The New York herald., 1922-01-01
"The problem as I see it is this

Mr.. MacFurdle, on receiving my
memo, adjusts his scarfpin and calls
| his secretary. "A memo to Mr.. Bench
ley, please. In re frightened Scarfpin.
Thank you. I have given the matter
my attention.
"As soon as have received copy
of this typewriter reply to my men,
oiandum we nod pleasantly to each
other and go on with our work. In
all not more than half an hour has
been consumed and we have a COM
plete record of the negotiations in our
files in case any question should ever
arise concerning them. In case no
question should ever arise, we still
have the complete record. So we can't
lose-unless you want to call that
half hour a loss.'
Clearly Mr.. Benchlcy has that finer
perception of business which is so fire.
quently lacking in contemporary men
of letters. Even in the business of
housekeeping he has developed an acu-
men worthy of contemplation and of
imitation. Nothing could be more rev.
olutionary than his theories upon the
subject OF household accounts in the
essay on Turning Over New Leaf"
They may be of practical advantage
TO many readers, especially in the sug-
gestions contained at the close:
by way of outlining beforehand
just what you can spend on this and
that (and it is usually on 'that) 1t
might be well to take another family
with a representative income. Let us
say that there are four in the family
and that the income is about $1,000
per year too small. If such a family
would sit down some evening and draw
Il chart showing fathers earning Ca
pacity with one red line and the fam
ily spending capacity with one black
line
"There Is one little technical point
that the amateur accountant will do
well to remember. II gives distinc.
ton to the page and shows that you
are acquainted with bookkeeping lore.
1t is this: Label your debit column
credits and your credit column
debts You might think that what
gou receive into the exchequer would
be credited and your expenses debited.
but that is where you miss the whole
theory of practical accounting. That
would be too simple to be efficient.
You must wax transcendental and say.
Il. as an individual entity, am nothing.
Everything is all: all is everything
There is a transcendent Account, to
which all other accounts are respon-
siblc, and hence money turned over to
the Cinnamon Account is not credited
TO that account. but rather debited to
Il. for Cinnamon hereby assumes the
responsibility for the sum. AS money
is spent for Cinnamon. its account is
credited for IL is relieved of that re-
sponsbility. Don't start wondering
where the responsibility finally settles
or YOU will throw sometl ing out of its
stride in your brain.
Some people profess to scott at the
introduction of bookkeeping into the
running of the household. 1t is simply
because they never tasted the fascina-
ton of the thing.
THE advantage of keeping family
accounts is clear. If you do not keep
them you are uneasily aware of the
fact that you are spending more than
you are earning. If you do keep them
you knotr 10"
Seldom are first books as promising
as this of Mr.. Benchley's. The divers
ity of his knowledge is perhaps equaled
only by the Encyclopedia Britannica,
which, indeed. he accredits with much
Of the responsibility for his erudition--
In chapter xvI.--with a touching trib-
ute to It's versatility and comparative
ly low cost. The illustrations by Gluyas
williams are worthy Of their subjects
than which could be written no more
fulsome praise.
COtiNULIA p. LATHROP.