The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1908-01-04
FRANK &. HOWE. Editor and Publisher
Pay Your Bills.

The worst feature of a panic is that
1t makes men towards when it does
not make them brutes; and the special
form of cowardice which comes with
financial stress is unwillingness to
part with money, the tendency to
hoard what one has and increase the
peril, instead of generously giving it
out and thus removing the cause of
the peril. In every stringency a host
of people begin by not paying their
bills. Ii is the delay in paying small
bills even more than large ones which
prolongs hard times, and unjustly and
unnecessarily lays heavy burden on
the backs of some of the most prudent
and honest members of the community.
An honest man always pays his debts.
If misfortune overtakes him, the day of
the discharge of his obligation is only
postponed; it comes as soon as he can
make ready for it. But in a time of
panic it is every mans pressing duty
to pay his debts with the utmost
promptness.
There are hosts Of people today who
have money in hand and are letting
their grocers, butchers, milkmen, and
others who supply the necessities of
life go unpaid simply because they are
timid, and, like some country and city
banks, want to collect and keep as
much money on hand as possible; as IL
money were for boarding and not for
circulation. This small-minded pre-
caution is bringing misfortune to many
industries and faithful men and wo-
men. Those who supply the means of
life, whose coming and going from the
house are part of the daily routine Of
keeping the family alive, ought to be
the very last to suffer from delayed
payment. AS matter of fact, they
are the very first. Peope who can still
spend money upon the theater, the
opera, concerts, and other forms of en-
tertainment, are letting their grocers,
butchers, and milkmen go unpaid thus
contributing to the very condition
which makes them cowardly. There
is no longer any reason for timidity;
but If there were, the duty of paying
ones small debts with as great prompt
ness and as deep a sense of RESPONSE
bility as one pays ones large debts
would press still more imperatively
1t is a great deal more honorable to
have small bank account and no un.
paid bills In the house than to have a
large bank account made up by keep
ing money which belongs to other
people.
These paragraphs are from an edi-
torial in the current number of The
Outlook which was written with speci-
al reference to people of means who
are just now neglecting to pay their
small bills because they fear that they
may cut into their bank accounts. But
the application is universal. The adj
monition TO pay your bills" is as
much for small communities as for
large ones-for people of ordinary
means as for those who are rich. Ii is
now well recognized that the beginning
OF the financial stringency was in the
action of many of the national banks
In boarding currency-for fear some
thing might happen-instead of let
ting their money go In the usual
channels Of business. For individuals
now to follow the same timid course is
the height of folly, because it is the
surest way to make the times really
hard"
We are not facing any great disaster
or prolonged depression. There is
general confidence that the early
months of the new year will see bust
ness resuming healthy activity. The
great majority Of people are going to
live and do business and earn money
and spend 1t just as they have always
done, and the very best thing any of us
can do is to heed The Outlook's ad-
vice: act like honorable men and wo.
men by using our money to pay our
bills, so do our share toward keeping
the wheels Of business moving.
Pay your bills-and you will find the
money coming back to pay the bills or
the wages that are due you.