Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1854-09-23
EVENING STAR
LIVING WITHIN NEAHs.

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= LIVING WITHIN MEANS. ex G.
The present financial embar4rsssments
Of the country, sSnd the frequent failures
of business men reputed wealthy, give
new force to the hemely counsel, Live
within your means. Us This duty is more
strongly urged by the late prominent
cases of dishonesty which have 60 faras.
gravated the general pecuniary distress.
The habit of living always within ones
means of promptly .discharging every
obligation for necessary expenses, is an
important safeguard against dishonesty.
The aristocratic and dominant influence
Of wealth in our large cities has a bale.
full effect upon all classes of society.
Habits Of extravagance are contagious,
and everybody lives for outward Show.
The competition Of society in New York
is the competition Of extravaganza. sm To
ha ave a}fner house or costlier furniture:
to keep . more snowy establishment; to
give more brilliant entertainneut; to
use more .gas-hghts in a day.party ;oos
more candles in an evening one; to 90 be.
.yond all precedent in superfuties--this
is the ambition of the rich, And the
very rich excite the envy, of the less rich,
and the less rich stimulate. those Of mod.
crate income, and these again provoke
beginners; and so frem the highest to the
lowest, it is one career of fast driving
over the same course. One cannot bear
to be outdone by a neighbor or acquaint.
ance; to go to parties more stylish than
he gives;' to visit houses better furnished
than his own; and therefore he must af.
ford the saneyor must have the same,
whether he can afford it or no. With
some, the love of display is a constitu.
tional infirmitya Others court the reputa-
tion Of style and generous living; and ex.
travagance in living often sQuickens In
ventiou as to the means of living at the
expense ofhoneSty. ...,..,
To drive a fast horse and to give bril-
liant military picnic may be well enough
in its way : but to pay for this by selling
bonded sugar and cotton, and then set.
ting the store on fire to conceal the fraud,
is not so we'll. That is neither good tac.
tics nor good morals To speculate in
stocks, so as to make money rapidly, and
thus to rise in the opinion OF one g friends
may be well enough in its place but to
do this by borrowing money of an en-
ployer without his permission, and then
to rob his iron safe in order to pay back
what has already been plundered from
his bank account, is neither good finan-
ciering nor good morals: =, -. -.
The temptation to such crimes arise
from the eXtravasant habits of the CITY
with respect TO dress, furniture, and liv-
ing. Wealth is here used for show more
than in any other city in the world.
The effect of show is studied in business,
in buildings, in furniture, IN dress, in
everything that money can procure.
Where the English study comfort, and the
French elegancaswe study effect-mere
show; for the show of wealth is taken
for the substance, and as We have, said,
wealth is the passport of society. Now
it is not enough TO say that this is in bad
taste-though this ought to condemn it
but it is bad morality also.
Extravaganza is the parent of fraud
and the example of employers in extra
VACANT living has deteriolating inhu-
ence upon the morality Of those in their
employment. Young men are tempted
to extravaganza in dress; and instead OF
husbanding their resources for the future
they often run into debt, or overdraw
their accounts to meet present excesses,
and thus are tempted to fraud Wives
and daughters, by love of display, or
through envy of their neighbors, move
husbands and fathers to habits of extra
vagance that soon bring before them the
alternative of bankruptcy or fraud. The
safeguard here is to live strictly within
your income. No matter ii you cannot
live with your neighbor-you are an
honest man. No matter if you do with
out luxuries, and make no show-you
are an honest man. No matter if your
furniture is less costly, and your equi-
page less brilliant than those of the ton
you are an honest man. No matter if YOU
give do not grand parties-you are an
honest man. No matter if your daugh-
ters names do not figure in some low
account of a fancy ball at
Newport-you are an honest man. Many
q man would have been saved from fraud
by adhering to this simpl. rule, to l,re
by calculation upon his actual income, g..
If at the rates of city life you find this
impracticable then 60 where it is practi-
cable. The city is overcrowded; and why
should you deny yourself all comfort and
and enjoyment in life, and run the risk
of debt and of dishonesty for the remote
chance of success amid such crushing
competition, when in your native village,
or in some new town at the West, or
driving the ploughshare over the broad
free prairie, you may earn an honest though
moderate livelihood, and be respectable
and respected to the end of your dsys
Not every man can succeed in the city;
hardly one in ten Of the young men sue
ceed; and it is better for many to 60 into
the country and live by their hands, than
to try to live hsre by their wits, under
the constant pressure Of temptation and
dishonesty.-lndependent. d.. ...-
THE eREYHoUNDs OF AFRIcA:
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