The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1868-05-05
BE Poor before You are Rich.
ny HENRY WARD BREcHKR.

Explain TO me II you can, MIR. Bon
ner, why II is that SO many young peo-
pie are ashamed to have 1t thought
that they have no money! or why il
is that they are ashamed of economy
in the management of slender means,
and of frugaIity in living.
There is no disgrace in being an
acorn before being an oak. Young
people frequently wish that they were
grown men; but they are not ashamed
have IL discovered that his strength,
knowledge and skill. are proportioned
to his years. But these same persons
will blush, and suffer shame, at being
supposed not to have money, under cir
cumstances in which all the sensible
world knows that they ought 10 have
none.
A young fellow has been put to
school by the rigorous economy of his
father and mother. Only by the har-
dest industry and closest economy can
they sustain him at college. Every
single shilling is important, and like
shingles on the roof, the absence OF one
makes the whole house inconvenient.
And yet this lad shall be ashamed not
TO bear his part in social expenses. he
Is utterly unable to say, "I cannot
afford i'll" It is the hardest to say 1t,
L must confess. because in a commu-
nifty OF several hundred young men,
two-thirds of whom are poor, and the
children of poor men, there is lurk-
ing shame OF poverty which radiates
into public sentiment and reflects a
kind of dIsrepute upon those who bold
ly say, al must deny my
self beyond the barest necessities OF
life of whatever costs money" Pow
erty has enough trouble without the
addition of foolish and dishonorable
sentiments. Er
-.
money to spare2 Does not the whole
world know that they are but starting
in life-that as they have earned moth
ing, and that they inherit no fortune
that they receive but small stipend
and that, IL they would be honest, they
must practice rigorous economy? Why.
then, do young men engage in pleasure
bouts which drain their pockets dry,
and lay them under temptations 10 dis
honesty for fear people will think that
they have no money?
OF course, folks will think so! And
just as much IL you are inveigled into
uuwise giving as If you refused A
poor young man out to be poor until
he has broken the spell of poverty by
industrious enterprise; and he should
rather glory in 1t than to be ashamed
of it.
1t is necessary that you should be
frugal; it is not necessary that you
should spend five dollars in taking n
young lady to the opera. II is neces-
sary that one should be honest; it is
not necessary to attempt to walk in
ciIcles of society that will swallow up
the pitiful pennies OF poverty like a
quicksand, and leave only irresistible
temptations to dishonesty. 1t Is good
reason for not joining a club. an excur-
sion, a riding party, ana still more an
extravagant ball, that you cannot
hnnnaflU rafap tho TnnnaU ~ Whr
ought to hold up his head highest, the
young man who quietly says, tEI can
not yet indulge in such expenses" or
the fellow who Is ashamed to own pow.
erty, but is not ashamed to steal the
money on which he makes false ap'
pearance?
hear a good deal of Yankee mean
ness-of the spirit of trade and dickel
of the stiuginess and parsimony Of
Northern men. But, while the manner
ofshowing economy may be unfortu.
nate, the essential spirit of thrift an6
economyis a thousand times noblel
than that free-handed squandering o.
money which gives a spurious reputa'
ton for generosity, to people who are
on the road to bankruptcy, and who
have long spent money not their OWL
with IA special gracefulness!
Mr.. Bonner, have heard you relate
your earliest experience in printing
office; your exacting economy; YOU
plain clothes; your Joy in adding TWEEN
" dollars to your Investments; you
industry in extra hours; your watch
ing advanced workmen, and learning
their trade betimes. In the encourage
ment of thousands of young men, II
would be well to let them see that youl
success has not arisen from luck oil
glittering tricks, but from the soundes
principles OF industry, fruGalityI SELF
denial, and attention to business.