The weekly review., 1881-04-16
THE NEGRO AS ANECONoMIsT

other soldier said, "John, you ought
not do that. Have you forgot Fair
Oaks so soon /" Remembering the
awful three days, duiing which they
yearly starved, the young soldier
gathered up the fragments and placed
them in his haversack. We would
do well to take the lesson taught by
the above home to our hearts, for, as
economists. we have been weighed in
the balance aud found 10 have been
wanting. We are not rs careful OF
our nlckles and dimes as we should
be. We are poor and are liable TO re-
main so until we change our unfrugal
habits and recognize economy as the
guardian Of property, the good genius
whose presence guides the footsteps
of every prosperous and successful
man. Bishop Wayman tells good
story Of a colorcd man in Baltimore.
who carried on an extensive drayage
business, together with large barber
shop. He lived fast, made plenty OF
money and spent it rapidly. One
morning he swoke, and to his sur
prise found that the house he rented
hal been sold to The German. whom
he employed to gdrive his dray. BY
the frugal habits characteristic of his
race, he had not only supported his
family, but had saved enough of his
small salary to buy home for them:
it is ever thus. colored laborers may
receive the same wages as this white
colaborer's bat viii in nine cases out
of ten, come out in debt at the end Of
the wear. While the latter has laid
by a snug little sum for rainy day
SO it goes on from year TO year; We
get poorer and poorer while our for
eign and American labOrerS grow
richer and richer. Whose the fault I
1t IS ofen said what we spend more
money upon our tables and ward
robes than any other poor people in
the world. Can this be trae? Why
need we spend our hard earned dol.
lars catering to pampered taste For
expensive TODD aud sliI more eX.
pensiye dress. Why wilt not our
wives and daughters teach their hus-
bands and brothers, that true living
does not consist in rich food and
clothing by filing their tables with
plenty of good, wholesome and we'll
cooked food and arraYing themselves
in neat, modest and inexpensive ap-
parel. Surely the result would he an
increase Of healthy, happy and vir-
tuous families. We 50 often hear our
people say, We'll, we may as we'll
eat and dress all we can, for we can
never get more than a living out Of
the world at any rate" Suppose we
can't, isn't it our duty to get the best
living possible. Aud we certainly
| will not do this, if we persist in liv-
ing beyond our income aud plupging
deeper in debt every year, True, very
few lucrative employmeEts are open
10 black men at present. but we can
do the best We know in the place we
occupy. We must cultivate habits of
frugaIity; we must take care of the
cents. and the dollars will take care
of themselves. We must save some
thing out of our earnings, be it ever
so small, every year, for it is not
what we earn, but what we save that
makes us rich, and there is no better
way to solve this intricate race prob
lem t1an by acquiring education and
acccmuIating wealth. The two should
90 hand in hand, one Is essential to
the other. We know OF nothing
which enforces the Mr. so much as
the almighty dollar Our future de-
mands that we become capitalists, and
our only way to accomplish this lies
in being strictly economical in ali |
things. We cannot afford 10 be eX- !
traVaoaDt, either for Our own sake or |
our childrcn's. We must learn that
economy is the parent Of integrity, |
Of liberty and of ease, and of the
beauteous sister of temperance. of
cheeriuIness and health, and profuse.
ness is cruel and crafty demon, that
gradually involves in dependence and
debts; that it fetters them with irons
that enter their souls"