The Arizona champion., 1884-04-05
EA QUESTIONABLE BLESSING.

A writer once said; 'Debt is bless ing to young man," and then went on tc show that young man in debt ac- quired habits of saving by endeavoing to liquidate the debt, and that disposi tion having been established would prove blessing. While to certain extent this may be true, yet as d whole the fallacy of such proposition or principle is obvious to the most casual observer. Debt is, on the contrary, a bad thing for any man, young or old, to get into. To be sure there are times and circumstances which will place a man in debt in spite of himself, but yet it is false an untenable notion % say that debt is blessing, when in fact it is to an honorable man an irksome burden, and burden which contains more elements of Encouragement than any other one thing in the life of a man. Debt to an honorable man means wor- ". It means the undermining of health, in many instances, by over exertion to discharge the obligation. A man whose health has thus been impaired cannot look with any degree of satisfaction up- on debt as a blessing, but on the con trary, he considers, and rightly too, that it is curse. The aim, then, of man, especially young man, should be to keep out of debt. A more healthy habit of economy would be engendered by such a course, and the schooling de- rived from curbing the desire for things beyond ones means would prove by far the greater blessing than that sup posed to exist in debt.
 To contract debt, q mans credit must be good. Credit, then, may be, or it may not be good thing. It is good thing in so far as it can be main tained, but it cannot be sustained if the professor of it persists in contracting debts. It would be of far greater bene- fit to refuse a young man credit than to give it, and allow him to assume bur densome obligations If young man desires to put on airs with suit of broadcloth, and can obtain that shit on- ly on credit, it would be far better to compel him first to save his money with which to make the purchase. By such course, not only the tradesman but the young man would be benefited. The first by avoiding questionable ac- count on his books, and the second, by acquiring a habit of saving money for some special object. In great many instances this desire to save would be- come permanent desire, and the young man would not only lay by means for fine suit of clothes, but he would get into the habit of "saving something for rainy day" or to go in- to business. The denial of credit is liable to stimulate young man to lay ing the foundation, and building up of fortune. His credit would thus be firmly established, but having formed thrifty habits, he has no special need of it, but should a time come, he will find himself in a position to command credit in any legitimate enterprise, where it would be equal to an unlimited amount of ready cash. His thriftiness, and previous record ofnot encumbering him self with debts having thoroughly es- tablished his credit and the confidence of others in his financial ability. When such is the case then it may be that he can consider his credit blessing, but as rule it should not so be considered and on the contrary it should be avoided and no debts contracted. The man who works on salary is wise in not con tracting debts, no matter how highly lis credit may be considered. He may, in an unlocked for hour find himself out of employment and money, with debts staring him in the face. Under such circumstances, and they are liable to oc- cur in any mans life, debt cannot be considered blessing, but on the con trary it is a curse that comes to torment and worry the ambition all out of man. The only sure way then, for young man is to keep his credit good by not contracting debts. Keep out of debt, and then by life of thrift you can expect to enjoy competency in your old age. That "debt is a blessing to a young man" is a false and dangerous notion and one not to be entertained if you wish to succeed.