18 The Farmer^ s Business Handbook 



business is not prospering they should be ac- 

 quainted with the fact in order to assist in dis- 

 covering the cause or causes of the embarrass- 

 ment. If economies and sacrifices must be made, 

 they are made the easier if the reasons for them 

 are fully understood. The uninformed wife or 

 son may think father is stingy, or even "mean," 

 but when they come to know the facts their 

 relations to each other are not only changed 

 but they are willing to assist cheerfully in carry- 

 ing the burden. It not infrequently happens that 

 the wife is the best financier in the "company." 

 In some cases, even, the older children first dis- 

 cover the leaks and learn ho«v to stop them. In 

 any case, the wife and children have a right to 

 know whether the business is prospering. They 

 have helped to produce such prosperity and there- 

 fore they have a right to share in the happiness 

 that it brings. The man, the woman and the 

 larger children are all partners in the business, 

 and while the man may be the active business 

 manager the other parties have a moral, if not a 

 legal right, to know, at least once a year, the 

 conditions of the business, the profits or losses 

 and the character of all investments. Therefore, 

 the father is in duty bound to prepare a yearly 

 statement, similar to the above, that the busi- 

 ness of the firm may be thoroughly and intelli- 

 gently discussed before a new year of operations 



