Morris tribune., 1880-12-09
FALSE ECONOMY.

fond of show, but still regarded as very |
saving man. Awhile ago he built him a
house considerably larger than he need
ed, and with good deal Of gingerbread
work about it, such as IS made with a |
jlg.saw and at very cheap rates. He had
made up his mind that the cost Of the |
building should not exceed 81 am
not able to give the figures us he never
mentioned them to anybody, and in Or
der to bring them within this limit, he
dispensed with the services of an archi- |
tect and determined to draw his own |
plans and superintend the work himself. |
The first thing to be done is to secure the |
materials for building at the cheapest |
possible price, so he hunts around among
the lumber yards and brick yards and |
hardware shops and paint shops, manag- |
ing. at the end OF two or three weeks, to |
get the stuff that is needed at about thir
ty-three and one third per cent below the
ordinary market schedule. 1t never oc-
ours to him that If he had given the time
thus spent to his regular business he
might have made twice as much money
as he saved and also that IN the end he
might find his hemlock clapboards and
two class bricks and very cheap hard
ware somewhat costlier than he supposed.
He then looks around to see where he
can find the cheapest labor. There are
one or two carpenters and masons and
painters living on the outskirts of the lit
tie town, who have had no employment
for long time, and they are willing to
give him their services-such as they are
for very low wages. He sets them to
work, and in the course of year, during
which time these low-priced mechanics
potter along at their leisure, the house is
| finished and the proprietor takes posses
sion, boasting not little OF the fact that
he has the cheapest house in the village,
taking into consideration its size and
adornments. He prldes himself more
particularly upon the economy with
which he has managed the plumbing and
sewerage and some other details of the
establishment.
The furnishing is also wonderfully
cheap and at the same time very preten-
tious and sh0Wy. But in few months
the trouble begins. The windows rattle
awfully in their sockets, as if afflicted
with perpetual ague; the catches do not
| work; the doors sag and the floors bend :;
the tables crack and the chairs give way !;
the chimneys will not draw; the roof
leakes like sieve; the chambers reek
with unwholesome odors; the hemlock
clapboards warp; the paint wi pes off;
the house settles at one of the corners,
and the whole household are made mis-
cradle. Masons and carpenters of diff
ferent sort from those originally employed
in the building are called in to make re-
pairs; and in the end poor Mr.. Savall is
obliged to confess that the false economy
which he practiced turned out to be a
great mistake.
In the same village there lives farm
er, whose name 1 do not like to mention,
but it is very possible that some of my
readers may recognize him, and he is also
of very economical turn of mind. He
never felt that he could afford to give his
sheds and barn coat of paint, or do
much to keep them in repair, and so they
are fast rctting away, much othe salts
faction of the rats and mice and other
vermin. who have taken Rp their abodes
there. He always buys the cheapest
stock to be found In the market, and the
result is that his cows give only half the
average quantity of milk, and his oxen
do only half-day's work, and his horses
travel at only half speed while 1t &C SITS as
much to feed them as it would if they
were of the very best breeds. He also
regards it as waste to spend money up
on fertilizers, and so goes on, year after
year, skinning the land and getting only
a scanty crop; of course expanding the
same amount of labor that would be
needed upon the richest loan. He adds
to this labor by persisting in the use OF
old, decrepit tools and antiquated ploughs,
looking with. contempt upon all our
modern labor-saving machines; and then
wonders that, with all his economy and
painstaking, he is growing poorer all the
while.
There is shop in the village where
the proprietor carries on a small trade.
It is small. for various reasons. The man
never liked to spend money in advertis
ing, or in doing anything to make his
place of business attractive.
His stock Is made up in great meas
ure of damaged goods bought at auction,
or OF lots that were left over as unstable,
which he gets very cheap, and of old
l
nobody knows how long; for he would
rather keep a thing till it moulders than
sell it at sacrifice. He Is very close in
I trade and never gives any overweight
his expenses are small; he does all his
own tinkering, and will spend half a day
in trying to mend lock, which good
mechanic would make right IN half an
hour-the shop business all the while
taking care of itself; he pinches and
: screws and economies in svery conceiv-
able way, and wonders that he can lay
up nothing.
A mill has been established in the vii
lage of BlundershaJn. and many persons
have taken their children from school
/. and put them to work there, where they
can earn something. The school being
thus reduced in size, it is thought expe
dent to exchange the present competent
and well educated teacher for one who
can be had on cheaper terms, the quality
of the supply of necessity falling off with
the reduced price; and, as might be ex.
pected, the purchase of any new books
and apparatus, and the keeping of the
building in proper condition, are stoutly
resisted by the intelligent voters of the
place. The young grow up in state Of
mental starvation, and their capacity fol
earning good living when they come Of
age is blighted, in order to get little
money out of them while they are un
der age.
The teaching of the children beng
thus put upon more economical basis
the next thing to be done is to reduce
the salary of the minister. There are
J several people in the town who manage
to live on smaller income than he re-
ceives, and there is no reason for his set.
ting an example of luxury and extrava-
gance to his parishioners. The ,parson
feels himself obliged to task for dis
missing and cheaper man is readily
found-as, unfortunately, cheap men are
somewhat plentiful in the clerical pro-
fession-with what result it is hardly
necessary to say. Dilapidated preaching,
iilapidated music, dilapidated congre-
oaf;nn +all the whole story The Oro0.