The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1896-10-01
THE USE OF PENNIES.
The Foundation of Wealth ana inc
Basis OF Prosperity.

Basis Of Prosperity.
Walter Howard in Atlanta Journal
a short stay in Now York Will con
vince any 0bservant Southcrner tnaI
tho part which the penny plays IN ne
in this great center OF population &C
counts, in u great measure, lor inc
fact that there is such vast accumu-
| latiOn Of wealth hcreabOuts. IL Will
also convince him that tho South ana
the West lose great deal by virtue
OF the fact that the penny plays no
part in those sections as a medium OF
barter and trade.
| Up here tho penny, the insiGnificant,
contemplate little copper cent, that
nobody will touch in the South, that 1s
scorned as beneath consideration and
cast into Northern made slot machines
or any other convenient receptacle as
total y unworthy Of ownership. is a
powerful factor in the upbuilding OF
fortunes, in the maintenance OF whole
families, and in the conduct Of the
largest, as well as tho smallest
branches and channels of business
From the ncwsboys, whose single
standard and unit of value is the penny,
to the greatest department stores Of
this metropolis, which scale all their
prices to the lowest penny's concession,
the copper cent plays an exceedingly
important part in the daily course of
events.
In the mattor of the street venders'
trade it is an all-powerful factor. In
the South If you want an apple or oven
two apples to eat as you walk or at
your desk, or if you fancy q banana or
u pear, or a few peanuts, you must
buy at least five cents worth of them,
receiving three or four apples, as
many bananas, two or three pears, and
enough peanuts to make yourself and
all of your friends sick. You must
take on this large stock or go without
the dainty. The vender will not hear
to selling less than five cents worth of
anything and you nro compelled to
buy three times what YOU reu,y want.
The difference up here is quite
marked. The penny, as / have said,
is tho unit of value With these fakirs
An apple, pear, banana, q block of
peanut candy, aud innumerablc other
dc ellcacies can be had for the insigniti-
cant cent. You do not miss the outlay
and yet get all that you wish for the
time being. Two results follow. People
here get what they want cheaper and
trade is vastly stimulated by tho fact
that you can buy so little at Il time
| that you do not miss the amount spent.
| Both sidcs-the purchaser and the
and both are thoroughly satisfied with
| it.
But greater than this the penny is
the basis OF fortune up here. 1t is an
admonition o: frugality's advantages.
1t teaches the saving habit and cmpha-
sizes in really wonderful manner the
value OF nickles and dimes and dollars.
Mover can Southern man appre-
ciatc the expression, "a dollar looked
as big as q cart wheel to him." until he
gets mp there among these penny-sav-
ing people.
| Tho penny habit does not stop with
the use Of the cent itself, but cuts to
| the half cent and even further On
all OF the ferries ana on the cable cars
over Brooklyn bridge the fare for a
single trip is three cents. If you buy
two tickets at a time you get them for
z! cents each, saving a half cent, or
one whole cent on the two tickets. If
you buy six or II at Il time the saving
is larger in proportion. So even the
half cent cuts its swath in financial
operations. The maintenance Of that
superb monument to engineering skill
anu gcnius-the Brooklyn bridgc-is
based upon the half cent, such great
properties as the New York World and
New York Journal are buildcd by the
insignificant half-ccnts that are made
on the sale Of each copy to the news
companies, the great Statue Of Liberty
that stands on Bcdloe's island, furnish
ing inspiration to tho universe Of
liberty lovers, was itself mado up by
its pennies Of the French bourgeousie.
The South and her people and the
profligatc West should both cultivate
the penny habit" 1t has laid the
foundation of tho East's solid wealth.
1t has builded thousands Of homes and
made men Of small beginnings inde-
pendent up in this neck OF the woods
and it will do as much for the people
OF Othcr sections if they will but give
the "contcmptblo copper" the con-
sideration that it deserves and for
which it promises SO handsome re-
turn.