Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1857-08-12

LIVING BEYOND THEIR MEANS
"Ilalf the fashionable people in New
York" said gentleman the other day,
''are living beyond their means. Mr..
A., occupying a house in a certain
block. twenty thousand dollars year,
ten thousand Of which he spends Mr..
b., who lives next door, makes only
ten thousand, but as his wife and daugh.
tiers insist on dressing as handsomely
as Mr.. A., and he is not willing to be
outdone by neighbor, he spends ten
thousand also. Mr.. c., who resides
next door, makes but five thousand, yet,
like the rest, spends ten thousand
The first is getting rich; the second
will leave nothing for his family when
he dies; the third is sure to break,
sooner or later, his failure being only
question of time." We thought this
picture was not inapplicable to Phila-
delphia, though in a less degree than to
our Boosting, spendthrift, snowy sister
city. OF late years the love Of display,
and the silly vanity ont of which it
grows, have alarmingly increased here.
Hundreds of families, in consequence,
are laying up for themselves certain
misery in the future, and getting moth
ing in return except most unsatisfied
present, for between the sneers of their
neighbors, who generally know the
truth about them, the contempt of the
wise, and the reproaches of their own
consciences, they enjoy really no happi'
ness at all.
A more miserable delusion than that
under which such persons, labor, can
not, indeed, be well conceived. 1fthere
is any maxim which is truer than an
other, it is that the only way to become
rich, nay, the only way to avert power
ty, is, to "lay by something for rainy
day" 1t is not always sunshine
Neither in the physical world, nor in
business affairs, is it bright uninterrup-
tedly. The cold, bleak days Of autumn
succeed the balmy spring and rosy
summer; and reactions occur in trade,
involving, to greater or less degree,
even the most prudent. Men, in the
full flood tide of success, are apt to for
get that the ebb is snre to meet them.
The financial world is full of insolvcnts,
most Of them earning scanty subsis
tence, who might have been in COM
Portable circumstances, if they had been
provident in time. To nearly every
person there comes at least one period
Of what some would call good luck;
and if they take advantage Of this, if
they snake hay while the sun Shines"
their fortunts are won. But too many,
instead Of selling the happy chance,
and initiating the bee, which lays by in
summer its winters store, only launch
out into larger expenses, squander as
fast as they make, and die bankrupts,
or fail before they die.
But it is not only those who enjoy
large incomes who are extravaganza, for
extravaganza is relative term, and he
who earns ten dollars weekly may be
as guilty Of it as the merchant who
realizes thousands. Perhaps, indeed,
more persons with small incomes live
beyond their means, than those with
large. The India shawl, the Sevres
china, the Arbusson carpet, the service
Of plate, the rich mirrors, or the costly
equipagc. are less cxtravagant for the
millionaire, than comparatively lower
priced articles for the mechanic, the
clerk, or the day-laborer. He Who,
making but a dollar daily, squanden
shilling in beer, is more Of the spend
thrift than the rich man who drinks
his two dollar champagne. The saw
ings which lay the foundation Of wealth,
are rarer, we fear, among operatives,
than anywhere else. But some of the
greatest fortunes which have been
amassed in this country, have belong.
ed to men who began life as day la
borers. The first dime that is laid up
is the first step taken towards becoming
a capitalist; and he who is capitalist,
even to the smallest degree, has an ad-
vantage in the rush and struggle for
independence and wealth. Never live
beyond your means, no matter how
little your income! Every new saving
will make further ones easier, will be
a fresh stone in the superstructure of
your own fortune, will enlarge your
power to make money a. well As in
crease your hope and energy.-Phila'
delphia LEDGER,