Connecticut western news., 1875-12-24
Sfsa4E lfE sgTEFS ass' eF e,FEs.E A Word for the Times.
BY A MECHANIC.

During these days of high prices of every h necessary of life, and corresponding scar i. city of labor, 1t behooyes every man to < practice the most rigid economy, not only .ss denying ourselves every luxury, but many As comforts. We should indulge only in the bare necessarles of life, the cheapest vari T cities of wholesome food and comfortable
 raiment. Tobacco, lager beer, whiskey
 and all kindred vices should be abandoned < at once, not only as 3 matter of economy, ? but in behalf ofIsociety, and everything we ] hold dear on earth, and of the hopes we aa may have of hereafter. aa"
 We should look the situation squarely in 5 the face, take account of stock, ascertain
 our income and regulate our expenditures
 accordingly. Not for moment must we forget that storms are coming, sickness and Y bereavements which call for unusual ex- ' penditures, and in many cases entirely
 stop or suspend for time our daily in- come. The product of labor renders it ne-
 cessary, almost imperative, that we should 10 so regulate our expenses that during health a balance will be- accommodating for the SEdays of sdyersitY and the evening Of life. ~ Those who have never been called upon 1o to make these sacrifices, cannot realize how
 much we can lessen the cost of living if we will try it systematically During the aapast fifteen years it has been within the 10 power of every iable.bodied man, mechan- ic or laborer, who has enjoyed an average n degree of health, to lay by competency.
 Not during the fife time of the generations now living has labor of all kinds been in
 such demand or commanded such remuner-
 ative prices as during the past fifteen years.
 Now all is changed, and how many of all the toiling millions have profited by the op-
 portupity? Many have let the golden op- portunity pass; to them it has been a saseurse; instead of saving from the abund- sn ant harvest of a quarter of life time, they have only cultivated habits of extravaganza, < indolence and dissipation they have been s,, 50 improYident that when the first depres- 4 sion came they were reduced 10 destitution 70 They must then become the professions '1R ttamp-beggar, candidate for the charities of friends or the asylum for the poor n, Pride usually decides against the latter, and 9 aytramp for work is taken. With no means sss begging for food soon follows; soon prid' aE and self.respect are gone; the conscience q becomes scared, despondency takes tn Z place of energy, and crime sometimes fol f lows. They feel that every mans hand a raised against them, and their hands ar ra!sed against their fellow men thus the
 become like the wandering descendants 0
 Abraham-the sons of the desert. A little arithmetical calculation will sho,
 us what some of the vices of our day COS
 us, but more than all this is the loss c
 our place in society. Money cannot meas TOT ure the loss. The line of demarkation he
 been drawn between virtue and vice. and
 being made plalner each day. There is n
 middle ground. We, like water, will fin
 our level, and shall we not by every mear in our power seek to make It among u
 noble of our land.
 Economy-rigid economy - command
 the respect of so much of mankind as
 worth having. Parsimoniousness must nt
 be mistaken for economy; it may be calle disease, but true economy, industry an virtue will surely reap their reward.
 Salisbury, Dec. 18th, 1875.