The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1889-03-23
THE DEMON DEBT.
The Safe Rule for Beginners in Lsfs.

The Safe Rule for Beginners in LSfs'
From the Philadelphia Record.
One of the most serious and insid-
ious obstacles in the way of thrift, OF
ease OF mind and of true household
comfort, is the drumming account"
Doubtless the credit system originate
ed in a benevolent intention to do
good, and, in it's wider application, it
is necessary to carry on the great COM
mercial, social and financial undertake
ings OF the world, but it is q great enc
my to home economy. 1t is the foun-
dalton for debt and all the distressing
formula of Indebtedness, duns, notes
OF hand, liens, mortgages and thou
sand-and-one of the miserios and in
cumbrances known to legal phraseol-
ogy and practices which are the bane
OF lie.
Jack Faistaff, who got oil tho good
out OF the credit system there was in
it, declared: off 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 remembered one
half of the meum ct tuum division of
property. His debts never bothered
him except he had difficulty in making
them. Ii the writer had q thousand
sons and daughters the first human
principle she would teach them would
be 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
live in this way, in fact, never have
any income; they have an outgo that
eats up income before it gets inside
the door.
The running account" however, is
more dangerous for the housewife, be-
cause she is not usually either the
wage-earner 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 OF the trouble OF pay
ing for it, 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 q blacksmith's hammer, in
throwing a weaver's 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 we'll
spread, the house tidy, the beds aired,
and the bread well-baked an nutri-
tious, and it is not at all to be Won
dered at that she thinks this is enough.
The 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 i'll thepay 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.
Young couples 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 candlestickmaker 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 &C
counts of his bad customers by taking
larger profits from those who get
credit and pay. Besides, it is a rule,
which acute business men thoroughly
that money is worth and
will usually fetch some rate of interest
or an equivalent sum by being 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 running ac-
counts?" On the contrary, the buyer
who buys for cash can choose where
she will buy, which is a great advan-
tage, and 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 account.
CeJCilnS-uay is always u uay VI sur
prise for the debtor, and bigstore bills
are a perpetual source of family broils
and discomfort. People who pay
''some other day" nine times out OF
ten carry the improvidence OF their
getting into an improvidence of use.
Those who are accustomed to get with
out care use without stint.
There is no rule in the world for large
affairs or small ones like the rule of
''pay as you CO." 1t is the foundation
not only of good finance but of good
temper and good fortune as well. And
the housewife who is wise
enough to give the matter a little seri-
Gus thought and determination enough
to stand by her convictions will need
no monitor to warn her of the folly
and danger of running accounts"