Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1888-05-03
THE DEMON DEBT
The SAT. Ruls for nsr,nn.-.,.r..,

The Safe Rule for beginners In Lifs.
From the Philadelphia Record.
One OF the most serious and insid.
lous obstacles in the way of thrift, OF
ease OF mind and OF true household
comfort, is the "running account"
doubtless the credit system original.
ca In benevolent intention to do
good, and, in its wider application. it
Is necessary to carry on the great com.
mercial, social and financialundertak
ings OF the world, but it is q great enc
my to home economy. 1t is the foun.
dation for debt and all tho distressing
formula OF Indebtedness, duns, notes
OF hand, liens, mortgages and thou
sand-and-one of the miseries and in.
cumorances known to legal phraseol-
ogy and practices which are the bane
of life.
Jack Faistaf, who got all the good
out OF the credit system there was in
1t, declared: off / 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 remembered one
nan OF the mei,m ct tuum division of
property. His debts never bothered
MN except he had difficulty in making
them. II the writer had thousand
sons and daughters the first human
principle she would teach them would
De never to establish running &C.
count. No one can live within his or
her income who spends money in
advance OF earning it. Persons who
i've In this way, in fact, never have
any income; they have an outgo that
eats up income before il gets inside
| the door.
The running account" however, is
more dangerous for the housewife. be-
cause she is not usually either the
wage-esrner or the pay master in the
household. She gets what she wants
on credit, because there is no particu-
lar trouble in getting it and without
the appreciation oil thetroubleof pay
ing Tor 1t, which grows out OF the
necessity OF scraping the dollars to-
gether in whatever way the husband
comes by his money, whether it be in
swinging blacksmith's hammer. in
throwing a weavers shuttle, in meas.
uring tape and molasses or in guiding
the handles OF his pillow. She does the
multifarious and never ending work OF
her household, keeps the table well
spread, the house tidy, the beds aired.
| and the bread we'll baked an nutri.
tious, and it is not at all to be won
dered Mt that she thinks this is enough.
| Tho mistake is in the beginning in
having things that are not paid for.
The housekeeper who spends only
what money she has to spend is not
| only relieved of the worry ofdebt-for
what worries the husband will worry
the good wife-but she is made a con.
scious power in the pay and provender
| department of her establishment. In.
| stead OF being a drag upon her hus
bands energies she is made to under.
stand for herself the Limitations of the
fund which she draws upon and how
much may be paid and how much laid
up for emergencies.
Youngcouples who start out by run.
ming in debt should remember that
they cannot, in the long run, get an
inch the start of the world in that
way. They can only live up to their
earning after all is said and done. By
running an account with the butcher.
the baker and can,llestickmaker. they
give these several dealers an oppor-
tunity to charge them high prices for
their purchases. The storekeeper
who sells his wares on credit is al.
ways obliged to make good the ac-
counts of his bad customers by taking
larger profits from those who Get
credit and paw. Besides, it is a rule,
which acute business men thoroughly
understand, that money is worth and
will usually fetch some rate OF interest
or an equivalent sum bv bein, fire..
quently turned over. 1t is not fair to
suppose that the shopkeeper looks TO
his credit customer to make good the
deficit in his bank account brought
about by the system of drumming ac-