The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1884-10-15
Little Things.

haS t'Ne ''seA>
Of water, little grains of sand, make the
might ocean and the pleasant land : but
that fact does not make great impress
upon young or old. The ocean is mighty
and the land is vast ; and no one thinks
of the size of the atom of which this
ponderous globe is composed, but OF the
enormous number of atoms it contains.
The lesson Of the importance OF little
things is most important and most diff
cult to learn. The best way to learn it is
by studying the absolute value Of hose
little things, and not by dwelling upon
the great things which are the result Of
them.
For example: it is very impressive
fact that the whole income Of the peo-
pie in this country is an average OF al
most exactly fifty cents a day. This
sum includes the profits Of the rich and
the wages Of the poor. 1t represents not
only the value of what is consumed, but
the accumulation of wealtl-what is
left over each day as fund t" he drawn
upon afterward.
When we consider this fact, We cam
not help thinking Of the Importance of
one cent. 1t is an appreciate. part Of
the income Of a person for one day. And
if it he also considered that very large
majority Of the people receive less than
the average, the proportion which one
cent bears to the daily income is in.
ceeased.
Now this very impressive lesson may
I've at once forgotten in the establishment
with which one hears that the total
yearly production of the country, which
makes the gross annual income Of the
people. is ten Thousand million dollars.
The mind loves to dwell on great things
rather than on little ones. and the pro-
portion of one cent TO this vast sum
seeing 50 infinitely small that the i'm
portance of the penny diminishes nro-
digiOusly.
There are no trit1es in this life. Trade
is carried on upon extremely narrow
margins. A certain city of this county
| lost the almost exclusive trade in great
article Of foreign production, and cOnse
qnently large part of its foreign com
Inerce. Mca,lse the State Of which that
city formed a part imposed what seemed
All exceedingly light tax upon auction
sales
A difference of one-sixteenth Of cent
pound in the price of cotton decides
whether factory shall make loss Or
profit. On some of our great railroads
the cost of moving one ton Of freight one
mile is figured down to the onc-hund-
reth part Of cent.
This is the time ofvear when the poll
! ticians endeavor to impress upon the
people the importance of one vote They
are right. \ governor of Massachusetts,
WAS once elected by one vote. The Dem
| ocratic and Republican parties contend
ed in Congress, in 1877, for four weeks
over the electoral votes given in Deem
Der. 1876 Had the Republicans lost one
vote which they claimed. Mr.. Tilden
and not Mr.. Hayes would have been
President.
| Little acts, too, bring Oh great conse-
quences. In 1874 Il very large majority
Of the Democratic party were in favor of
nominating Mr., Van Buren, for Presi-
dent. Four weeks before the COnvcn-
ton was to meet, Mr.. Van Buren, pub
lished letter in which he opposed the
annexation of Texas. That letter cost
him the nomination, and made Mr..
Polk President and the Mexican war
which might never have occurred if Mr..
VanBuren or Mr.. Clay had been elected
seems to have been a traceable result Of
the letter.
Examples of this sort might be given
without end. They all teach the same
lesson: Be careful about little things
Take care Of the pence. Choose youl
words, and utter no idle or thoughtless
ones. Govern each act by conscience
Commit no little sins, and you will com
nit no great ones.-l 'OmpaniOn.