Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1877-09-28
What IL True Economy

One definition of true economy is. good
management. or that enlightened Judgment
by which person obtains the most benefit
from n certain outlay of money. If | buy
pair of boots for 81, and they last but third
rs long as pair for which pay $40. the 81
pair are the dearest and the pair which cost
the most are the most economical. The same
simple rule holds good regarding dry goods,
clothing, or almost any article of universal
wear or consumption. spirit of false econ
Omy has been engendered during the period
of hard times For instance, people have
been led to purchase inferior food, fuel, hats.
boots and other articles of clothing, because
they could get them for less money than bet
ter articles would cost and thus they sacri-
feed real economy TO present convenience.
1t is II short-sighted policy, however, which
manages only for present necessities. A real
ly economical, prudent buyer of anything will
look to the amount Of service it is likely to
afford him for the price he pays, and he rec
Ognizes the truth of the old maxim. Penny
wise, pound foolish" Unhappily it is true
that many are so poor that when they pur-
chase they are compelled to purchase the very
poorest qualities of clothing or other goods,
because offered at the lowest prices yet in
reality they pay more for what they get than
the middle and richest classes pay for what
they get, if the latter buy sterling goods at
fair prices. A man who buys half-a-dozen
himsy umbrellas n year, that split i'll the first
gale, and buys them because he gets them at
Sl.5O each, pays - for what is next to worth
less yet possibly lac thinks himself more eco
nOmical than one who pays - for one good
umbrella which would outlast them all So
in the purchase of cloths and clothing, there
is much extravaganza in imaginary cheapness.
OF late years there have been and are now in
vogue inferior wooden fabrics. largely mix
ed with cotton, shoddy, etc, to meet the de-
mand for cheapest goods, and so deXterous-
ly ms to defy detection even 10y experts These
spurious limitations are only proved so by
chemical test or by their unsatisfactory ser
vice after being worn short time. Such fab
rcs remind us of the imitation butter called
'oleomargarine, and of many other devices
ingeniously vamped up to meet the cry of
hard times. They recall the moral of Frank
Inns story of Look at t'other side, Jim ."
True economy will teach that what costs the
most at first is generally cheapest in the end
Thoughtful people know this, and, by max
ing judicious purchases, save themselves from
repeated OUTLAWS for inferior goods, while
thoughtless people incur such veXatious eX-
penses because fascinated by the low prices at
which such goods are offered. The day of
miracles has not yet arrived, and tradesmen
are pretty much alike, in one respect, all the
WORTH over, VIZ! lnty never give something
for nothing, and, II general rule, make
poor goods the penalty of poor prices. Where
ever there are swarIns of necessitous people
there the trade i'll inferior goods at cheap
est rates will flourish, because the dealer in
such goods makes rich profits from the large
amounts he sells to the INDECENT or unwary
But the buyers of such articles have their
pockets more largely depleted in the long
run, than those more fortunate citizens who
are judges of the quality of what they buy,
and who, buying only superior goods at a fair
price, find them of lasting and satisfactory
character. While l recognize the facility and
enterprise with which dealers in the lowest
priced low-grade goods in any trade meet the
demands of their especial customers / can
not but accord high credit to that other class
of tradesmen whose prosperity and good
name have been won and maintained by the
sale Of sterling goods which uniformly prove
all they are represented to be, and are sold at
only fair advance upon the actual cost
"F'FdHkLR" IN Commercial Bulletin.