The southern enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1854-1870, 1854-09-22
BuHillr5s-lllru K Alrrbanirs.
Ihe Gfeeit System.

ahe Gfeet . gsfem.
"Owe no man anything" was the injunc-
ton of Christian Apostle, whose Lessons
were seldom if ever unworthy of attention.
Ii we were to express the sentiment, we should
prefer the motto ofJohn Randolph, Ipay rs
You CO." The politician conpassed the idea
better than the Apostle. Owe men we must,
IN all the courtesies and kindnesses which
belong to and grace humanity; it in a debt
collateral with our being--an obligation of
our nature therefore the Apostle was not de-
finite enough but Randolph hit the mark
when he confined his maxim 10 debts pecuni-
AIRY, which men, under the present order of
things, are liable to incur. He touched with
true and noble philosophy one of tho COM
monest and greatest of society evils.
We take it for granted that, as a general
rule, debts pecuniary are contracted to be paid,
sooner or later. AS general rule their burtli-
en- is least the sooner they are paid. Inter
est usury, dependence, lawsuits, and costs of
all kinds, that hang over standing and litiga-
ted debts add, If we could but get at their
total for single year in this country, mil
lions of dollars to the original obligations
Friendships are broken over debts forgeries
and murders are committed on their account:
and however Considered, they are a source of
cost, annoyance and evil--and that continu-
ally. They break in everywhere upon the
harmonies relations Of individuals and socie-
ty; they blunt sensitiveness to personal in
dependence; and, in no respect that we can
fathom, do they advance the general well
being. .."
"Well, as debts are incurred to be paid,
and as the saving all lies on the side of the
earliest payment, why not manage to pay As
We go, and thus avoid all debts, duns, brol-
en- friendships, writs, constables, sheritfs and
court costs I We buy this or that, Of A, b
or G. and we propose to pay him in week,
month, three months, and so on, the com
mon rule of credit not running beyond six
months-for which credit we have to pay
advance prices and interest-why not, even
at some brave sacrifice, contrive to get so far
the start of custom as to pass by this perpet-
ual credit system, and from that point, be-
ginning with the world anew and even, keep
even by paving as we go. It would be in
finitely cheaper, better, and more independent
for us all. If we can ever pay, why not at
once-now2 Will it be easier when inter
est is added to principals
they 60, though, to their shame be it said,
they are oftenest the ones to decree misery
and ruin by the credit they use-or rather
abuse-in their business intercourse with the
world. They, by Withholding the honest
dues Of the laborer, the mechanic, the mer-
chant and the professional man, all poor COM
munities become tangled net, whose threads
Of affiliation are standing accounts, notes,
bonds and mortgages, suits at law, judgments,
and executions. fthose who areeminently a.
BILE to pay as they go,were to be Just and pay
thus, the credit system which now makes
one-half Of society dependents and slaves,
would be mainly swept away. The middle
man and the poor man are driven to the wall
by the system they can be pushed and pur-
sued under obligation with impunity but
your man Of means, your rich man, who
dares to remind him of debt ?-he "will
pay when he gets ready"
No one who observes and reflects on this
subject, can deny the truth of the picture we
have drawn. The evils Of the credit system,
which now pervades every department Of
business and all the trade intercourse of So
ciety, are great and overwhelming. The poor
er classes most especially feel them so. The
mechanic, the lsborer, and tho tradesman,
with little or no capital-as is generally the
case-how can they succeed in enterprise, or
in living, even, If they are not paid as they
goi II they are paid, they too can pay.
The reform, therefore. must begin, not like
most others, at the bottom of the scale, but
at the top-with the rich. Let them incur
no debts to those whom they employ, or with
WHOM they trade, and all classes below them
in means can be free of debt Debts are
curses, and among the greatest under which
nations suffer.-N. Y. Mirror. ..