The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-04-07
Nv Katherine Louise Smith,

make expenses and receipts balance
ought to be a part of every girls edu-
cation, but too often this is sadly neg
lected. The young girl is not taught
to keep track of her allowance and
the married women uses her husband
money just as she did her fathers or
her own, with no systematic record
of where 1t goes to.
There are many reasons for this.
Until of late the business faculty has
been cultivated in men and the oppo-
site tendency encouraged In women.
They have not been taught to make
out checks, to lend money with prop
err security, to know the routine of a
bank to understand even the simplest
commercial usage that men UNDER
stand because they have grown up
among them.
We may regret when a woman loses
her all. when she lends money with
out security, when she is swayed by
feelings of emotion to lend large sums
| to this or that man because "he is so
good to his Wife" or leads in prav-
| er meeting" and when she does not
know check from draft. We may
regret, but the chances are We Will
shrug our shoulders and say: But
that is Just like, a woman. What can
you expectT But the question is.
would not a man with no business
training do the same in her place?
When a woman understands CONNER
cial uses that are common, every day
facts in the business world. and some
part of this world she cannot escape.
no matter how secluded her life. her
liability to failure will decrease IS per
cent.
Women are not naturally stupid
about money affairs. AS a matter Of
fact, when they understand business
they are more accurate about handling
money than men. Witness the count
ing of money in our large minis. This
is all done by women, and in the treas
urv department at Washington. not a
single man is employed to count
money by hand. Four hundred wom-
en- are engaged for this purpose ana
they are selected because they do 1t
accurately and swiftly
That women know little of business
usage sannot he denied II makes hit
tie difference whether a woman Is
earning her living or attending to
household affairs and accounts.
whether she is the producer of money
or the distributor who manfpulates
the money that the breadwinner sup
plies, 1t is her obligation to get the
worth of every dollar she handles and
to learn enough of the business world
to protect her own money and and any
entrusted to her. With the average per-
son no degree of success can be at
tanned without rightly regulated
economy, the proper distribution of
funds for expenses andaa knowledge
of what becomes of moueg.
Business will not conduct itself sue
cessfully, either in the great wide
world or the seclusion of home and no
matter what the life work or social
status, familiarity of business forms
| Is wise protection against hnanclal
embarrassment Many woman has
made a fiasco of supporting herself
and has made home life miserable after
marriage because she did not under
stand the financial problem. Fortunate
is the girl who has enough knowledge
of business forms to give her assur
ance and the wife who is familiar with
her husbands business affairs. The
former will know enough to keep any
surplus money she may accrue and the
latter will not only be a help to her
husband while he Is living, but VIII
understand how to attend to what Is
left at his death. and to face the world
In a competent manner.
y 4 y
The necessity of some means OF sup
port appeals forcibly to most women.
Formerly, women accepted the an
omalous position of dependent as
part of their inheritance because they
aIize that 1t is well to be equipped for
the battle of life, to have some means
of support, even If not called upon to
use 1t. Women are learning that there
is far more comfort in being independ-
ent and earning ones bread and but
ter than in playing the role OF the de-
nendant relative or companion. On the
other hand all the college education
in the land cannot made success OF
n woman unless she understands that
having earned money, IL is to be
judiciously invested. salary of sew.
eral Thousand dollars year or or
$500 are equally insufficient If the re-
cipient lives heyound her means or is
so ignorant Of business forms that she
loses II in wildcat schemes. In other
words. insolvency faces anyone who
Is unacouainted with business forms
and usages.
Nothing is dying a surer death than
the thought that woman is incapable
of understanding business. With most
women the sin of extravaganza is COM
mitted through ignorance, and this ig-
norance is the result of the general
attitude toward her. The married man
who has the honesty and good taith
to talk over expenditures and his
probable income usually finds that his
wife is as willing to make SACRIFICES as
himself MANY a woman regrets lack
Of confidence on her husbands part,
as regards these matters. and no man
can blame his family for eXtrava-
canoe If he cannot be frank enough TO
consult with them concerning the bus
to he met, such as rent light, heat,
clothing and incidentals
In general business is no respecter
of nersons. certain principles are as
axed with the woman as with the man
Honesty is essential to success. SO is
the Thought that time Is valuable, lie
10 ALWAYS advantageous to keep per.
sonal accounts and strict record OF
receipts and expenses. This is desir-
able not alone because it guards
against living beyond ones means but
because tho bookkeeping encourages
the habit of saving. This keeping of
nersonal accounts need not be a COM
pIicated matter. Separate pages for
debit and credit can form the basis
on which thu dccounts are kept and in
genuitv will supply some simple ad-
ditions. Accounts should he footed
nm weekly, SO that at the end Of the
month a complete statement confrouts
one No matter how trivial the pur-
chase the amount should be put down,
for continual failure to record small
expendituros will in the end make bal
ancing accounts an impossibility. 1t
may nut sentiment to flight to see "one
dollar for u.cktie for Jack" but it is
the safe way II not only accounts for
the money. hut Is saves "robbing Peter
to save paul 1t puts check to the
woman whose bump of justice Is so
little developed that she will buy "A
present for "a friend when that very
money ought to pay her grocery bill
1t does not necessarily check the i'm
mise of generosity. but it regulates
4. " m