Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1886-08-06
THE DEMON DEBT.
Evils of Running Account"-Words
of Wholesome Advice.

thrift, of ease of mind and of true
household comfort, says contem-
porary, is the drumming account
Doubtless the credit system origi-
mated in benevolent intention to
do good, and, i'll its wider applica-
ton, it is necessary to carry on the
great commercial, social and finan-
cial undertakings of the world, but
it is a great enemy to home econO-
my. 1t is the foundation for debt
and all the distressing formula of
indebtedness, duns, notes of hand,
liens, mortgages, and a thousand
and.one of the miseries and in
cumbrances known to legal phrase
olOgy and practice which are the
bahe of life.
Jack Falstah, who got all the
good out of the credit system there
was in it, declared; "lf l had a
thousand sons the first human
principle | would teach them
should be to forswear their
rotations and addict themselves
to sack" But Jack was the
prince:of scapegraces, and only re-
membered one-half of the meam ct
tuum division of property. His
debts never bothered him, except
he had difficulty in making them.
If the writer had a thousand sons
and daughters the first human
principle she would teach them
would be never to establish a run
ming account. No one can live
within his or her income who
spends money in advance of earn.
ing it. Persons who live in this
way, in fact, never have any in
come; they have an outgo that eats
up income before it gets inside the
door. ...
The "running account" however,
is more dangerous for the house
wife, because she is not usually
either the wage-earner or the pay
master ia the household. She gets
what she wants on credit, because
there is no particular trouble in
getting it, and without the appreci-
alton of the trouble of paying for
it, which grows out of the neces-
sity for scraping the dollars to-
gether in whatever way the hus-
band comes by his money, whether
it be in swinging a blacksmith's
hammer, in throwing a weavers
shuttle, in measuring tape and
moiasses, or in guiding the handles
of his pillow. She does the multi
tarious and never-ending work of
her household, keeps the table we'll.
spread, the house tidy, the beds
aired. and the bread well baked
and nutritious, and it is not at all
TO be wondered at that she thinks
this is enough. The mistake is in
the beginning in having things that
arc not paid for. The housekeeper
who spends only what money she
has TO spend is not only relieved OF
the worry Of debtor what worries
the husband will worry the good
wife-but she is made a conscious
power in the pay and provenc"r
department Of her establishment.
Instead of being drag upon her
husbands energies she is made to
understand for herself the limita-
tons of the fund which she draws
upon, and how much may he paid
ont and how much laid up for
emergencies.
Young couples who start out by
running in debt should remember
that they cannot, in the long run,
get an inch the start of the world
10 that way. They can only live
ND to their earnings after all IS
said and done. BY running an &C
count with the butcher, the baker,
and candlestickmaker, they give
these several dealers an oppor-
tunity to charge them high prices
for their purchases. The store
keeper who sells his wares on
credit is always obliged to make
good the accounts OF his bad Gus
toners by taking larger profits
from those who get credit and pay
Besides, it is a rule, which acute
business men thoroughly under
stand, that money is worth and
will usually fetch some rate of in
terest, or an equivalent sum, by
being frequently turned over. Is
it not fair to suppose that the shop
keeper looks to his credit customer
to make good the deficit in his
bank accounts brought about by
the system of drumming accounts|
On the contrary, the buyer who
buys for cash can choose where she
will buy, which is great advan-
tage, aud she can buy for lower
prices. The cash price is always
the lowest and the cash customer
is always the preferred customer.
1t too often happens that no
check is kept upon the running ae-
count. Settling day is always a
day of surprise for the debtor, ard
big store bills are a perpetual source
of family broils and discomfort
People who pay "some other day"
nine times out of ten carry the i'm
providence of their getting into an
improvidence of use. Those who
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