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Show I I MOMQ& TALKS $Y A MAMGEP MAN I I BY GUY T. VISKNISKKI. Judglnc from the r-onviviTAtlon of my frlcnd6 bo&.m the Married Man the nnn great financial problem of th average American homo in not. Whore's th money coming from to pay tiio butober'a bill? but, Should th child hav an al-lowanc? al-lowanc? My friend, the peanut vendor, on the ttroct corner nearest my home, nald to mo the other clay: 'jBee cam la tlm" Veil da bambino WOJQta nion' da stal-man' stal-man' plan." My fricjid, tho banker, ru-t forth tho Mme du : " My son Jamei In insisting that I give him a monthly al-h-iwajico " And both humble merchant and purse-proud financier shook their heatin ani looked rnlfl tlly puxeled over th problem confronting thm For myself, 1 solved the problem while Etill on awkward bjLVet running barefoot bare-foot about tho town etreete There wie an alluring popcorn and candy store on th main strost juid thoro was a still morn alluring littl maldun across tho street who 6imjIy dotod on candy and hot, buttorod popcorn. 1 approached my father for tho wherewithal to purchase- Just a tast of corn and caDdy. Th flrdt tlm my touch was successful, and th second and Lho third, and then appeared tho parental frown. "Just this onco." 1 pleaded. "No," ivas tho reply, "Please, pa." Silence. "Please, pa aw, j)leaa." No answer. "Now, pa, please." Still silence ' Pa, won't you? Say. pa. " "Xu!" It was a reverberating no, that mad tho hot pavement under my feet tremble So off I scooted home to nurso my woee. I entered tho slttlnfj-rooni. thfro lay a Fhlnlng q uar tor upon tho mnntel-pleco. I took It A mil while later 1 wis taking popcorn and candy to the idol of my heart. Still a little later I wae taking a licking In an upper chamber with ns good grace as It v. en In my power to muster. It was at this tJmo that I conceived a plan of action for the dim future when I should have boys fmj girls of my own. I Informed my father of it when h bad finished dusting my jacket to bis entire satisfaction. 'Hind jrou privc mo th llckln'." I said, " cauevo now I'll give my kids money for keeps every onco and a white when I grow jjp, nnd they won't have to tnko money tthey seo layin' around that don't appear to bo nobodv s to buy things with." I forbear to tell whit followed this bit of Information Suffice li to .say that I am mow than over convinced that to spar thr- allowance is to warp tho child financial Jy. There js a man I kn.w who pooh-hooed pooh-hooed at the idea of giving his son and daughter each an allowance P.oth caw tho color of money only when their s. n-tences n-tences wore persuasive enough t.i .um their pnrer-t to reach down Into bis cavernous cav-ernous riant-hand trousers pocket and dole OUt a 'in-irter or a dime with the air of a man who owned all of creation and bail nil creation's creatures dependent upon him. Th boy went Into business at tho ape Of 18. II" got ' a week nnd lived at home free of coel I'll say that much for his parent. Hut the b"V was alwaya "broke. And bills were always pursuing pursu-ing him. Viiii f.. : when ho did Ret bold of a in He money he did not know how to handle, It, for he had yet to find out the way. Vim ran't export a boy to know what to do with a dollar at 18 or 21, If he hns not been allowed to experiment with it while in his childhood dam Practice makes perfect in th art of manipulating manipulat-ing money, as in ail tl-.incs else; and it occurs to iru' (hat tho number Of youthful youth-ful spendthrifts would be noticeably less, and savInK bank accounts consld-orably consld-orably im-reai. If parents generall) recognized thl fact, ami let primary -lohii, and grammar-grade James, and hili-s. -l-ool ,1-ikH ptruKKl'" with tho problem of making a stipulated sum of mono)- lasl a week or a month. The experienco of mantpulal inu an al-lowance al-lowance Is even morn Important for a girl. If a boy etarts In th business world without a knowldpe of th power pow-er of money, h will get th money suns knocked into him sooner or later, If ho la eventually to make any sort of success suc-cess on the financial sldo Thor Is no such school for th avorngo girl Deprived De-prived of tho chanc to study th dollar In her girlhood, sh Is apt to remain In total Ignoiancn of what It can and can't do tho rest of her days. Wlfels iKnorane of th money sens Is a rOok upon which many a matrimonial matrimo-nial bark striki-G sooner or later. Take the cast of smith's wife. fih'a a lovable link- creature She has common com-mon sense on most thlnjrs, but when Smith places a ten-dollar bill In h.-r hands she. i w. mini' k. The bargain counters know her until tho last rent 13 spent and she In In tears next day when she discovers sh has bought a lot ol horrid old things sho has no us for and Is ptlll longing for a new pair of gloves to ropiiu-o the old . ones spilt beyond the aid of needle and thrr-mi People don t scramble over one nn- Other to cue Smith money sine ho Isn't a frenzied financier or th originator of a get-rlch-qulck game; so h tlnds It Int limbent on him to reason with Mrn Smith. Put ho would better put In tho time at his oflW over his desk. Mrs. imlth simply can't Kro-p the situation. All she knows i s that Smith ba6 a habit of being able to hand out a ten or twenty-dollar bill whenever tho occasion seoms to call for such action Sh does not naiii' what Smith Is compelled to do to get hold of th money. Neither Is sho able to comprehend th limitations limita-tions of a dollar's purchasing powers Hence tho lachrymal deluge th day following s shopping expedition Well, Smith took her for better or for worse, but It takes a mighty deep pocket-book to keep a husband so situated situ-ated from realizing that It was all for worse, financially. When that thought comes the storm, will not bo long delayed. de-layed. And the pity of It Is that tho Wife Is not primarily to blame For It Is written that the sins of the fathers Thrieo fortunate Is ho who finds, after th honeymoon Is over and th splck-and-span new household machinery baa beorj set In motion, that his bride was reared from early childhood on an oJ- r,i;ince Then he will know that she win not have to k to school to him of evening! In order to tret tho correct i answer to 00010 such prohir-m o: "if I have ten dollars, and the grocery mm 1 mefl to flour anl a hnlf dollar?, and butcher hns not h.-.n pull fr to w-okR, nnii th gat bill is dn today, tnd fcpK are W cents a dozen and we 1 two dozen a week, because John must hnvc tivm every morning for br 'i fast, phnii 1 to tho matinee ti.in afternoon and entertain tho euchre club dn- fii-r tomorrow, whn 1 don't ct ni household and spending money until th middle of riext week? There's a certain .-imlahie little lady I know who received her tlrot nllownni e hcn she hfpnn firotrit; to publll BChoOl at the age ol seven. its amount was 10 cents a wooa fortune to h'-r vnung yes and mih whs to spend the money n ho Maw tit t.r tho purohaso of such childish dollchti a lini in r randy, po.inuts nnd el lck I n " (rum. The first 10 cents evaporated the day her chubby fist closed OVer It Tho rest Of the week the little lady's mouth watered In vain for her favorite morsels hi-h cnuid not ho hers, because, alack: her money was all pent. It van a Inpson not taught n -vain The. ensuing week sho was so frugal of her allowance that when Sunday came flho still had one cent left fr.r Sunda-school, Sunda-school, ond had had her after peh n1 nit. hies with daily regularity Thus early, sho learned to accommodate hei flnan.-ea t. (he condition i onfrontlni; her AS time went on. and the little lady's natural want. increased with the pears, lh illowanre cr. u- In proportion, until at 15, she wan permitted to havo an allowance of fis.50 a month, out of which sho was to buy hor clothes and school books and get amusement. She wont to the stores and did her own shopping, thereby learning that silks vary in price a yard according to quality and pocket-hook: pocket-hook: thut tho more furholiiws put on a dress the harder a father has to work that there tto bargains and bargains in brief, tho mysteries of department store3 wore gradually unfolded to her, because sho had an allowance. That hor Instruction at this period ih..r..,iKh I o Idonci d hv the different differ-ent pathos In hor nvmthlv account hook. Hero is her account for one September "Received allowance, $l2.f,0; papa pa'-o mo 6 cents Paid nut material for drops, lawn for dross. 3 rents, hat fixed, W cents; gloves, gl.60: theater ticket fl rf ; velvet for dross lo cents lining for dress 40 cents; Bunday-ichool collection, . cents; neteboqk, 5 oenta; one spool Hnen. S cents; one-quartei vard elastic. 1 cents; three-quarters -nfd cloth. 27 cents; two yards ribbon, K, cents two yards plaid. $2, four bottles, 15 cents; court plaster 10 cents; skirt braid 10 cents; one bolt velvet braid, .10 cent-two cent-two bolts velvet, 00 cents, two yards ribbon, 5 oontfl. Total, $11 U Tut In dime bank, 50 cents Balano, . 17 cents " J hen It ,-amo time for tio- little lad to put up h r hair and start for college 'h.-r parents had such confidence In hor ability to place s dollar 111 the riht place under all ordinary circumstances th.it every month she was sent to ment all .-pensea .-pensea other than those for tuition and DOard, and no accounting was asked for. Sho was In coIIoko- for the regulation four years. According to all accounts, she had a very good time Indi d, and dn asi d well and vet aft.-r sh,. ).-, 1 ..1 ,, . 1 . .1 1... ....' rents were surpi sed to learn that sho had a comfortable savings bank account of .1 little under 1An. Today this little lady Is married, and she Is superintending lho disposition of her husband's income. They aro not a Ctnt In debt, and he owed win n ho ti k her unto him. She has taught him to cut his financial cloth ac tordlng to his measure; She has proved his financial savior sa-vior And he well, ho was not permitted to experiment with a certain sum of money a month when he was a child, and When he was taken In hand b his poo l wife ho had still t.. learn that the mom y serse Is an Important part of common sense. Of course pursued tho Married Man-there Man-there aro different ways of giving a child an allowance One method Is. to hand a fne-doiiar bill to a child In much the same fashion as you would toss a five-cent tiler e into a street beggar's tin cup. This method Is strongly recommended to all parents who hold that. hlldren should ever be flUed with the spirit of humliits, a term Bynony-nicu8 Bynony-nicu8 with humiliation with them Another method Is to make, the child feel that he is receiving a gift, and tho hand which gH es it is able to pive many more such pifcs without tho least bit f trouble. This method is recommended to all parents who believe that chlldri n should be brought up in tho belief that they aro the progeny of millionaires A third, and suiht method is to tell a child that ton or fifty cents a w ek or tc-n dollars a month. Is hlc provided hi does som thing to earn the money The desire to be up and winning money Is Inherent in US all. It should bo stimulated In us all; and the sooner a child Is impressed with the Idea that he must earn his way through the wi rid, the less liability there I that he will prove a failure at the Job when It is high time for him to face the "rl'l In deadly e-arnest. "Susie, you lust the sitting-room every morning,' said a mother to her eight-year-old, "and every week Til give you fft.cn cents as pay for the work Grace," to her twelve-year-old, "you dust ib n nsta It s run! 1 II ple ou fifty cents a week, and Jatk,'' to her son of ten, ' keep tho yard clean, and you'll get thlrty-flvo cents every Saturday nigh I A man may cut an impressive flpure deling out five and ten-font pieces with a lordly air to his petitioning offspring. Put he Is sowing tho wind of nlggardlT- nc sh and will re, in the whirlwind In Ih.lr Bpi ndthrlft habits later on. He Is a v, lso father who Instructs his child in the power ol the doUar but he 13 still Wiser who lets his child find It all OUt lor himself. Bzpi rlt net . not words, Is the great teacher !n matters financial, as all things else. And think of lho wholesome morals that can be drawn for the benefit of youth from the dollar experimentally spent one of which Is. If you would have a dollar when you want It, husband tho dollars whoa you have them in pockel Tie re is no royal roud to learning of any sort concluded th Married Man but ome roads arc shorter and more easllv traveled than others The shortest possible possi-ble road to knowledge of the art of husbanding hus-banding the almighty Arnerioan dollar is the allowance, be It ever so picayune (Copyright, 1906. by Guy T Vlsknlskkl.) |
