The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-11-11
The Tendency to spend.

sst,l 1uO 4CuucuCy " cYtuus
Il Acertain father. has devised q rather
novel plan to develop resisting power
in his boys. Knowing the value u,
Iself-control, especially in money mat
tiers, he gives each boy weekly al
lowance with the stipulation that it
must be carried in8the pocket during
the week. and only half OF 1t spent. One
boy receives twenty cents each week.
IL he porduces dime at the weeh
end, he gets another twenty cents; IL
he does not he gets only a. dime. The
Iother boy receives q dime and must
produce q nickel to get another dime.
There Is thus a constant opportunity
to spend. but a constant incentive to
saye--to resist. 1t may be that the re-
ward spurs them ion, but the fact re-
mains that this father is developing re-
sisting power in the boys that will
stand them in good stead In after;
years.
There is merit in this. plan, for the.
greatest achievement any man can
make is to conquer himself; to over
come his natural tendencies and cor
rect his inherent weaknesses. know
thyself" is good motto; but before
you can command yourself, you must
know yourself-get grip on yourself,
and learn to say mo- to yourself.
One OF the most common Weaknesses
ia self-indulgence-gratif cation. .--.4It
may be qualification Of an appetite,
passion, love Of dress; amusement, or
what not, but 1t springs from the same
root. lack of self control. Children
manifest this weakness in many ways
bursts of passion and unrullness, but
especially In the childish desire to find
pleasure in the spending Of money
for little qualifications, particularly
candy. Many merchant makes q liv-
ing from this trait in children, and
many parents foster 1t by too free in
diligence in pennies with no "strings"
on them. A dime to the average child
does not mean two nickfes, or ten pen
mics, but two sodas. Money has value
only as. 1t buys something.
The boy who gets all the spending
money he wants will, develop spending
tendencies that will last through life.
A, certain western youth. came east
years ago for his health. His father
was generous and allowed him plenty
OF money. He bought his candy by the
nickel's worth. and a single mouthftil
cost cent He came east again In
later years, for pleasure. and paid ten
dollars to see prize fight. It was the
frntticn of his early indulgences.
Even though children are compelled
tosworkS for their spending money, do
ing chores and little jobs, If they are
allowed TO spend freely with no re-
straint, 1t were better they did not
work. for the good results Of their in
dustry Are negatitcd! by the bad re-
suits Of: their spending. To earn SIM
ply to spend is, not 80 wholesome a
proposition by far as to earn to ac-
quire.
Numerous plans and schemes have
been devised to teach children thrift:
such as the penny banks, school, says
Iings banks, stamp saving systems, and
the like, but IL it 10. easy.to spend after
the money is once saved, the whole
process is defective, We al. had uur
penny bank. and how we did touch"
everyone who touched us!, We ratified
the penniesSin glee, shock themsout to-
countsiand put them back, broke the
bank whentweswent broke, and; so,ness
times had q riot OF spending when we
lost our self-cpntrol.; But why prac-
tice, self,control Tor a little time. only
to lose It and discount ali the previous
good work? The father Of these boys
seeks to make 'self-control 4 lasting
proposition. NJ w ~ -
You can't spend what you do. not
have. Money III the pocket burns. Il
Is easy to say EMO" to some allurins
window or appealing advertisement
when you haze no money with You:
but wien the purse Is null, how hard
to turn away Yo9k can't gofif you
-. e. 81.
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