DEBT.

Temuka Leader, Issue 167, 6 August 1879, Page 3

DEBT.

The present system of shopping and inarku' ing on cmli is radically wrong and - i i; juy i•> ui oncerned, and (he fault lies doni equally with those who buy and those who sell. The merchan; likes a running account with his safe customers, Pecans- it gives him a hold' on their continuance, and makes his sales larger and more profitable. The customer likes it because it evinces his good credit, and enables him to get what ' he wants without waiting for a full purse. But at length a settlement comes, and then the customers are astonished at the size of the bill and their own folly in puwhas.lng things which their families could ewißy have dispensed with. If you are wise, and will consult your own comfort and the good of others, you will follow the rule, pay as you go, inflexibly. It doos not need the authority of an apostle to establish the wisdom of the proverb, “ owe no man anything.” Were this sage precept universally obeyed, one of the chief sources of trouble would be taken out of the civilised world. Besides a great gain in public morals, there would be a vast saving in the economy of living. But, if in the management of your property you are sometimes asked to give credit or time for payment, do not fear to scrutinise your debtor closely. A good customer is never disconcerted by it ; it is only the doubtful and the bad who resent it. Short settlements make long friendships. A very long credit account, like a note, becomes io time invalidated. It dies of old age.