8. Prepare her to deal with grafters.—“The majority of his victims were women,” is the statement so often read in connection with the fraudulent schemes of the exposed money shark. Millions of dollars are annually taken from credulous women by the get-rich-quick money trader. This polite form of theft has become so flagrant as to necessitate much vigilance and many prosecutions on the part of the national government. Widows and other dependent women are especially the sufferers.
The necessity of preparing the innocent young woman to deal with the enticing business fraud is very apparent. Two or three matters must especially be attended to in giving the required instruction. First, take advantage of many occasions to explain to the girl just how a given case is being worked, so that she may be on guard against such allurements; second, it is well to advise the untrained young woman against investing in any scheme of profit sharing that offers above a good current rate of interest.
Should there be an actual investment?
Then, what if anything should be done in the ordinary farm home by way of providing an investment for the growing daughter so that she may daily have some practice in business affairs, as well as an income for use in meeting her personal expenses? Before attempting to answer this question, let us be certain that we have the correct point of view of the growing daughter’s ideal relation to the practical affairs in the rural home. It seems to the author that there is only one safe rule of procedure here and that is, whatever the investment,—if there be any at all,—it must be understood that the ideal is one of developing the girl into a beautiful womanhood and not one of making the investment pay in the mere money sense of the term. In other words, the business of the farm and the farm home must serve directly the highest interests of the members of the household, even though money accumulations cannot, as a result, go on quite so fast. Or, as we have put it several times before: The farm and the live stock and all that pertains thereto must be so managed as to contribute directly to the development of the high aspects of character in the boys and girls, and not as materials which the growing boys and girls are to help build up and multiply.
Now, if it still be insisted upon that the country girl have a definite business relation to the affairs of the home, there are two or three ways whereby this may be accomplished. One method is to give the girl a fixed and reasonable sum of money for whatever she may do by way of helping in the house. Another is that of providing a small investment in something that may be expected to increase reasonably in value and finally bring her a money return. Of the two methods of procedure mentioned, it would seem that the first is the more desirable. If the daughter be given an interest in anything like the live stock or some farm crop, the thing will not appeal to her directly, and whatever interest she may have in it will be a purely borrowed one. On the other hand, if she be given a generous allowance for her services, and during the younger years be trained in the expenditure of this allowance, good results may be expected. Similarly as with the boy, the growing girl must be taught to look toward the future. A system of restraints must be placed against her tendency to squander her small income, and gradually she may be trained to set aside a small portion of what she has with a view to its being applied upon something of her own later in life. It is perhaps too much to ask the girl to save enough money to pay her way through college, but there are many advantages in training her to save for a certain portion of that expense. Perhaps she may be able to buy her own clothes.
It is not reasonable to assume that every well-trained country girl will find it advisable to take a college course. So, instead of saving up for college expenses, she may be taught to lay by something for the day of her marriage and with the thought of helping equip a home of her own. As a matter of fact, it is not a question of the specific purpose for which the money may be set apart. The main issue is that of staying by her day after day and week after week, and guiding and advising her until she finally acquires good sense, mature judgment, and self-reliance in regard to the business affairs that may be expected to constitute a part of her life as a keeper of a home of her own.
How the southern girls earn money.—One of the most interesting and significant modern movements in behalf of juvenile industry is that of the Southern Girls’ Tomato Clubs, originated in 1910 by Miss Marie Cromer, a rural school teacher of North Carolina. Thousands of young girls are now participants in the new work, each one tending a small plat of tomatoes and canning the produce for the market. One girl is reported to have cleared $130 from one season’s crop raised on one fourth of an acre. The General Education Board and the National Department of Agriculture have given liberal support to this tomato-growing work.