Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1883-07-30

who are so agitated by their feelings
or regard for their interests that they
perhaps unconsciously prevaricate.
They make up another class. Per-
haps if more care were taken to inn
press witnesses with the Importance
of telling the exact truth, and if court |
officers would administer oaths in a
BETTING manner, and not run them
off like an auctioneer knocking down |
an old stove, we should have less |
falsehood on the witness-stand. Most |
of all, clear cases of perjury ought to
be visited with swift and severe pun
ishment. "-NeaU York Observer.
ARE WE A THRIFTY PEOPLE?
Thrift is an old-fashioned virtue.
Its essence consisted in saving all
that could be saved, in looking out
for the main chance in life, in keep
on the safe side in all adventures.
Its central idea was to get on in the
world as fast as possible without
risk, slowly if need be, surely at all
events. 1t implies industry, calcu
lation, temperance, frugality. 1t
made war on idleness, extravaganza,
waste. This quality was very strong
in the old New England character;
it was conspicuous in the Dutch
founders of New York, and the Ger
man settlers of Pennsylvania. The
Scotch and the Dutch are noted
among Europeans for this quality.
They make themselves exceedingly
comfortable with little. One of
the latest travellers in Holland tells
with enthusiasm how much the peo-
pie there manage to save out of in
considerable incomes; how comforts
obtain, how everybody works and
is beforehanded, and how a country
which has been wrested inch by inch
from the ocean and made fertile by
incredible exertions has become the
garden of Europe.
1t must be confessed that in these
days this virtue of thrift has a decid-
edly ancient and slow-coach air.
Enterprise is the predominant quality
of the time. Prudence has given
way to push. Spending is more pop
ular than. saving. The two passions
of the day are speculation and dis
play, and there is craze for both.
The old idea of earning and saving has
given way to an infatuation to make
fortune by few swift strokes, and
to spend the money thus gained in
princely prodigality. The result is
visible everywhere. The old meth
DDS of doing business are becoming
obsolete. A spirit of reckless adven-
ture enters into trade. The specu-
lating mania is not confined to a few
operators on the street. Men in all
walks of life, in all parts of the coun-
try, women, and even boys, operate
through their brokers. They specu-
late in other things as well as stocks.
To get money quick, and a great
deal of it, to get it lawfully if they
can-but to get it-this is the frenzy
of the age. The result is business
anarchy. Everything is in a whirl
There is confusion everywhere. The
strongest lose their heads. The
stoutest hearts fail. Men of the best
intentions go down under the pressure
of terrible temptations. The untrieC
fall. Educated men and members OF
churches are serving out terms in The
penitentiary. Men of brilliant prom
Use are stranded in lunatic asylums
and graves close every year on al
untold number of victims. A few
have become millionaires, and ther,
are more tramps in the country thar
ever. This is not thrift but the op
posite Of it.
The passion for display is quite a
pronounced as the craze for specula
[ ton. 1t shows itself in all conceiv
t able forms. 1t appears among al
) classes. The rich try to Guido eacI
other by their exhibitions of dres
| and jewelry, their pictures and plate
, the cost of their establishment, tn
t number and speed of their horses
: their receptions at home, and thei
= foreign tours and purchases. Pee
| pie in middle life are dazzled by thes
e glittering exhibitions, and temple
4 into purchases they can i'll afford
The young people are impressed b
spectacles of elegance and beaut
which fire their desires and captivat
S their fancy, and make them discor
e tented and miserable in their lo
e Why should they not dress as we
y and live as gorgeously and revel
d as much luxury as men and wome
!. who are their interiors in everythin
It but fortune? They want to be ric
e in order to outshine others. III
d thought of the grand uses of prope
: ty-to do good, to increase comfo
+ and culture, to relieve suffering, [
d set humanity forward not ell
e ter into their calculations. They al
l. fascinated and infatuated by a di
G play they are only anxious to exec
IS And the consequence is that this pa
t. sion feeds like canker on the
1t brain and conscience, and eats OF
up the host mart of their manlineSS ar