The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-09-01
DEBT AND WHAT IT MEANS.
Risks Incurred by a Poor sian When
He Becomes q borrower.

He Becomes q Borrower.
Four letters spell ruin; four others spell
debt; but 10 the poor man each set should
mean the same. To facilitate exchange.
to make possible the financing OF great
enterprises, the assumption OF debt is
essential. but in the one case the ability
to settle is always present, unimpaired
by the obligation: in the other there is
usually a corporations long life and the
good business prospect which made bond
borrowing advisable 10 secure respective
ly ease in the payment and profit in the
venture. So too with a church, city,
OF a nation, which can shift upon pos
terity the burden undertaken for poster
ity's benefit. there Is good and wisdom In
debt.
But with the poor man the case is vast
ly different His debt frequently is con-
tracted for what should be regarded by
him as a luxury and unnecessary. The
desire to emulate the more expensive liy-
ing OF the better paid Smith or Jones, to
send his children TO as fashionable a
school az the little Smiths or the young
Joneses attend, the eager wish to see his
wife hold up as dressy head as Mrs.
Smith or Nine. Jones, often tempts him
to consider the very smooth advertise
ment OF the shyloek. There is no divi-
dend on that investment. and it cannot
be left to posterity 70 pay Neither is it
an obligation undertaken for convenience,
which he could discharge at the moment
at q mere loss Of time and business. 1t
Is further mortgage on a future already
well mortgaged to the needs Of bringing
up his family.
The charges. enchantingly easy In the
distance of a month or two, soon set
their exorbitanee TO snatch the food from
wife and children. soon put the gloss Of
shabbiness on the mans own clothes.
soon drive him desperately TO other dan
&c rous harbors. His ability to meet the
interest demands grows less with his own
despair; that same vampire, feeding
ceaselessly on brain and nerve, makes his
work worthless or next 20 It; his position
becomes imperiled; he foresees a blacker
outlook for wife and children than any
one else could dream-well. sometimes he
commits suicide and so ends II all.
But suppose the loan 10 be only one
lightly and thoughtlessly accepted from a
friend. The effect on the mental condi-
ton is little better. The borrower begins
by feeling that the friend glories in his
ability to lend. He next detests the
friend for the supposed sentiment Until
he is able 20 pay he avoids that friend;
and every time one man skulks to avoid
the eye Of his fellow-man he is nearer to
dishonesty. and dangerously near 10 such
form Of criminality as he is naturally
most inclined 10.
Again his work suffers. He has the
constant worry which does not permit
the best use Of brain or hand he is in
clined TO be quarrelsome with wife and
children, for some fiend whispers 10 him
that II he had not them 10 keep he might
easily resume his seif-respect by payment
Quarrels at home lead 20 poorer efforts
on his part abroad; he sees the ground OF
permanency Of employment slipping away
from him.
He now is in despair There is a chance
70 steal; II means to his tortured mind
rehabilitation he steals and is lost.
These are extreme cases, perhaps but
the principle is the same in all. Debt for
the poor man IS the assassin OF manhood
and hope. the tempter to crime. the hend
that gleefully leads 10 danger. 10 destruc-
ton. WILLIAM J. O'BRIEN.