The enquirer southerner., 1874-07-17

b"'4N NOPptIHetu, on Ine occasion
of the farmers engagement in the
service Of Uriah Heep. Said that
philosophic worthy, "Annual in
come twenty pounds, annual cx~
penditure nineteen, six result,
happiness. Annual income twenty
pounds, annual expenditures, twen~
ty pounds, ought and six: result,
misery.
This is the root Of the whole mat
ter-poor people are always little
behind>hand otherwise they would
soon cease to be poor, for prosperi-
ty begins with one peny laid by
Emerson says it originates 10 a tin
roof, that keeps the wind and rain
out; il a good pump that yields
you plenty of sweet water; in two
suits Of clothes in dry sticks TO
burn ; in double wick lamp; and
three meals, SC.
Now the question arises, why
do people 1--we beyond their means :?
Is it dishonesty or carelessness, or
ignorance ? We should say almost
entirely from the latter cause
They do not not think. They will
not set themselves about solving
the problem Of living. For the
question rapidly resolves itself into
an arithmeticial one, which involves
the elementary principles of adds
ton, substraction, multiplication
and division simply. How many
for instance, at the beginning Of the
year, calculate their receipts for the
ensuing twelve months, and then
limit their necessary expenses to q
sum below it, leaving a margin for
the contingencies of illness, acci~
dent or death Few indeed. The
reckoning more frequently occurs
at the end of year, when the ex-
penditures are found to represent
the larger figures. But oftener
yet this casting up Of accounts does
not occur at all, and knowledge
of the debt side Of the ledger is
obtained rather from the frequently
pressed claims than from any in
clination on the part Of their con-
tractors to discharge their obliga--
lions. This latter inVulnerability to
just demands is but the moral effect
Of invariably being in Arrears
Constant anxiety about the ways
and means ere long sinks to indifer-
ence, which in time, gives place to
a determination to shirk, as far as
possible, all financial responsibility.
Again, we afirm that the chief
means Of keeping people poor, does
not lie in. thA fact that they. receive
email wages, but they do not know
how to lay out these small wages
judiciously. Do they not always
buy in small quantities, paying
in small quantities, paying thereby
several profits? Do they not, too,
buy poor or adulterated qualities,
the former of which is dear at any
price, and the latter capable of
being accomplished by themselves
at less cost? Do they not purchase
coal by the quarter ton, and pay
as much, and often more for its
carting than for q greater supply !?
Do they not have to pay their rent
in advance because they had no
property to show as security that
they will not vanish in the night
without settling these lawful dues :?
And do they not make one suit of
clothes and one pair of boots do
only one half their rightful service,
because when mending time comes
there are no others to take their
places, and hence they are doomed
to premature decay.
It is surely just such manage
ment in all outlays of money as
these that tend to keep down the
impecunious. If they would emerge
from their poverty, they must turn
over a new leaf and study the ele-
ments of economic success. Its
secret will not be found to exist in
the amount Of possession, but, as
previously stated 81 in the relation
of income to outgo. .''-Erchaoge.