The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1884-12-17
IMMODERATE SPENDING AND IN.
TEMPERATE GOING.
A Plea for the Home.

number of people governed by these mo-
tives is sufficient to cause apprehension.
| When the foundations were laid which
made this prosperous nation, the surplus
of earnings after providing for modest
necessities, was laid by to accumulate
toward establishing home, reserving for
a time of need or for maintenance in cid
age.
Those things which were in excess o.
comfort were not usually INDUCED in by
the young householder. 1t was thought
wise us soon as possible TO own home.
Fine clothing and handsome furniture
were not the first things purchased by
those having small wages or scanty income.
Velvet and silk were not considered the
suitable everyday dress Of schoolgirls,
even among the wealthy; and garments of
expensive material were carefully worn
and long preserved.
II is different now Moderate wages or
small income and no home at all, are not
allowed TO be an obstacle to the attain
ment of present luxuries. Plush and bro.
cade, lace and fur, are worn by the daugh-
ter of the wash-woman as well as by the
heir Of the prosperous merchant or manu-
facturer; and are the garb of the servant
as well as the mistress. The wife Of the
struggling clerk, shifting from year to year
in rented apartments, often displays more
prompt conformity 10 the changes Of style
than the wife of the employer; and 1t is
the latter, many times, who feels the
necessity OF being moderate in her desires,
prudent in her expenditures, economical
Of her time and conscientiously industri-
GUS
When the bulk of earnings is spent for
show, there must be pinching and discom.
fort for want Of plain necessaries, and dis
content, unreasonablenes and rritability
because of that want. Among the causes
OF unhappiness in married lile,and con.
sequent separations, enumerated by the
"Ohio Divorce Reform League" are:
Dislike of restraint, love Of excitement,
and class emulation which leads the poor
TO live beyond their means" The young
woman with neither skill nor experience
to command more than moderate wages
in factory or house service, who instead Of
buying clothing contributing to her health
and comfort, making her well dressed
because suitably dressed, and credit to
her sense and taste, prefers the outside
show of one or two silk dresses, a cloak
beyond her means and two or three hats a
year, is not the kind OF girl whom a poor
young man may safely marry. And how
wanting in self respect and delicacy and
dignity must be wife who is given TO
nagging her husband for luxuries they can
not afford TO buy; yet the disclosures CT
the divorce courts point to this as CON-
mon rock on which the happiness Of the
marital ship has foundered.
But inordinate desire for things that
money may procure is not peculiar 10
woman alone. Before clerk or apprentice
has sufficient experience TO be profitable,
they want an advance In wages. So
rapidly does the average begihner-t
are exceptions, of course-obtain extrava.
gapt ideas and an ambition to live better
than he Is doing, that he has no rational
opinion as to what is equitable between
employer and employed. The boy is
scarcely emerged from the chrysalis OF
plain clothing in which lie came to his
situation, before he has watch and chain,
aspires to jewelry and affects an appear.
ance Of great prosperity.
His cigars speedily become daily nee.
essity, and he buys Of the newsboy wheth-
er he reads or not. He patronizes the
soda fountain, the fruit and lemonade
stand when his employer would pass them
by. He cannot shave himself when the
incipient down appears, 1t looks SO manly
to see his cup in the barbers case. lie
hires a livery at two or three dollals a
Sunday while his wages are still two or
three dollars week, and he Il only learn.
ing to make himself useful in shop, facto.
ry or store. As he gets older and his
wages are advanced, his wants multiply,
and his style 10 corespondingly increased.
The freshness Of his wardrobe, the fre-
quency of his pleasure trips, the presents
he feels able to give, are all out OF proper.
tion to what he can really afford II he mar
ries and sets up in. housekeeping, he wants
to begin beyond any attainment of iather
and mother, and to pattern aftel the style
of very prosperous families.
When such false notions prevail, II Is
not difficult TO trace from cause 10 effect
the startling number Of deialcations, busi.
ness failures, cases Of financial and domes-
tic despair, and frequently insanity, crime
and suicide. There was never time
when strict uprightness, answering integ,
rity, obstinate adherence 10 individual
duty, were more demanded to preserve the
balance between right and wrong than
now. There cannot be comfort, security
and prosperity for honest and Christian