The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1909-09-09
MARRIAGE is A
BUSINESS PROPOSITION

The application of business princi.
pies TO home life is the subject OF some
letters written for this page. One
man says;
THE 'slnkink fund for emergency
expenses is the most important item
for the whole plan
There are domestic financiers (of
the frenzled species) who keep
pitcher or a small bank, Into which
they drop their change w1en they
think of IT and when they can spare
the money. One drops in all the pen.
MES that are given him in change,
another all the nickels. another all the
dimes, and tradition tells Of one fol.
lower of this fad who even went so
far as to sacrifice TO the Goddess OF
Thrift all the quarters he received.
Another home flnancier shayes him.
self and deposits the money in the
tin bank when he can make the
change. other domestic Napoleons of
Finance drop into the bank all tho
1876 quarters they get. Some arc
even SO fertile In money-saying
schemes that they press their own
trousers, smoke cut-prIce cigars or
a
few cents that may or may not find
their way to the tin bank These un-
systematic efforts remind one OF the
inventor of perpetualmotlon ma
chine, who said. The details of my In
vention have been worked out very
carefully, The defects are merely
basic and fundamental
How the Business Man Docs Il,
Let us compare the methods of a
domestic firm using this haphazard
system with those employed by a man,
ufacturing firm in real business. The
hard.headed, unsentimental shoe man.
ufacturer, for example. carefully fig.
ures his factory costs. He knows
just what his machinery is worth. and
about how long it Will wear, and then
he apportlons a definite percentage
OF his yearly receipts for depreciation
Suppose he merely laid aside his cigar
money, OF the car-faTes he saved by
walking. or his 1876 quarters, TO meet
his future expense Would It be very
long before the red flag would be wav.
Ing over his door. and some enterpris.
Ing retailer would be advertising
bankrupt sale OF shoes at cut prices
How Is It with the partners In the
domestic firm of homemakers? Tho
existence of their whole enterprise de-
pends on the efficient operation OF
just one machine-a wonderfully well,
adjusted mechanism, more delicate
than any machine Of Iron or steel. ald
at the same time more durable, but abb
solutely certain 10 run down in time.
II Is impossible to determine the eX
act number of years the human ma
chine Will run. but the one fact we
are sure OF is that no human machine
is Indestructlble, however well cared
for Hence the importance of the de-
probation account.
Do 1t Somehow, Whatever the
Sacrifice.
"Of course the objection that rises
at once Is this: It's very well to talk
but when living expenses are so high
that the salary can hardly meet them,
how Is one going to soveY The only
answer possible is this, Savings are
probably the most vital problem the
partners In the domestic firm have
TO solve. The happiness, even the very
existence. OF your homo depends up
on them The form they take, whether
OF life insurance or cooperative bank
CT savings bank deposits. is not 80 im-
portant as the fact that IN some form
or other they must exist. Therefore,
III your operating expense Is so great
that a savings account cannot be
started on a definite percentage plan,
the operating expense must be cut
down. regardless of any sacrifice 1t
may involve.