The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1876-02-10
[From the Columbia District Directory. J
Hard Times.

" dCllOLC JAAC oSetbC VI SAAA Iii - - =
particular period; as when we say,
good times, or bad times, hard times,
dull times for trade, &c" The ex
preston hard times is exceedingly
We have heard it from
and now it may be heard
nearly everywhere, and almost every
day. AS used with US at present, it
has special reference to the scarcity
of money. Just here eandor con-
strains us to confess that there is
great stringency in the money mar
ket. In this respect, then, the times
are hard.
AS it is now too late to prevent /
the evil, we would be more than
happy to contribute something to-
wards its cure. What is the rene
dy for this trouble, so long and so
loudly complained of? After a care
full diagnosis of the disease, we con
fdently prescribe as follows:
l. INDUSTRY. 1t is evident to
every thoughtful observer that there
is too much difference between the
number of producers and the num-
Der Of consumers. The Church and
the country mourn because ofidlers
and idleness. Then Hwhy stand We
here ali the day idIe?'' Surely every
man, woman, and child, who has
health and strength sufficient, ought
to do some sort of work. Eve.
persons of the most ample fortunes
are not exempt from this law. Idle
ness as infallibly destroys the soul
as open sin committed against Goo.
In the decalogue, written by the
Almighty on tables of stone as if to
indicate its perpetuity and perpetual
obligation, we find this command,
"Six days shalt thou labor and do
all thy work" The great Apostle
of the Gentiles, himself noble ex~
ample Of industry, pleads with his
fellow Christians thus; 1--WE be-
seech you, brethren, that ye study
to be quiet, and to do your own
business, and TO work with your
own hands, as we commanded you;
that we walk honestly toward them
that are without, and that we may
have lack of nothing" Dr. Clarke,
in his comment on this passage,
says, IAN idle person, though
able to dicourse like an angel, or
pray like an apostle, can not be a
christian; ali such are Iypocrites
and deceivers, the true members of
the Church of Christ a0alk, aCork, and
labor" In reading this scripture
did you notice that the inspired
writer exhorts you to work, to this
end, shat ye may haze Iaek Of nothing; -
or in other words, that there may
be no such thing as hard times.
2. ECONOMY. BY this we mean,
frugal and judicious useof money
that management which expends
money to advantage, and incurs no
waste 1t includes, also, a prudent
management of all the means by
which property is saved or accumu-
lated; a judicious application OF
time, of labor, and of the instru-
ments Of labor. This virtue is not
to be despised. When Jesus fed
five thousand men, besides women
and children, with five barley loaves
= and two small fishes, he said to his
disciples, Gather up the fragments
that remain, that nothing be lost
It.would be well for us to copy hi:
economy. There is too much waste
among the people, too much ex
travagance. No man has the right
the moral right-to waste hi:
, Lords money, nor to spend it fool
ishly. We are all stewards of the
manifold grace of God, and soo1
every one of us shall give an ac
, count of his stewardship. No MAJ
can rise to absolute proprietorshiI
of even the least of the bounties o
D nature. The proudest millionairt
? can not touch an atom as absolute
lv his own. He brought nothing in
to this world, and it is certain h,
E can carry nothing out, Amid tn,
clamor of contending monarchs
and the din Of battle for empire
one voice is heard asserting the trut
> proprietorship of the universe
1.-The gold and the silver are mine
r. and the cattle upon Thousand
D hills" "The earth is the Lords
and the fullness thereof; the worlC
and they that dwell therein: for h,
hath founded it upon the seas, auC
established it upon the floods
Man, then, is not the owner, bu
merely a steward. AS such he mus
e hold the gifts of nature, and til,
e blessings of providence and grac,
I as a sacred trust for the Lord, anC
e subject to his order. OF course, h,
4 must consult the Divine Proprietor
/. as to the use and distribution of hi,
S property. We must not consum,
t his goods on our lusts, but employ
e and dispose of them as He directs
4 Depend upon it, all the investment:
} and expenditures which he has au
4? thorized, require economy.
3. GENEROSITY. What an op
( portunity 10 these hard times afforC
E for the exercise of the grace of lib
erality; and how it would mitigat,
p the ills and evils abroad in the land
Whatever may be the scarcity O
/