The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1850-05-11
Living, Ana Means.
ny noRAos GREELEY.


Ono az The most mischievous phrases in which
n rotten naordty--a radically false and vicious |
public seatvnenl DISCUSSES itself, is that which |
,haracterises certain individuals as destitute of fl
,,ancial capacity A kind, amiable, generous. !
good sort If man" $50 runs the varnishD =" but
utterly unqualified for the management oi his
own finances IA mere child in everything rela-
ting to money" DC, DC Meaning that with an
incame of $500 u year, he persisted in spending
$1,000: or with an income Of $4,000 to $4,000
he regularly spent $4,000 to $4,000, according to
his ability TO run in debt, or the credulity Of 9th
crs in trusting him.
The victims Of this mmorality-debtor as well
as ereditor-are entitled to more f,ithful dealing
ut he hands of those not directly affected by the
misdemeanors Of the Iormer. 1t is the dnty Of
the community to rebuke, and rcprcss these PERM
cious CLOSES making the truth heard and fcli that
inordinate expenditure is knayery and crime
No man has u moral right thus to Lavish ON his
own appetite money which he has not earned, and
does not really need. If public opinion were
sound upon this slbject-if IA man living beyond
his means, when bis means were commensurate
with his real needs, were subjected to the repre-
hcnsion lac deserves, the evil would be instantly
checked and ultimately eradicGtcd.
The world is full of people who can't imagine
why they don't prosper like their ncighbors, when
the real obstacle Is not in banks tariffs, IN bad
policy nor hard times, but in their own oxtrayi-
gance and needless ostentation. The yotni nc
ci,anic or clerk marries aud takes house, which
he proceeds to furnish twice Us expensive as he
en- afford, and then his wife, instead OF taking
hold to help him earn livelihood by DONG her
own work, must have n hired servant to help her
spend his limited earnings. Ten years afterward
YOU will find him struggling on under double
load of debt. and children, wondering why the
luck was always against him. while his friends re-
greet his unhappy destitution Of financial ability.
Had they from the.ttst been frank and honest,
he need not have been 50 ,lnhcky.
Through every grade of society this vice ct
inordinate expenditure iusinuates itself The sin
gle man "hred out in the country at ten TO fifteen
dollars per MONTH who cUntriyes to dissolve his
years earnings in lrnlics and fine clothes; the
clerk who has three tt-iive hundred polars year,
and melts down twenty to fifty Of it into liquors
and cigars, are paraleled by the young merchant,
who fills spacious house with costly furniture,
gives dinners, and drives fat horse on the
strength of the profits he expects to realize when
his goods are NIL sold and his notes all paid. Let
n man have genius for spending, and whether
his income is dollar day or a minute, 1t Is e
qually certoin to prove inadequate. Ii dining,
winning AMI party giving won't help him through
with ii, building, gaming and specializing will be
sure to. The bottome>s pocket will never fill no
matter how bountcous the stream pouring into it.
The man who (beng sngle) does not save money
on six dollars week, win not be apt to on sixty
and he who does not lay up somethin, in the first
year OF independent exertion, viii be likely to
wear n poor mans hair into his grave.
No man who has the natural use Of his flcul.
ties and his muscles, has any right TO tax others
with The cost of his support as this class of habit
ual non financial gentlemen habitually do. II Is
their common mistake to fancy that il debt is
only paid Mt last, the obligation Of tie debt is ful.
filled, but the fact is not So A man who sells hi,
property for another's promise to pay next week
or next month, and is compelled TO wear out a
pair Of boots in running after his due which he f.
nay gets after year or two, Is never really paid
Very often, lie has lost the face Of his demand
Iy not having the money when he needed il. be
sides the cost and yeXntlon of running after it.
There is just one way to pay an obligation in full
and that IS to pay 1t when due He who keeps
up arHnning fight between bills and loans through
life is continually living ON others meas mcans--
l. a serious burden and deriment 10 those who
dead with him although his estate should finally
pay every dollar OF his legal obligations lnordi
nate expenditure Is the cause Of a great share Of
the crime and consequent misery which dcyasta,e
The world The clerk who spends more than lie
earns "a fast qualifying himself for gambler and
tHcl the trader on mechanic who oyeryuuS hi,
income Is very certain To become in time tricks
ter and cheat. Wherever you see man spend
ing faster than hc earns, there look out for william,
TO be developed though ii be the f,rihest thin.
possible from his present thoughts
When the world shall have become wiser anC
IT. standard Of morality more lofty, it will perceive
anl affirm that profuse expenditure, even by tiost
who can pccunidrlly afford it is parncious and un
luStlilab!c-that a man, however wealthy has NJ
right To lavish ON his own appetite, lis taste or h
o,teniaton, that which might have raised mlnd
reds from de.tiution and despair to comfort ant
usefulness But this is an improvement in publ,
sentiment which must be waited for, while til,
other i. more ready and obvious.
THE meanuess, the dishonesty, the iIiquity o
squandcring thousands unearncr and kcepn.
others out Of money that is Justly theirs, hav
rarely been urged and enforced as they shoul
be. They need but DO considered and understood
10 be universally Ioa,hed and deestcd