Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1888-12-27
Var Of Charles Broad,cay ROWSs on the
Credit System.

Var or ChdfeS Bf0ndlCdY HOuSS on inc
Credit System.
From the Auctioa Trade Journal for December.
As potent as the % per cent. or MOI
so is that lever known as incessant appli-
cation-that is to say the master must
stand by the big wheel first, last al the
time. Unles the generl leads and watch
es and drives from erly morn until the
close, the devil wi run away with every
thing. OF what value is the net spot
cash twenty-five per ct. on real bargains to
the hustler who branches out into poltiX,
horse races and religion, winding up in
gambling dens of forty rod and faro
The gains of the da ar swept ava in the
Unsuitable APPETITE for still more desperate
ventures. Agen, there are thousands
who toll as persistently as ever the sol
diers of Church st. did, but under false
system that is beaten by the tru, level
heded champion upon safer, spedier and
hier planes. The cash before delivery
advocate who drives along upon these
iron trax with unswerving fidelity will
always win. But upon the old tedium
and hard lines of unlimited credit, ther
is hardly one chance out of hundred to
keep from going under, and the mercan-
tile conscripts who hav served ther time
under masters who fant and fel and per-
ished in the dedly swet box of hi tariff
and unlimited time, hav Termed a lesson
tha vii never forget. Tha have witnest
the melancholy pictur Of integrity and
industry with thousands upon the damp,
musty pages of the ledger turned out to
root hog or di' in mental torture, utter
ably unimaginable. Tha wilnot forget
the clever leder ava up in courage, court
esy and push-popular, genial, liberal
oldfashioned, betor da, bangup-clerk-
ing for one of his clerks at a dollar a da,
with a kindly look, hoping that some day
his old friend will turn honest and pa up.
The impresiv pictur is imperishably foto
grapht upon memory's walls, and the
yung gladiator jumping into the arena
means to run no risks, but lanches his
out among the masses rcd
hot from under the hamer alta clean,
clos, decisiv cash before delivery figure,
and the lesson of his first da vii last al
thro life with his fame and fortune won.
Not alone the conscripts but the veter-
ans who hav been skotcht and scOrcht by
the ledger vitrol and sulfuric acid, but
with still enough saved to make another
fght,-hav caut the inspiration and reso-
luton to jump from the rotten hulk be-
fore it sunk. Thes enthusiasts who hav
felt the iron heel of credit and the peIf-
dy of friendship, hav with the resolution
of desperation laid down the law and placed
abov their doorway the two leviathans Of
commerce, cash down. One da and its
over. Values that have been smasht and
shivered by the red flag people, dealt out
at fair, honest, % per cent. profit, con-
vince his crowds that he is in ded ernest
in his splendid struggle for supremacy.
His murdrous crossfre into competition,
his unapproachable specialties, his hard
hitting, jaw smashing, mock down trac-
tons hav renderd him famous, almost in
a da, and the walk over is a matter Of
absolute certainty. He stops one in a
while to wonder why he had never thaut
of the short, safe, sure cut before. Why
he had wasted his glorious prime in trust
ing land pirates who's pada dates beyond
the Jordan. 1t was plain enuf after his
first days battle that thousand clos,
quick profits was the near, rite road, beat
ing the old lonely turnpike way of 100
per cent. on eternal time. 1t costs moth
Ing to try, and a single da vii solve the
problem and obliterate forever every YES
tige of resolution. The magic pulveri-
zer no, thrilling in its unconscious eloqu-
ence and pathos, vii be as sweet as the
anthems of the wild winds of heaven,
and the pada fellows will plank down the
almighty dollar with the resignation Of
Job. The sad, very eye vii no longer
peer up into infinite space, but glisten in
ecstacy that the hart ache and mite swet
are at least ended and the brite sunshine
ono more gilds the live long, happy day.
That there hav been successful time
merchants, statistix must concede, but
ask even them and tha vii admit in can
dor that under no circumstances wd tha
ever tramp agen that uninviting and
cherries road. They vii tel Z that it
was terrific strain on perfect integrity to