Making Fortune

To make oneself independent should be the first great aim of life.How do one attain this? To answer to this question is plain ; being such an amount of money, safely
invested, as will produce an income equal to the necessaries of life. In other words, to be able to live without labor. If one could always be sure to be able to save even something, or enough to keep him from falling a charge either upon public or private charity, there would be no need of an independence. But, as all know, such cannot be guaranteed to any one.

While the fortune, then, is an indefinable amount, the independence is a fixed sum dependent upon the price of necessaries, and the country in which it is required. In some latitudes this amount is very small, while in others it is no immaterial sum. It may be assumed that the interest of five thousand dollars invested at six per cent, would accomplish this object. If, then, the desires and wants are no more, then the individual has an independence, and a fortune too. But the ever-living
desire of gain, even when this sum is obtained, will spur on its possessor to further accumulation as a general rule. If,however, he has others dependent upon him for support who cannot earn themselves, he must have as many independencies as there are individuals to support.

There is no able-bodied person, of sound mind, who cannot in this country gain an independence from labor. For all he has to do is to lay aside of what he receives,
all that is not required for the necessaries of life ; and by looking at the tables at the back of this book he will find that small earnings per day will soon mount up to this standard, and even more. Penuriousness or meanness is not recommended ; but on the contrary, will prevent one making the most money with his opportunities. A just and proper economy is the true line, and any one can determine this for himself. No one feels so happy as when he is pursuing a legitimate business, is out of debt, and has some money at interest. From that moment he lives in a new world, is more respected, has more substantial friends, and wields a greater influence
among his peers. Not only that, but his very independence of circumstances makes his services in any department of life more valuable, and he can command more money for them, and can hence accumulate faster.

But let one be behind hand, or in debt, or in trouble, or on the anxious seat as to how he will make ends meet to support himself and his family he is in the power of
any one who has any transactions with him. He becomes the suppliant for everything;
and cannot, from the nature of things, get as much for what he gives as though the reverse were the case. An independence, then, should be the first thing aimed at, either by male or female; and every nerve and sinew should be strained, and every
expenditure scrutinized, till this end shall have been attained. Self-denial should be exercised in everything, remembering always that such a course is not only respectable, but in the end will make you more friends,and more happiness from the beginning to the end of life.