The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1872-05-30
What Keeps Men Poor.

/ /" Fate is against me.n never could
succeed in anything ] am doomed
! to poverty. Here l am near the me-
riflian of life, large family upon my
hands, sons and daughters just at the
age when they become particularly
expensive and need much money
spent upon them to fit them for the
positions wish them to occupy; but
L have not got it to spend unless in
volve myself deeper in difficulties
which have always encompassed me.
What is the reason / am poor2" 1i.-,
Such are the complaints of hundreds
of men in our midst, who are strug-
Cling as they have struggled all their
| lives to maintain style of living
they fancy, necessary for the happi-
1 ness of themselves and families. The
main point is to make others believe
they are possessed of greater wealth
! than they really AREAS to be thought
| poor would destroy all the comforts
of real wealth, did they possess them.
Hence they labor and plan to deceive
their neighbors even as they are de-
| ceivlng themselves. This is an infat-
uation which leads such men down q
life Of poverty as well as of Intense
misery.
| With but limited or small incomes
Lthey will spend money lavishly before
the public in the dress and ornaments
of their families and in their houses,
followed by an equal parsimonious.
ness towards themselves and their
business conveniences in private.
Spending more than they receive,
they are constantly in debt, and to
maintain their credit among their
friends and debtors, occupies much of
their time, and monopolizes the best
energies of their minds, and their ca
pacity for making money is corre-
spondingly weakened, and what is
clearly the road to fortune is over
looked in the search for a path out of
the entanglements of their voluntary
position. ~ iJ}<f<i lG sil2f8a 9t1t
The habit of spending money twice
over, viz: once in anticipation of its
receipt, and again when it is received,
is the cause of most of the poverty in
the world among the intelligent
elasses-as no one can practice it
without becoming involved pecuni-
arily, and if persisted in it will entail
lifelong poverty ..,1.s,;.., a,sta .-l
But let such man stop where he
is, forget the Mrs. Grundy's and their
gossip, strike out for himself a new
path never use a dime unless it is in
his pocket, and only nine cents of it
then !; saving the other and putting it
on interest. Let him learn that his
children can enjoy themselves fully as
well and fit themselves for life much
better without the many fashionable
pleasures, SO common, SO expensive,
and SO useless let him in fact live in
dependently and free from debt, and,
my word for it, his complaints of Fate
will cease. Accumulation, though
! slow at first, will soon assert itself;
and the feeling of embarrassment
and constant anxiety, sitting like
weight upon the mind, destroying its
elasticity and power, will give way,
and time will be given to the brain
which will enable q man to see clearly
before him, and ten to one fortune
dawns upon him before he is aware
of it. If many wives would seek the
cause of the sober looks they see upon
their husbands faces, and would know
why his locks bleach out so rapidly,
let them inquire into his pecuniary
matters, and if possible draw aside the
veil, behind which he shelters his
pride even from his wife; and if she
finds he is living beyond his income,
let her see to it as she values his hap
piness and that of her children, that
she support his arms and his heart in
the carrying out of any resolution he
can be prevailed upon to adopt, to
turn the current conveying him ON to
destruction and misery.