SONS 263 



For a boy of seventeen, I believe it to be a very wise 

 thing, as an introduction to life, that he should be given a 

 latch-key. He is then proud of the privilege and much 

 less likely to abuse it than if only given to him when he 

 is much older. To deny it altogether to young men who 

 are living at home seems to me both irritating and 

 ridiculous. So many of the serious sorrows and 

 troubles of life come from ignorance, rather than from 

 wickedness, that it is advisable to send the boy of about 

 this age to some friendly, worldly-wise, intelligent doctor, 

 asking him beforehand to give the boy as much advice 

 and instruction as a man of twenty-four might have learnt 

 from bitter experience. 



One of the most useful things a boy can be taught 

 at home is the value of money. With a well- trained 

 sensible boy a half-allowance for clothes should be begun 

 at twelve years old (by a half-allowance I mean an 

 allowance that includes pocket-money and is sufficient to 

 buy every article of dress except cloth clothes), and at four- 

 teen the allowance should cover all clothes and pocket- 

 money. When allowances are first given, be sure that the 

 boy starts fair with a sufficient stock of clothes, so that 

 he should not be handicapped from the beginning. The 

 best way to manage the allowance, having fixed the sum, 

 is for the father or mother to be the banker. The amount 

 of the yearly sum should be clearly made known to the 

 boy, and he should draw the money himself when he 

 requires it, as he would, later in life, from a real banker. 

 This gives the parent a certain control over dispropor- 

 tionate expenditure. Accounts should not be insisted 

 upon, nor even, I think, strongly urged, and, above all, 

 never looked at. What is desirable is constantly to 

 recommend the purchasing of useful things first, and to 

 watch a little that everything is paid for with ready money, 

 and the bills kept. So long as the world lasts, the 



