The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-01-17
Borrowing and Lending.

Ordinarily, says A. G. Comings, of Lee,
N. H., in discussing "Farm Morals" in
the New England Farmer, the prosperous
and successful farmer must be man
who knows where to find his farm i'm.
plements withouta waste Of time, when
he wants touss any Of them, and knows
whether they are in proper condition for
immediate service. With "a place for.
everything ,San1 everything in its place."
there need be no waste of :ime in'6nding
the tools which we may at any, time wish
to put in use. But man who is himself
of an orderly cast and habit, and who
knows the necessity 'of economy in the
use of time, will find it no pleasant mat
ter to himself, nor profitable to his inter-
est, when he thinks he is ready for active
labor, it may be, with crew of hands,
to discover that some Indispensable arti-
Gle for the work Immediately before
them is not in its place, has been lent
without his knowledge, and not returned.
A farmer has q perfect right to know
where all his utensils are, and in what
condition they are for immediate use. Il
is therefore plain that a right to lend any
of his tools, or the implements of his
husbandry, belongs to him alone, and ex-
clusively. Neither hired man, nor the
farmers sons, nor even his wife, has any
right to lend any of his implements.
Certainly man has no right to expose
his wife to embarrassment by lending
what properly belongs to her, or is neces-
sary for her use.
g A good woman will take pleasure in
accommodating her neighbors. But if
she is true and worthy wife, she will be
unwilling to sacrifice her husbands in.
terests or pleasure, or, perhaps, his love,
to please somebody else. A farmers
wife should never be placed in any such
position towards her husband. If tempt
ed to tresspass against her husband, she
may injure his interests when she little
thinks of it; she may irritate him; she
may effectually ALLEVIATE. his affections
from her, and render both unhappy for
life. I think this is not overstraining
the truth in the case, and it should be
considered.
A person who wishes to borrow should
not ask any woman to lend what proper
ly belongs to her husband. Such re-
quest I regard as tresspass, and more
than that-it is double trespass. 1t is
asking what, of itself, good woman
with pleasure would grant, if it
were right. But it is not her right; it is
trespass against the man by tempting
his wife to do towards him what she has
no right to do. Borrowed articles are
too often never returned. 1t is also too
often found that borrowers of tools, if
they ipjure them, will return them-in
some sly way, that the owner may net
know the injury in time to charge it to
the proper party; it is very dishonorable,
but such things are. Such mean sneak
as would do such thing will have
double chance to hide his meanness, if
the owner of the borrowed article does
not know that he borrowed it. 1t is
therefore not right for the farmers wife,
nor his hired man, nor his sons, to lend
his implements. He has full right to
know all about his affairs. No one has
right to embarrass his plans, or bring
injury on him without his knowledge or
consent in the matter of lending his
things. ~
And there is another form Of gross
trespass, in what some call borrowing.
1t is the freedom Of taking and using
without asking any leave. !. will illus
trate what I mean by this, in a statement
of q simple fact, as follows: At a certain
time, where I lived, I had an iron bar,
such as have frequent use by many far
mers, in connection especially with fence
building. In the spring of the year I
wanted to use it, but it was not in it's
place. I hunted and inquired in vain.
The time spent in fruitless search was
several times more than the saleable
value of the bar. At length was in
formed that such bar was seen in GER
tain public building, thrown in certain
place. Well, there found it. It had
been wanted, taken without my knowl-
edge or permission, used and then thrown
down as though such liberty was legit-
innate right. No matter how obligiDg a
spirit any man may have, he will not
want pretended friends nor open enemies
to treat him in that way. want no
such compliments paid to "the generosi.
ty OF my nature" as that. Ii was q tress'
pass in taking, and that was aggravated
by what followed. Yet, I think that no
wrong was intended; but there vas
either ignorance or Indifference of right,
though done by intelligent and religious
people.
In the ordinary circumstances of life,
there can never be an excuse for taking
without leave, under the name of bor-
rowing. When such taking results in
final loss, as may often be the case, it is
the same to the owner as though it had
been stolen. Such liberties are morally
wrong, and will be very destructive of a
good neighborhood. Such liberties are
not rightful privileges CT good men.
Why His Attention Ceased.