The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1909 CONCERNING THRIFT.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2428, 17 February 1909, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1909 CONCERNING THRIFT.

At tlie close of the old year Loi'd Rosebery gave an address upon thrift at tlie annual meeting of the Edinburgh Savings Bank, and, as usual, this brilliant Englishman had sonic interesting things to say on a topic that does not receive, nearly the attention it should. After a few preliminary remarks Lord Rosebery went to the heart of the matter in declaring that thrift was blessed, not merely because of the accumulation of substance, but because of the foundation and strengthening of character. A man who is beforehand with the world, in however small, a degree, occupied a very different (position to the rest of tlie avorld from the man who is behindhand with it, to however small an extent. 'Finally, (Lord Rosebery dwelt, in a passage, which is deserving of the attention of the whole nation, upon the criminality of waste. Refraining from waste was a sort of thrift which was in the power of the poorest,. “How can the poor be thrifty? They have nothing to bo thrifty upon.” Yet, continued Lord Rosebery, it has been found that periods of stress, apd not periods of prosperity, have been the most favorable for thrift, Scotland was most thrifty,

and her ipopulation the most determined to maintain the-iv independence and to setfi'n (State assistance, when Scotland was at her poorest. In commenting upon the address a London journal says': An example of thrift in a working man has just come under out notice which is so remarkable that we should like to give it as an (illustration. It is that of a man now tliirty-fivc' years of age, who, though lie has had no property of any kind left him or given him, has accumulated savings to the amount of £260, and this though, through a piece of pure misfortune and not by his own fault, he early in life lost over £SO. The man in question is no miser, and though careful, has always allowed himself such reasonable recreation as a bicycle, and, still more, has managed to buy for himself a small library of books. What makes the ease more remarkable is the fact that he is a widower with young children to provide for. All who know working-class homes know how much more difficult it is for a widower to save than for a married man with a thrifty wife. We draw attention to this example of thrift, not because it is m any sense miraculous, or even exceptional, but because it shows that thrift is very largely a habit. As Miss Loano in her remarkable books has pointed out on several occasions, the man who saves amongst the poor is as a rule not the miser, or the man who denies himself every icasonable pleasure or makes his home a misery to his wife and children owing to his anxiety to save. Again, saving is not practised only by those who nave exceptionally good health, or very small families, or some other apparent advantage. She gives example of families ‘where the wages were smaller than those of their neighbors, the health worse, and where the saving habit, once acquired, accomplished its eud. To put it in another way, the family without the. saving habit very often has nothing whatever to show for its want of thrift, whereas the thrifty family appears to tie quite as tappy and as well equipped as its spendthrift neighbors. How is it that as a nation we have lost the habit of thrift, while other nations who have perhaps less .grit and more delight in material pleasures, such as the French, possess it? We cannot help believing that this want is one of the evil legacies of the old Poor Law, a legacy which we are about to redevise. It is impossible, for obvious economic reasons, to give poor relief to people who have got savings and property of their own. Therefore the State has always appeared to bo offering a reward to those who have saved nothing, and to be putting under a disability those who have. The. Report of the Commission of 1834 gives abundant evidence of the way in which the poor had come to think it necessary to have the appearance of want in their persons and their houses in order to make sure ol relief. Unless they promptly spent all they received, they ran the risk of the parish allowances being cut off. Wc should like to add a consideration to supplement Lord Rosebery’s .admirable speech. Unless a man lias saved something ho cannot. be or feel himself a free man. The man who has nothing put by. but lives merely from week to week, is always at a disadvantage, and cannot exercise that choice and independence in action which arc the essential marks of a lj'ee man. Both in the ease, of his employer and of those from whom- he buys he is very often bound to take what is offered rather than what he would like. If, however, he has £IOO, or even £SO, put by, his freedom and choice of action are greatly enlarged, and lie can take •advantage of any opportunity that is offered him.

Tb.o remarks w have quoted are just as applicable in New Zealand as 'in the Old' Country, and just as deserving of consideration. A visit ainougst the poorer classes of the community will usually disclose the fact that extravagance and wastefulness arc chief characteristics of the household manageincnt. We do not suggest that lower wages should suffice for the workers, but wc do contend that in the majority of cases a higher standard of comfort could be obtained with the present weekly revenue were better management observed. This improvement of organisation would carry with it the ability to exercise thrift, and to set something, however small, aside for “a rainy day.” This brings us to a point which has not been touched upon by our English contemporary, namely, the training and education of the- poor in domestic work. It is all very well to blame the thriftless, but a woman whoso early training has not included a thorough preparation in -household work can scarcely be blamed if, when suddenly given charge of a home, she fails to make the host- uso of her husband’s earnings, and'ln the event of any cessation of the weekly revenue immediately becomes a charge upon the State. Therefore the whole problem of thrift in the homo can be

chiefly concentrated upon the necessity of the State providing such an education for our girls as will assist towards fitting them for domestic ■work. Efforts in this direction are likely to be much more successful in promoting thrift and other desirable national characteristics than the lavish distribution of charity, which, unfortunately, tends to pauperise the recipients.