CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL
OF
POPULAR
LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.
CONTENTS
THRIFT AND UNTHRIFT.
FROM DAWN TO SUNSET.
MARKET-GARDEN WOMEN.
SEA-SPOIL.
THE ADMIRAL'S SECOND WIFE.
THE CROCODILE AND GAVIAL.
SHAMROCK LEAVES.
THE ITALIAN GRIST-TAX.
SWEET LOVE AND I.
| No. 720. | SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1877. | Price 1½d. |
THRIFT AND UNTHRIFT.
We lately said a word on Rich Folks, hinting thatso far from being the monsters of iniquity whichmoralists and preachers have for ages denouncedthem, they are, taken all in all, public benefactors;for without the accumulation of wealth, by meansof thrift and honest enterprise, the world wouldstill have been in a deplorably backward condition.Riches are of course comparative. An artisan whoby savings and diligence in his calling has insuredfor himself a competence for old age, is doubtlessrich and respectable. Doing his best, and withsomething to the good, he is worthy of our esteem.What he has laid aside in a spirit of economy goesto an augmentation of the national wealth. In asmall way he is a capitalist—his modicum of surplusearnings helping to promote important schemesof public interest.
Great Britain, with its immense field for successfulindustry and enterprise, excels any countryin the capacity for saving. In almost every branchof art there is a scope for thrift beyond what isobtainable elsewhere. Thriftiness, however, amongthe manual labouring classes was scarcely thoughtof in times within living remembrance. Savings-banksto receive spare earnings came into existenceonly in the early years of the present century.Now, spread in all directions, and established inthe army and navy, they possess deposits amountingto nearly thirty millions sterling. Besidesthese accumulations, much is consigned to FriendlySocieties; and it is pleasing to observe that withinthe last twenty years, the artisan classes haveexpended large sums in the purchase of dwellingspurposely erected for their accommodation. Allthis looks like an advance in thrifty habits—astride in civilisation.
But after every admission of this kind hasbeen made, it is too certain that vast numberslive from hand to mouth, save nothingwhatever from earnings however large, andare ever on the brink of starvation. In thisrespect, the working classes, as they are usuallystyled, fall considerably below the peasantryof France, wh