Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 February 1875 — Hard Times—The Duty of the Hour. [ARTICLE]

Hard Times—The Duty of the Hour.

Meanwhile the duty of the hour is plain. It can be expressed in one word, and that is— economize. Reduce your household expenses. Get on without supertlui ies. Wear the coat another season. Make Fannie’s dress over and give it to Jennie. Let tlie little luxuries go—manage to do without them. We give this advice, and yet we know some quarters where it will not be followed. We Know foolish young men, and clerks at that, who will pay eighteen dollars to Jones for a pair of gaiters (on which he makes twelve doliars) because young Snipe, whose father is a railway President, says Jones is the only one who can make a decent pair of boots. We know of young ladies who pay SSOO "Tor single dr esse s, an d gar uisfrtbeHrvri’h furbelows, unmindful of the difficulty with which father makes both ends meet. There are to-day in this city, and out of the city, thousands of men who w ere rich ten years ago, but who are to-day possessing nothing but debts, and this, too, when, had they money which they and those dependent upon them have foolishly and wickedly squandered, they wouid be well off, and have enough to insure a competence for the remainder of their days. - The Englishman saves a little; the socks, old and worn and darned and patched up. contain the savings of millions of francs saved up by the thrifty Frenchmen, a thriftiness, by the waj', w hich largely enabled France to pay her indemnity to Germany—an indemnity equaling" three-quarters of our whole war expenses; and the Germans—their savings in the savings banks of Germany are counted by millions upon millions. In our ow n country the Germans, French and Irish own most of the deposits iu our savings banks, Only the American lives up to his income. Alt this must stop. We believe iu the good time of to-day. We believe in the better time coming. But to bring this about we must stop our extravagance. Government must be economical, and the individual must be economical too. Do not live beyond your means. Do not live up to them. Save up something. Only the other day a man who was in embarrassed circumstances was speaking of tlie matter to a friend, who replied to him: “ But you keep up your servants, your gardener, your coachman, your horses and carriage—why don’t you curtail?” And the reply came; “I couldn’t discharge my servants and sell my horses to-day without losing my credit at once, and I would be obliged to suspend before the week is out.” Surely there is something wrong in such a system. The truth is Americans live too much on credit. They buy everything on credit, and if air and w-ater were not so free as they are they would give ninety-day notes for them. The credit system is indeed largely necessary in carrying on the new business of anew* country, and in no other meihod could the immense grain crops of the West be brought to our Eastern markets; and so too our Western friends are obliged largely to buy, depeuding on the returns from their crops wherewith to pay. But all this, instead of beiDg recognized as a necessity within certain limits, has been made a fundamental basis for transacting every form of business. Instead of asking “how little credit can I get along with, and how soon can I pay?” —the question has been, and still is; “How much will you sell me, and how long time will you give?” In this way men have been vastly overrated as to .their means; and so, overestimating their own wealth, they have lived in a certain fictitious splendor which they could not afford tilt death presented his demand note. There is no “ grace,” no “ renewal,” in his tions. and so the debt of nature, which no one could pay for him, he paid, and it was soon found out it was the only debt he could pay. From a supposed wealth his family sunk to penury. Who has not seen this time and again?

And you, dear ladies, you have a part to do, anhnobly can you perform it if you will. Cease dressing—those of you who do it —cease dressing for show. Do not any longer live in a style which you cannot afford. Be above such weakness; be womanly; be courageous. We say to every man, whether the head of a* family or a youmr man having only himself to support, in sober truth, provide things honest in the sight ot all men. Live within youf’ means; more than that, do not live up to your means. Save up against the rainy day. You will not only earn the regard of others, you will respect yourself; you will be happier every way; y off will be conscious of doing your duty.*and it is a very noble thing to feel that. Put Christ into your expenditures, and avoid the sin of extravagance as you would that of dishonesty, The difference between the two is not s« great as it appears. It is ooly a difference in persons. For while by dishonest means you cheat your neighbor, through the sin of extravagance you cheat yourself and those dependent upon you.— Chrittiah at Work. When & young man in Patagonia falls in love with a girl he lassoes her, drags her home behind his horse, and that’s all the marriage ceremony necessary. He doesn’t even have to buy the lasso.