The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-30
O NJ AND ALLOWANCES.
SOME SYSTEMS THAT ARE RARE, BUT
SAID TO BE GOOD.
The Open Money Drawer rsr Children and the
Oper safe Tor . Wire-Troubie Had with
Incomes or wives H1xed by Husbands

Ope- safe Tor . wire-Troubie HAD with
Incomes OF wives RIxed by Husbands
There were three of them, and they were talk.
ing about allowances. OF course they were
women. Few men have to live on allowances,
and boys spend theirs, as q rule, without talking
or 80 much ns thinking about II.
don't know what l think about this allow
ance business" said n stout, middlc-agcd
matron. Now, my husband gives me 500 u
week to run tho house and dress myself, and do
you know I'm always in debt to myself. l can't
understand 1t at all. when we first started out
in life. a quarter of a century ago. he didn't
make 300 a month. and yet we saved one-third
OF all no earned. Wouldn't you think that in
all these years would have learned TO spend to
a better advantage instead OF just the opposite :"
81 understand you perfectly" answered a
dark-cyed woman in whose countenance there
was an expression of life endured and not en-.
!oyed. we've been married even a little longer
than you have and started out as poor as tho
proverbial church mouse. But times prospered
with us, and my husband grew proportionately
generous in his allowance for our household
expenditures and for my personal use. Tho
moro I had the less I seemed to DO able
to save. and It worried me a great deal.
Finally We broke up housekeeping. and. as
you both know, went to a hotol to live. Pretty
soon 1t came my way to mako quite an income
for myself, and gradually my husband stopped
giving me an allowance for personal use. OF
course he pays all my living expenses. but I use
the money l earn to dress myself. II you believe
me, l don't seem able to save a cent, and yet I
don't dress extrsvagantly. All the money that
comes my way seems to partake Of the nature Of
a centipcde, and walks of in q hurry, l can tell
you, and / have nothing to show for 1t. How Is
It with you T. she added. turning. to the young
est woman in the party, a happy-looking,
I fDh ltffla FTRafnrp
"0h. I don't have, an allowance" she an
swered. u know nothing about allowances"
other Hy two oa'S well. I wouldn't ike that" con:
tinued the stout matron. y indeed. or
billy in a way but I'd like to see myself asking
any man. even my own husband. for money. and
ton OF it.. and does he ask you what you arc
going to do with i, and what you did with the
Deaf me" exclaimed the happy little woman.
we've been married ten years, and Two never
asked him for . cent, and he has never asked
is IS years old, and never in his life has any;
body asked him a, how he ne spent a cent Think of
81 don't understand how such Q state Of
affairs could exist. :" said the sad.faced one.
the little eE; Won sSe When my husband Unis Was ten
years old his father said TO him and his brothers
It's contents are yours as much as mine. and
now when you need any money want you TO
a se cent ntef ib se 60 WEE We a asa partner gar nj rs i do You ss ' under rs
stand; and now, mind you. didn't say you must
s seeS %ss #. 'GTrh Then wanted Rs exP %i a to Sss them mhsa Simply ySg
The RESULT Why, those boys and girls say that
to, ana that they never took from that drawer as
much as the smallest allowance of their COM
panions. They had the feeling that they were
really their fathers business partners, and were
on their honor to protect his interests and to help
And you say that the father never asked
them how they spent the money that they took
for she was interested in the training O. boys.
,"Never" was the snPh he DC r cbPiiJrs Nor Ire thai, ,nap
circus, did not forbid, them doing anything or
going anywhere, and never asked them what
sad:taced woman. what are. parents for il
"Ithink parents are given to children" an.
own Characters and those Of their children by
example ~ Nov oic, nv ~. f santaae l. r~sr has IA slw cSyIs
t dFen S 3 Rat never ntFp tasted i,as; r %hi = ; t the boys 1is have have,
never used tobacco in any form. they have never
ippduiss fsI their cir Sppesite a-a and @ done nc lots r,4 OF c other or
doing. l tell you the average boy or girl resents
not being implicitly trusted. and when par
too c pessH the @ shiid will fhu give WITH them some.
thing {, { see and and to be answered. But to
husband said: Now: come and let me teach you
R &ent 90 on oD :Som MY th sefs' o sne n neisf a0 mbe 80 yo os
want any take il and III do the same until II is
or how you spend it, and 1 snail expect you to
grant me the same Independence: From that
sure you it is astonishing how little we manage
to spend. not how much. as you two say
4! is with you; and we are bringing up our two
rue and ask us TO open the safe. Neither has
ever taken out more than a fve-cent piece at a
time, and sometimes weeks go by without either
asking that the safe be opened. l really think
nue. crazy. continued the little woman with a
laugh. You know women are not any better
at figures than they are e. reasoning. and it
whether ! could have this, that, or the other
and still make my allowance come out even. l
wouldn't like IL at all.
I was a young girl my father paid all my bills.
and l didn't even have any idea Of what / spent:
Afterward l earned my own living. and, Of
! earned; and then I married. and having. been
living as | have explained since. think our
acter OF a child. Give your boys and girls SO
much money every month and 4 often leads
e!es and buy foolish things, they form the very
bad habit Of borrowing from each other. and do
not get the idea O. saving. In fact, all they think
bows ~Sse .s] RIp ~ might .faH, T gsiro all right Bns S Sda s sS%s
"Yes, 1 don,t think it would do with all chill
dren." put in the sad-faced one.
III all parents would presuppose that their
children were honorable and let them know 1t,
do YOU know. ! think there would be less dis
honesty in the world" answered the little wo-
man earnestly. "Of course, nothing works in
every family. Unfortunately there Is no specific
aGr fT womes. I SSs ana STICK siFi' to mt Il n sSs m %so
we trust and honor. them and respect their
individuality and independence the more they
will trust and honor us. When q boy or girl can
stand the money test you can put your faith In
the truth OF his or her heart and In the breadth
and depth OF their foundations"
Perhaps you are right" the other
two thoughtfully.
After all" concluded the stout matron, with
a PARKWAY look In her eyes, boys and girls are
a much greater responsibility than the spending
ana saving OF an allowance. aren't theyF
INnIAE nnI IN 4 NJ Iara