Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-02-06

The New York Times has been publishing,
from day TO day, letters on the cost of living,
from all sorts of people. 1t is a curious study
TO look them over. The writers all claim to be
frugal, and desire to live within their incomes;
most of them have something to say about the
claims of society, the necessity OF keeping up
| certain appearance of equality with those with
whom they associate, but their estimates of the
| amount needed TO live in comfort, vary widely
from that of the gentleman who writes IN
querrelously pathetic strain thai II is lmpossi-
I Bile for him, with a wife and Two children, TO
live dccently and keep out of debt on an income
of five thousand dollars 10 that Of another cor
respondent. who manages to get along very well
and save money on one thousand. Among other
things. these are brought out very clearly in
those letters: that rents in New York
for houses Of moderate size and professions are
unrcasonably high, and person, unless his in
come is large, must spend disproportionate
part OF it for rent, or be content with much
worse accommodations than would be within
his reach in most other cities; that other ncces-
saries and luXuries can in general be had there
as cheaply as elsewhere, and more cheaply than
in most country places; and finally that no
definite answer can he gwen to the question,
'What is a sufficient income for resident of
New York p There, as here aud elsewhere, it
is question of will and not of amount. If
man chooses 10 adapt his expenditure TO his
wishes rather than his MEANS his income is
pretty sure to prove too small, however large it
may be: while, if he vigorously restricts him
self to what he can afford, he will find that he
is not reduced to absolute necessaries, but has
still opportunity for choice among things, some,
but not all of which, he can allow himself. As
one of the correspondents senSibly says:
ga mans prosperity is the relation between
his income and his disbursements, and the me-
chanic who with small income incurs still
smaller expenditure, is rich, while the man
who, with the same income, is Obliged to spend
so much on aesthetics" that there is nothing
left for bread and butter, is poor. No entire
class is so placed by Omnipotence that they can
not live in comfort, peace and happiness. 1t is
only when placed in the circumstances of one
class, they try 10 enjoy the privileges of an
other, that men land women) come to grief If
two young people think enough OF each other TO
be willing TO face life together on a small
income, let them bravely make up their
minds to pay the price of so-called So
cial position for the pleasure of each
others society, and quietly descend to
lower plane OF life. Life in a fashionable quar-
Ter of the city, and as ISOLATION with fashionable
friends, is simply impossible, and they had bet
ter understand this at once. We have vet to
learn, in America, that there is more respect
due to those who quietly accep! the restrictions
OF small income than to those who, the objects
of ill-disguised pity on the part of their richer
friends, persist in clinging after marriage TO the
same social traditions which they held before.
If the means of a family only permit them to
eat oatmeal porridge and wear linsey-woolsey,
let them eat their porridge and wear their warm
though LONELY garments and be thankful.
TINS Is common sehse and dignity, and the
straining system is neither"