The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1869-10-09
Bad Habits.

q Habits.
There Ia ON all sides an alarming prevalence of
bad habits. The disease seems to be epidemic.
Ii is upon all classes Ii ruins many. Ii Injuries
all. Bad habits cannot but engender an imper-
feet moral character.
Let us recur for a moment to n few Of the
practices that are Numerically opposed To ones
personal well being, and that tend directly to de-
Inoralize human society
First, in the list We may mention fast hring.
This is a b~eserting sin Of the American people.
They want to appear millionaires- OF course
they would like 10 be millionaircs-and with this
dcsire we have no fault to find but what We CEN
sure as "A bad habit is the disposition to maintain
the style Of capitalists, on the part OF those who
work daily for daily bread, and who are harassed
beyond measure to keep head above water.
Saaried men Of from three to five thousand
dollars per annuIn, rs n general thing live as
nabobs. wear nobby styles of dress, drive a span
ut horses, keep an eqUerry 20 ape nobility, and
wear diamonds and heavy watch gear, as though
they had IN ophir Of gold all their own. They
rent fine houses, have the best furniture, and a
house full of servants They go often to the
theatre and opera-and always in n carriage.
Parties are frequent and champagne n necessity.
When they make u purchase they always buy the
best-especially cigars. More Than half Of our
respectable afy people, lire IN this tray! Only
think Of the inner life OF these foolish thousands.
Outwardly all appears well. No one would sur
mise that a conflict was raging within the soul.
No one can tell their struggles, their ~sleepless
nights, their deep scheming TO prevent n crisis
and collapse What n life for u man to live
Always spending income before it is earned. Al
ways embarrassed. Never at peace with himself.
Never free from the clamoring opportunities of
creditors.
Such men feel keenly that all their style rests
on nothing,-that their preterses are false, and
their social rank a fiction. OF all follies fast liv-
ing is the most foolish and most sure to lead to
disaster. Ii is disgraceful, and in many cases is
attended by positive dishonesty. No person
would be very long without n home, if he saved
the sums expended in fast and foolish living.
Persons with n home,-their own home,-arc
seldom fast men, because the good sense which
led them 70 secure n home, protects them from
such folly as we have described. Very few men
who die in our cities leave anything for their fam
lilies. They spend all in life, and when dead
leave nothing for an Inheritance, but poverty and
it's attendant woes. This is the rule, and not the
exception. And this is the fruit of fast living.
If our fast liyers could only consent to appear as
poor as they really are for n few years to hus-
band their resources, and always have money IN
hand saved from their income, they would not
only be respected by respectable people, but
would soon be owners OF property themselves, and
rise legitimately to a solid position, and to the en-
joyments of home, sweet home never so SIoeef as
when owned Of ones own right.
Naturally arising from the habit of fast living
is the habit Of lying. A poor man, a salaried
man, who lives fast, is almost sure to be a liar.
His style itself is a lie. His dress and generosity
are Les. His entire personal and its surrounding
besTeak for him an affiuence which he knows too
well is all unreal and untrue. And this is not
all. IL Is not all Indirect Ellschood that we mean
to hint ut we think we know of u few of our
people who directly and by word of mouth speak
what the immortal Binckley would call ~ the
exact opposite of what they know to be true"
Do they not speak Of resenues coming when they
know that there are none coming? DO they not
NC white ~ hloct in nr,icr IN ro;cn O N lissla r.aI,
money" to bridge over the gap between poverty
and fast living? Poor lying innOcents, DO they
realize that this is q bad habit?
And this leads us to speak Of running in debt.
Owe no man anything, said Saint Paul, and he
never gave better moral counsel than that. Ii is
the most vicious Of vices. Its tendency is to rob
n man of manhood, independence, courage, and
often Of honesty. Ii puts n halter around ones
neck for an enemy to pull. Ii opens ones bosom
to receive the contumely and insolence of heart
less creditors Ii makes one surrender because
the weapons are all on the side Of the enemy. \
fruitful cause of the great misery in the world is
here. Friends /, do not run in debt. If YOU sec
n good thing, don't buy it till you get the money
without owing. Ii is the inspiration of the devil
that urges YOU on to financial suicide. 1t is so
easy to mortgage ones person, honor and prop
erty that running in debt is one OF the stupcndous
frailties OF human nature.
Shall we add n word about another bad habit?
We mean the habit Of forgetting TO PAY. There
are sumo men VINO DOrrOw VINO never sec the pro-
priety Of the creditors calling on them to pay.
The matter passes from their mind, and by some
metaphysics they conclude il should pass from
the minds OF those whom they Owe. Indeed, some
persons feel insulted at the idea ofpaying, They /
thought it a fine thing to borrow, but that act
ended the play. The comedy becomes tragedy If
payment is solicited. Such is the dcmoralizing
influence of running in debt. 1t destroys ones
sensibilities, chills his sense Of honor, and leads
on to confirmed knavery. Forgetting to pay is
but n paraphrase for the name Of an unmitigated
felony. If you are in debt, reader, cease your
rest, your prayers for mercy, till you pay what
you owe. One bad habit leads on to another.
Let down one bar and the cattle will hook down
the others. The distance between q man and n
villain is short. One or two bad habits carries
one along quickly, and lands one in infhmy and
ruin. We cannot be false and true ut the same
time. Our habits make up our character, and,
instead of concealing our real condition, they are
the great rcyealers OF secrets and the test of moral
See n man reckless, fast, lying, run
ming in debt habitually, and you will find a man
whose moral character and integrity are not above
suspicion. In business and in social affairs, as
well as in religion, it is ever true that " by their
fruits shall We know them. "-Ameriodn Paper.