerned that I knew at once he
had something to tell me.
“Nellie, what would you think,” he began casually, “if I should be
appointed a Judge of the Superior Court?”
“Oh, don’t try to be funny,” I exclaimed. “That’s perfectly
impossible.”
But it was not impossible, as he soon convinced me. My father had
just refused the same appointment and it was difficult to believe that
it could now be offered to my husband who was only twenty-nine
years old. It was a position made vacant by the retirement from the
Bench of Judge Judson Harmon who was my husband’s senior by
more than a decade.
One of the most prominent and prosperous law firms in Cincinnati
was that of Hoadley, Johnston and Colston, and both Mr. Hoadley
and Mr. Johnston had been invited to go to New York and become
partners of Mr. Edward Lauterbach who was then doing an
enormous business.
They went, and the old firm in Cincinnati being broken up, Mr.
Colston asked Judge Harmon, who was then on the Superior Court,
to take Mr. Hoadley’s place. Mr. Harmon decided to do so, but he
was anxious to resign his judgeship in such a way as to leave a long
enough vacancy to attract a good man. It was an elective office and
the law provided that a vacancy occurring within thirty days before
election could not be filled by an election until the following year.
Judge Harmon resigned so as to make the appointment for a period
of fourteen months. After my father declined it, the choice lay
between Mr. Taft and Mr. Bellamy Storer. Mr. Taft always thought
that but for his opportunity in the Campbell case Judge Hannon
would not have recommended him and Governor Foraker would not
have appointed him. That is why he says he traces all his success
back to that occasion. Mr. Foraker was opposing counsel in the
Campbell case, but he had a lawyer’s appreciation for a lawyer’s
effort.
After the first pleased surprise at the honour which came to us so
unexpectedly I began to think; and my thinking led me to decide that
my husband’s appointment on the Bench was not a matter for such
warm congratulation after all. I saw him in close association with
men not one of whom was less than fifteen years older than he, and
most of whom were much more than that. He seemed to me
suddenly to take on a maturity and sedateness quite out of keeping
with his actual years and I dreaded to see him settled for good in the
judiciary and missing all the youthful enthusiasms and exhilarating
difficulties which a more general contact with the world would have
given him. In other words, I began even then to fear the narrowing
effects of the Bench and to prefer for him a diverse experience which
would give him an all-round professional development.
He did not share this feeling in any way. His appointment on the
Superior Court was to him the welcome beginning of just the career
he wanted. After serving the interim of fourteen months he became a
candidate for the office and was elected for a term of five years. This
was the only elective office Mr. Taft ever held until he became
President.
My own time and interest during that winter was largely spent on
my house. We had been very particular about the plans for it and had
fully intended that it should combine outward impressiveness with
inward roominess and comfort. It was a frame structure, shingled all
over, and with certain bay window effects which pleased me
exceedingly. In fact, with our assistance, the architect had made a
special effort to produce something original and, while I don’t claim
that the result was a conspicuous architectural success, to my mind it
was anything but a failure. And our view of the Ohio River and the
surrounding country was really superb.
But I was not destined to enjoy my satisfaction with my
surroundings very long. The section had been at one time a stone
quarry, and the man who had levelled off the land and filled in the
gulches made by the quarry operations, took as a part of his
compensation two building lots which happened to be just across the
street from ours. He forthwith proceeded to put up a sort of double
house which looked more like a gigantic dry-goods box than anything
else, and I felt that it quite robbed the neighbourhood of the “tone”
which I had confidently hoped our house would give it. The double
house had just one quality and that was size.
I think the owner, whose name was Jerry something, lived in one
side of it, and he had a tenant in the other who hung clothes out of
the front windows. But tastes in architecture differ, as we soon found
out.
We were paying taxes on our house at an assessed value of $4000
and the undervaluation had been troubling my husband’s conscience
for a long time, in spite of my assuring him that tax collectors ought
to know their own business. Some men from the board of
equalization were to call one day to make a new appraisement and I
had very much hoped that my husband would not be at home. But he
was; he was there to welcome them and give them every possible
assistance. Without waiting for an examination of the premises, he
addressed one of them, an Irishman named Ryan.
“See here, Mr. Ryan,” he said, “I understand that Jerry, my
neighbour across the street, has his property assessed at $5000. Now
I don’t think that’s fair. I’m assessed at only $4000 and I’m sure my
house cost a good deal more than his. As a matter of fact it cost over
$6000. Now I’m a Judge of the Superior Court; I get my income out
of taxes and I certainly have no disposition to pay any less than my
share.”
“Well, Judge, your Honour,” said Mr. Ryan, “that is a sentiment
very befitting your Honour. Now I’ll just be after goin’ over and
lookin’ at those houses of Jerry’s, and then I’ll come back and look at
yours.”
I watched them as they went over to the other houses; then I saw
them go up the street a way and down the street a way, looking us
carefully over from every possible view-point. When they came in
they wore a very judicial aspect and I expected to see taxes go up
with one wild leap.
“Well, Judge, your Honour,” began Mr. Ryan, “I think you’re givin’
yourself unnecessary concern. We assess houses for what they’re
worth and not for what they cost. While your house no doubt suits
your taste, it has a peculiar architectural style that wouldn’t please
very many people, and certainly it ain’t to compare with those houses
of Jerry’s. There’s a modern polish about those houses that will rent,
Judge, your Honour.”
My son Robert was born in this house on McMillan Street in
September, 1889. In the following February an interruption occurred
in our peaceful existence which was welcome at least to me.
President Harrison offered the appointment of Solicitor General of
the United States to Mr. Taft and he, with a few regretful glances at
his beloved Bench, accepted it. I think that once again it was Major
Butterworth who suggested my husband’s name to the appointing
power. I was very glad because it gave Mr. Taft an opportunity for
exactly the kind of work I wished him to do; work in which his own
initiative and originality would be exercised and developed. I looked
forward with interest, moreover, to a few years in Washington.
Mr. Taft made his first official arrival in Washington alone. My
baby, Robert, was only six months old and I concluded to remain in
Cincinnati until my husband could make arrangements for our
comfortable reception. His description of his first day in Washington
is, in the light of later events, rather amusing.
He arrived at six o’clock on a cold, gloomy February morning at
the old dirty Pennsylvania station. He wandered out on the street
with a heavy bag in his hand looking for a porter, but there were no
porters. Then he stood for a few moments looking up at the Capitol
and feeling dismally unimportant in the midst of what seemed to him
to be very formidable surroundings. He wondered to himself why on
earth he had come. He was sure he had made a fatal mistake in
exchanging a good position and a pleasant circle at home, where
everybody knew him, for a place in a strange and forbidding city
where he knew practically nobody and where, he felt sure, nobody
wanted to know him. He lugged his bag up to the old Ebbitt House
and, after eating a lonesome breakfast, he went to the Department of
Justice to be sworn in. After that ceremony was over and he had
shaken hands with the Attorney General, he went up to inspect the
Solicitor General’s Office, and there he met the most dismal sight of
the whole dismal day. His “quarters” consisted of a single room,
three flights up, and bearing not the slightest resemblance to his
mental picture of what the Solicitor General’s offices would be like.
The Solicitor General’s stenographer, it seemed, was a telegrapher in
the chief clerk’s office and had to be sent for when his services were
required. Altogether it must have been a very disheartening outlook.
As Mr. Taft sat looking over briefs and other papers, and trying to
get some definite idea about his new work, a messenger brought in a
card.
“Mr. Evarts, New York,” it read.
Evarts was a well-known name, of course, but it was hard for Mr.
Taft to believe that the William M. Evarts, leader of the American Bar
and then Senator from New York, could be calling on the Solicitor
General of less than a day. He knew that Wm. M. Evarts had known
his father.
Mr. Evarts entered.
“Mr. Taft,” he said, as he gave my husband’s hand a cordial grasp,
“I knew your father. I was in the class of ’37 at Yale and he had
graduated before I entered; but he was there as a tutor in my time
and I valued his friendship very highly.”
Then the visitor came straight to the point.
“Mrs. Evarts and I are giving a dinner to-night for my former
partner and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Choate. Mr. Choate is in
Washington for a short time to argue a case before the Supreme
Court. Now, unfortunately, one of our guests has sent word that he
can’t come and I thought, perhaps, considering my long-standing
friendship with your father, you might consent to waive ceremony
and fill the place at our table at this short notice.”
My husband accepted the invitation with almost undue alacrity,
and when his guest left started in on his new duties feeling that, after
all, Washington might afford just as friendly an atmosphere as
Cincinnati, once he became accustomed to it.
There is just one incident in connection with the dinner party
which Mr. Taft adds to his account of that day. As he sat down to
dinner the ladies on either side of him leaned hastily forward to see
what was written on his place card. “The Solicitor General”—that was
all. Of course neither of them knew who the new Solicitor General
was and it didn’t occur to him to enlighten them until it was too late
to do it gracefully. So he allowed them to go on addressing him as
“Mr. Solicitor General” while he, having them at an advantage,
addressed them by the names which he had surreptitiously read on
their place-cards. They were Mrs. Henry Cabot Lodge and Mrs. John
Hay.