Thrift

Socrates recommends fathers of families to observe the practice of their thrifty neighbours--of those who spend their means to the best…

Samuel Johnson fully knew the straits of poverty. He once signed his name _Impransus_, or _Dinnerless_. He had walked the streets with Savage, not…

"Self-love and social are the same," says one of our poets. The man who improves himself, improves the world. He adds one more true man to the mass.…

The sum and substance of our remarks is this: In all the individual reforms or improvements that we desire, we must begin with ourselves. We must…

The uncertainty of life is a strong inducement to provide against the evil day. To do this is a moral and social, as well as a religious duty. "He…

The uncertainty of life is proverbially true. The strongest and healthiest man may be stricken down in a moment, by accident or disease. If we take…

Equally extensive observations have been made as to the average number of persons of various ages who die yearly. It is always the number of the…

Indeed, there would seem to be no such thing as chance in the world. Man lives and dies in conformity to a law. A sparrow falls to the ground in…

Now it is the business of man to understand the laws of health, and to provide against their consequences,--as, for instance, in the matter of…

Many people have yet to learn, that virtue, knowledge, freedom, and prosperity must spring from themselves. Legislation can do very little for them:…

The spendthrift laughs at legislation. The drunkard defies it, and arrogates the right of dispensing with forethought and self-denial,--throwing upon…

The cry sickens the soul. It shows gross ignorance of the first elements of personal welfare. Help is in men themselves. They were born to help and…

The number of well-paid workmen in this country has become very large, who might easily save and economize, to the improvement of their moral…

In "prosperous times" they spend their gains recklessly, and when adverse times come, they are at once plunged in misery. Money is not used, but…

"Prosperous times" are very often the least prosperous of all times. In prosperous times, mills are working full time; men, women, and children are…

If this apparent prosperity be closely examined, it will be found that expenditure is increasing in all directions. There are demands for higher…

Thus, when a population is thoughtless and improvident, no kind of material prosperity will benefit them. Unless they exercise forethought and…

In making the preceding observations we do not in the least advocate the formation of miserly, penurious habits; for we hate the scrub, the screw,…

"Where is their common sense? Alas, what imprudence! Early marriages; many children; poor-rates, and the workhouse.... They are born; they are…

England is one of the richest countries in the world. Our merchants are enterprising, our manufacturers are industrious, our labourers are…

Parliamentary reports have again and again revealed to us the miseries endured by certain portions of our working population. They have described the…

Much of the existing misery is caused by selfishness--by the greed to accumulate wealth on the one hand, and by improvidence on the other.…

With respect to the poorer classes,--what has become of them in the midst of our so-called civilization? An immense proportion of them remain…

They work, eat, drink, and sleep: that constitutes their life. They think nothing of providing for to-morrow, or for next week, or for next year.…

Captain Parry found the Esquimaux near the North Pole as uncivilized as the miserable creatures who inhabit the dens of our great cities. They were,…

And yet Mr. Denison clearly saw that if the people were sufficiently educated, and taught to practise the virtue of Thrift, much of this misery might…

After showing how married men might also save, Mr. Denison goes on to say, "Saving is within the reach of nearly every man, even if quite at the…

No one can reproach the English workman with want of industry. He works harder and more skilfully than the workman of any other country; and he might…

Hence, the skilled workman, unless trained in good habits, may exhibit no higher a life than that of the mere animal; and the earning of increased…

Though trade has invariably its cycles of good and bad years, like the lean and fat kine in Pharaoh's dream--its bursts of prosperity, followed by…

This habitual improvidence--though of course there are many admirable exceptions--is the real cause of the social degradation of the artizan. This…

We have certainly had numerous "Reforms." We have had household suffrage, and vote by ballot. We have relieved the working classes of the taxes on…

Franklin, with his shrewd common sense, observed, "The taxes are indeed very heavy; and if those laid on by the Government were the only ones we…

Lord John Russell once made a similar statement to a body of working men who waited upon him for the purpose of asking relief from taxation. "You…

Complaining that the laws are bad, and that the taxes are heavy, will not mend matters. Aristocratic government, and the tyranny of masters, are…

Those who say that "It can't be done," are probably not aware that many of the working classes are in the receipt of incomes considerably larger than…

That this is the case, is not, by any means, a secret. It is published in blue-books, it is given in evidence before parliamentary committees, it…

Families employed in the cotton manufacture are able to earn over three pounds a week, according to the number of the children employed.[1] Their…

The wages are similar in the Burnley district, where food, drink, and dress absorb the greater part of the workpeople's earnings. In this, as in…

The operatives employed in the woollen manufacture receive about forty shillings a week, and some as much as sixty,[1] besides the amount earned by…

A good mechanic in an engine shop makes from thirty-five to forty-five shillings a week, and some mechanics make much larger wages. Multiply these…

"No doubt such earnings seem large to clerks, and educated men, who after receiving a costly education have often to struggle hard for bread; but…

Iron-workers are paid a still higher rate of wages. A plate-roller easily makes three hundred a year.[2] The rollers in rail mills often make much…

Goldsmith spoke of the country curate as "passing rich with forty pounds a year." The incomes of curates have certainly increased since the time when…

When the author visited Renfrewshire a few years ago, the colliers were earning from ten to fourteen shillings a day. According to the common saying,…

In the same neighbourhood, another collier, with four sons, was earning money at about the same rate per man, that is about seventy-five-pounds a…

At the same time that these two families of colliers were doing so well, it was very different with the majority of their fellow-workmen. These…

These were doubtless "roaring times" for the colliers, who, had they possessed the requisite self-denial, might have made little fortunes. Many of…

He had the moral courage--a quality much wanted in these days--to tell his constituents some hard but honest truths. He argued with them about the…

It had been said in a newspaper, that a miner was earning wages equal to that of a Captain, and that a mining boy was earning wages equal to that…

The times of high wages did not leave a very good impression on the public mind. Prices became higher, morals became lower, and the work done was…

What the employers think of the recent flash of "prosperity," can easily be imagined. But it may not be unnecessary to quote some of the statements…

Another observer remarks, that the miners of Bilston are about six thousand in number, and they spend more than fifty thousand pounds annually in the…

Mr. Chambers, of Edinburgh, in his description of the working classes of Sunderland makes these remarks: "With deep sorrow I mention that…

Another illustration occurs. A clerk at Blackburn took a house for twenty pounds a year, and sublet the cellars underneath to a factory operative…

The intense selfishness, thriftlessness, and folly of these highly paid operatives, is scarcely credible. Exceptions are frequently taken to…

It would seem to be of little use preaching up an extension of rights to a people who are so supinely indifferent to their own well-being,--who are…

Brown, the Oxford shoemaker, was of opinion that "a good mechanic is the most independent man in the world." At least he ought to be such. He has…

"Let me state, for it seems to be very much the fashion to draw dolorous pictures of the condition of the labouring classes, that from the close of…

It is most disheartening to find that so many of the highest paid workmen in the kingdom should spend so large a portion of their earnings in their…