Sc. 8] INCOME ACCOUNTS 135 
that its discussion will be postponed to Chapter XIV, 
where it may receive the attention it deserves. We con- 
tent ourselves at present with a preliminary illustration. 
A savings bank depositor is sometimes thought to draw 
income from his deposit when the interest “accumulates.” 
This is an error. He draws income when, and only when, 
he draws money out of the bank; he suffers outgo when, 
and only when, he puts money into it. If he merely lets 
his deposit accumulate, he derives no income and suffers 
no outgo. There is no effect on income. What does occur 
is increase of capital. He cannot have his cake and eat it 
too. If we make the fiction that the man who allows his 
savings to accumulate virtually receives the interest, we 
must, to be consistent, also make the fiction that he rede- 
posits it. If the teller hands over the interest across the 
counter, the depositor’s account certainly yields up “in- 
come” to him, but if he hands it back it must, in consist- 
ency, be charged as “outgo,” and the net result on his 
income is simply a cancellation. This procedure reveals 
clearly the fact that the accumulation is not income. 
§8 
The method of accounting employed in the preceding 
lawyer's account is, of course, not the only, nor is it the 
usual, method. It is the method, however, which shows 
the shares of the total income attributable to each indi- 
vidual source. In practice, the minor sources of income 
are neglected. The income and outgo of one’s “cash” 
almost balance in the long run, and the same is true of 
the lease, the servants’ contracts, and the household sup- 
plies. One's furniture probably yields a larger net income 
than is commonly realized, but even this is usually a small 
element in the total. It is only in case the lawyer lives in 
his own house that a serious correction would need tobe made 
on this account. In this case, his shelter is not offset by 
~mv rent payment, and enters the accounts as pure income.