The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-01-20
Pay as You Go.
associate Reformed Presbyterian.

Among the many good resolutions that are
being formed for the control and shaping OF
1t would be a good thing for many OF our read
to adopt the above. Pay rs you 60, or buy
nothing on credit
We are pursuaded that the credit system MS
1t now exists and has existed for some time
past, has more to do with the financial dis
tress of which we hear from year to year. and
the annual bankruptcy and ruin of good men
than amy one thing else.
The gradual decline in the price Of cotton
and other marketable products for the past
few years Is bringing disitster and s0metimeS
disgrace to many OF our citizens. :he pur.
chasing power Of pound OF cotton Is as great
today as it was five years ago, as the price OF
other things has been reduced In ~ similar
proportion. But the mischief wrought Is Que
To the fact there has been no shrlnkage III the
money valuation Of debts contracted years
ago. and while the present crop of cotton will
go as far towards paying for the supplies ol
the present year as it ever did, yet Its power
to pay tie debts contracted In the year lSSO
has been reduced by the corresponding dcpre'
citation in price.
Debts contracted under twelve cent sys-
tenn must be met by the returns OF an eight
or nine cent market. One hundred and fori
would have answered five years ago This IL
one OF the evils of the credit system that Is
working hardships to both farmers and mer'
chants.
Another evil of the system is the fact that
one will make larger and more unnecessary
purchases when buying on credit than when
paying cash. Send two men TO marker, Inc
one with one hundred dollars in his pocket,
the other with permission to buy goods to the
|aInount of one hundred dollars on credit, and
the chances ure nine tOone that the cash ouS'
or will make fewer, wiser and better pur-
chascS, than the credit buyer. There is q ias-
cination in buying on time that. often makes
a man exceedingly reckless and eXtravasnnt
In his purchases. People are often ensared
into making needless purchases by the gentle,
nF
lar statesmen who assure them that their pro.
mise is as good as their money. 1T may DC all
that to the seller, but 1t is neither the safest
nor wisest for the buyer.
The cash system may not he favored by the
merchants. it may reduce his sales, leave old
goods upon his shelves and dispense win an
occasional visit to the Northern markets, but
1t will eventually prove the wiSest. safest ana
TO adopt it fully may be impossible, tn
adopt it in part may call for rigid selfdenial
and untold sacrifices, 1t may cut sharply. and
deeply, but in the end--and the end Will not
The discipline of SELF the habits of economy
acquired, and the surplus left over at the END
of the year, would be more than n liberal
compensation for the pain and denial 1t ell
tailed.
It would be infinitely better for the morals
of the country If merchants would draw the
lines more rigidly and sell less on credit. the
extension of time from year to year wh1ch
has tDe VI !lSI\y 10 '''''>
Kindness to the buyer. The process Is contin-
ued from year to year, until the unfortunate
man becomes hopelessly involved, and all his
property is absorbed by the debt. If prompt
payment had been insisted on ut the outest
and the sheriff called in If necessary. the les
son would have done good and the poor fel-
low left with something with which to hegin
life anew. Then he would have been Slight
~ poorer but much wiser man. Now he Is
literally "cleaned up,' and left to start anew
with nothing but damaged reputation. TOO
much leniency weakens moral obligation.
Excuse a man from paying an honest debt
and next year he thinks himself beStcwins
quite Il favor on you II he pays, and IL the
debt lies over until the third year he half per-
suades himself that he ought not to pay, or II
YOU press him for the money lie denOunccS
you as Il heartless eXtcrtioner and cruel per-
secutOr. .
That sense of moral obligation which
sh ould have been as q band Of steel around
the mans harac,er, protecting it from wrap
and twist, has been atteluattd into Il gos
samer thread which the lightest breath OF
policy may sunder in a moment. Such Il sys.
TEN as the one described has been intuen tial
in bringing about the low standard of moral
obligation that pervails In many localities, a
standard that has rendered the collection OF
an honest debt as next to an imposSbility
unless the aid OF q legal process Is reSorted TO-
Nothing but an invincible determination TT
come out OF and 10 keep out Of debt will save
the country from moral as well as flnancial
disaster. Abolish the credit and adopt the
cash system. go
Pay as YOU 60. and in the end it will pay
you an hundred fold.