Year: 1877




wards has dealt with the question: Of political
and social economy. To the latter especially
attention has been largely devoted, and the
advantages of frugality have been descanted
upon. Even the most extravagsut amongst
us have times when we decide upon econo-
mizing and when we deliver household lee
lures on the necessity of retrenchment. Cor
porations as well as individuals have periodi-
cal attacks of virtue, when the subject OF
municipal extravaganza is discussed and plans
are adopted to lessen the burdens under which
the community labor. OF cou>re, it Is super
fluous to dilate upon economic ideas to men
and who can hardly succeed in keeping the
wolf from the door, and yet some benefit
may be derived from dealing with the ques-
ton of what really are luxuries. One can
hardly take up magazine in which there is
not to be found some article which treats CT
the quality of the various kinds of food which
society consumes, anaiyzes their compounds,
shows their brain producing power and the
increase of Drawn and muscle which may be
brought about by their use The science of
chemistry has in this and various other ways
been put to practical use. The air which we
breathe has been weighed and examined and
its effects on the physical system described.
To the farmer chemistry has come and shown
him to what particular uses his soil is adapted,
and how by judicious combination he may
be able to gain larger crop. 1t has pointed
out what will make the fat and greasy citizen
lean, and give some one who had as lean and
hungry a look as Cassius had an air of rotuDd-
ity. Every newspaper has its household col
umn, where affairs of the kitchen are discuss
ed and useful recipes given, schools for cook
ing have been established. cheap restaurants
have been opened, and an enlerprising woman
has lately opened an eating house in New
York where any article on the bill of fare can
be had for cent.


In various other ways this desire for econo-
my has begun to make itself known. The
world of trade swsrms with limitations, and it
is hard sometimes to distinguish the real arti-
Gle worn by the mistress from the imitation
on the person of the maid. Paste diamonds,
sham jewelry, imitation furs and seal skins
are in as much demand as the originals, and
the inventive skill of mechanics and producers
is often taxed to make something which will
have all the features of the more costly article,
and yet which can be sold at one tenth of its
price. Now, as this shows that even in their
most economical mood mankind have still q
longing for luxuries, the real question to
which we ought to devote ourselves should be
how best to increase the taste for those
things which will have ahumsnizing influence
on the mind and strengthen its productive
powers.


An attempt was lately made in England to
ascertain the share of certain articles con-
sumed by the three classes into which tie
population of the United Kingdom is sup
posed to be divided. The Philadelphia Eve
ming Telegraph, which mentions this, adds
the result was as follows: Upper class,
1,00O, 900 persons, 174 per cent. of tea con-
sumed and 22t per cent. of coffee; the middle
class, 100000 persons, 3s per cent. tea
consumed and 3S per cent. sugar, and of the
lover class, $4,000, 900 persons, tea consumed
Az per ceut. and sugar 39t per cent These
articles are, of course, ordinarily reckoned
among the necessaries of life, and yet their use
is much greater amongst the upper than the
middle classes. The same journal which
states this fact is of opinion that in this coun'
try the consumption of the middle class is
proportionately much greater than in Great
Britain; that "the desire to gain and the de-
sire to spend are antagOnistic. They meet in
almost any act Of life, and one or the other
must have its way. Luxury is the victory of
the latter passion


We have before pointed out how necessary
it is that a nation should not forget its intel
iectual elevation in the desire to become rich,
and to practice the virtue of economy


'IIl fares that land to Fastening ills prey,


Where wealth aooumulates and men decay"
and when to our longing for wealth is added
parsimonious and niggardly spirit there is a
danger that we will forget those weightier
matters which add so much to our national
prosperity. Independent of the lessons which
we are continually striving to impress upon
the laboring classes as to living within their
income, there are other teachings which we
can impart to them. The expositions of art
and industry which have been held through
out the country have not only increased pro-
duction but have elevated our social tastes,
and each step in this direction will help to
Danish that love for luxuries which is simply
the outgrewth of fashion and habit, serve to
raise mems minds above thoughts only of pro-
duction and accumulation, and help TO solve
the vexed question of domestic economy
Ralfim0Ie American.