The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-02-27
SMALL SAVINGS.
True Economy One of the characteristics
of Generous People.

to preach. One of mine concerns this
question of true economy.
1t seems to me that the whole foun-
dation of American society, of American
progress, would be strengthened did
we cultivate different views in this mat
ter. met once an old lady who struck
me as having a perfect economic theory.
l first observed it in seeing her rescue
from the garret-shelf bent brass match
box. 81 will take that" she said, land
have it mended." Somebody Temon-
strated: "What use will it be when it
is mended?" for she lived in a hand
some house with dainty modern APP.
pointments, and the matchbox was
old-fashioned 81 don't want it for
myself; will have it mended and give
it to Mrs. Martin Their washerwomanl.
1t will look very pretty IN her house"
l was greatly struck with that. | had
never seen anybody spend money to
repair mere ornament before giving
it to a poor person. And afterwards I
noticed how this principle, of wasting
nothing in order to give all she could
underlay her everyday life. Why
throw away what would benefit
others, what others-when the thing
thrown away is food or clothes-are
suffering for?a If you are too much of
an American to be willing to save out
of regard to your own purse and your
own advancement in life, at least you
need not be ashamed to save in OrCBer to
give. Cold bits thrown away are an
iniquity; is it not so? Is it very differ
ent from murder to destroy food? Do
YOU not know that there is not food
enough in some houses near you to
keep the family alive? | do not mean
that any of them are dying of starva-
tion-probably not; but the doctors say
that the members of an underfed
family are apt to die off to something
like the number which the amount of.
food in that family is calculated to-
nourish; and still more certainly-an
even worse 5hing-they grow up with
deficient strength in ratio, on the
average, to their deficiency of food.
You say that you have no poor neigh
bors, that you live in the country, that
habitual gratuitN to the poor is their
ruin. Grant all that, but the sin of
wasting what the world needs remains
the same The, problem works out
differently, that is ALL What you save
you save, and can give; for you will
admit that in this world, "'full' not
alone ''of mouths that lack bread, " but
''of souls that lack light" there are
some needs which are safe. and right to
give to. If YOU have not a worthy
widow near by who viii make extra
good use of that piece of bread-crust
(and of the many others Ike ,it,) you
can adopt the theory of Jane Carlyle,
''They have no business to have bread
cruss," and utilize such things as she
did, in your own cookery Time is
valuable, and often tine very worst
waste consists III saving q penny at the
cost of dime worth of time; but | am
not speaking against wise judgment in
that am speaking of wanton waste,
almost intentional,. because the thing
wasted is small, and beneath saving by
a free American citizen Is it beneath
YOU to have greater margin of money
| at the end of the week for your Sunday
offering? WIllnot the world move on
| Just that much better and more happily
Or perhaps yourconscientiOras refusa!
to waste may lift your' family in the
end to higher plane, not only in
comfort, but in usefulness. Perhaps
you may, like Mrs. CARLYLE herself, be
| the sole cause of a great success; for
| CARLYLE could not have been famous if
he had had nothing 10, eat; and had she
lived on the plan on which half of our
| mechanics live-ashamed to be
"saving"-jt; would very soon have
come to that!
For there is the difficulty-that they
are ashamed to saves. not that they are
| unwilling to take trouble. But the
prejudice against -meanness," as they
most untruly call exact economy, is
deeply ingrained into the national
mind, TILL. / de- believe. they often
scrape away intos tlie sink what they
would rather keep bat for the feeling
that it would not be the thing for a
| prosperous man 3 wife to do
People complain of the food wasted
by their cooks: baat | am inclined tc
| think that these cooks, when they
marry, do very mG1eh the same in theil
own homes; al Ieast till disaster comes
and perhaps teaches them lifelong les
son. Disaster may never come, or not fol
many years; yet, all the same, the rls'
of that family in life would have beer
faster had the feeling not ruled that il
is mean t@ be careful TO throw AVA,
nothing.
This does not apply to women only
BW no means. The same coEd
biooded disregard of small wastes
moro generally, in their case, in ex
penses, small sums of money tEuns
Freely about unnecessarily, simply be
cause people are looking on and the.
are ashamed not to be free-handesi-i
even more apparent in many men
Notice a young business man in tn
West. He may be in daily fear o
losing mis- situation, may be with
ing under debt, may have mother
and sisters somewhere who nee,
all he can send them, and yet he falls il
with this fatal tone of the men aroun
him, and avoids the appearance c
saving as he would the appearance o
stealing. Plenty or poverty, so tn
lottery goes; ard men of all classe
aceustom their minds to expect to hay
it so. Like a great many other ''di&
pensations Of Providence the down
! 4 ~ f,,,.It