The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1870-01-28
THE FARMERS STORE DEBT.

The following, from the pen of L. L.
Fairchild, of Rolling Prairie, Wiscon-
sin, is taken from the Western Farmer:
1t is an old saying that "little leaks
win sink a great ship. This is pecu-
liarly applicable to running in debt at a
store The wants, real and imaginary,
of a family, are large in their yearly ag-
gregate. a little of this and that every
day or two may be counted at the end
of the year in hundreds of dollars. The
storekeeper trusts you through the year
for such things as will supply your little
wants, and to your surprise his bill foots
up in the fall to from one hundred to
five hundred dollars. He wants his
pay; must have it, no matter what the
price of wheat, butter, hogs, or hops.
You find his bill, after paving your
hired help, blacksmith bill, repairs, in
terest, and SO forth, will absorb all the
balance of the proceeds of your farm.
Nothing left So you commence an
other years credit. At the end of the
year you find the same result. The
storekeeper has absorbed allyour bal
ance. So you go on from year to year
until an extra hard season, poor crops
or poor prices. You can't pay him; he
harnesses your mind and gets lien on
your property. You are under a har-
row that will be very likely to crush
the ambition out of you, and you will
go from bad to worse, until you are
forced from the homestead.
Now all this should not be! There
is better way! No man, or his fami-
ly, can bear to be under such a load of
obligation as an unpaid store debt is
sure to entail. The burden is too heavy
for enjoyment or pleasure. But how
avoid Rxy afnrd
my. Let us Substantially young
friends, John Say and Edward Say,
both got married and settled on forty
acre farms, in the same neighbOrhood.
Their own savings, with a little help
from the old people, gave them their
homestead and household effects, free
of all debt, with a few dollars for neces-
saries TO start housekeeping and bust
ness. Both thought to get along and
keep clear. But n few weeks found
their little store of money exhausted.
John and his wife were firmly resolved
that nothing short of sickness would
make them contract debt. A pig was
wanted to eat up the milk of the COW !;
the wife's father had given her no mon
ey to buy one. John went and worked
two days for neighbor and brought
home the pig. When the COW came to
grass, their pans were too few to hold
the milk. A few pounds of butter sup
piled the need and also a bag of salt.
A hoe was needed, and the wife sug-
gested that a few dozen eggs she had
saved would pay for that and a spool of
thread and paper of pins. They had
received word that some of their old
friends would visit them, the first of
the week. A few groceries were need
ed, to have things in good shape. AT
fnV nh Tho 20 ~ cd
that q neighbor wished some sewing.
She applied for the job, and the money
PAid for the necessaries.
Garden seeds were needed. John
thought of a pile of old iron that a
former occupant had left. This sup
piled the means to purchase seeds for
the garden. By eschewing luxuries, a
days work now and then for others,
judicious outstanding of butter, eggs,
rags and the use of the needle, few
vegetables from the garden, and many
other savings and exchanges that the
thrifty know how to make, they were
carried safely through, until they gar
nered in the harvest, the proceeds of
which gave them the means to pay their
way. In few years the "pay as you
go" principle made John Say and his
wife independently well off.
Now, how did Edward Say and his
wife manage, and what came of it?
When Edward was in town, one day,
the storekeeper solicited him to trade.
He told him he did not mean to get in
debt. The merchant said that was a
good resolution. But whatever you
may need 1 will be glad to let you have
and let you pay for it in the fall" Ed
ward toldihis wife. After a little they
were sorely perpleXed for some little
ri hvocn6 fha 11Y1if ~
of credit at the village store. The ice
once broken, the account grew little by
little. When the products of the little
farm were disposed of, to their surprise,
it took all the proceeds to pay up their
Indebtedness.
The road once travelled, it was easy to
run the same course another year. The
sickness of his wife, for several weeks,
with the extra expense of hired girl and
doctors bills, so swelled the expense
that after everything was sold, balance
still was left unpaid. A poor season
followed, and a mortgage on the farm.
a few years fighting with such disad-
vantages, sold out the farm and left on
ly enough to pay the expenses of emil
grating TO what then was the far West.
These cases illustrate the "pay as you
go" system, and also the disadvantages
of running store bill.
g Pay as you go is a golden maxim.
Eschew tea, coffee, tobacco, new dresses,
new coats, new carriages and everything
in the line of luxuries, until you can
pay ready money. Money cheapens
everything. 1t is great economizer.
You think twice and buy cheap with
the ready cash. People who run store
debts, buy, thOughtlessly, many things
not needed, and at high prices.
Farmers, run no store bills!