"A strictly honest, honorable course has not been taken by some. Such must take a very different course and work fast to redeem the time. Many Sabbathkeepers are at fault here. Advantage is taken even of their poor brethren, and those who have an abundance exact more than the real worth of things, more than they would pay for the same things, while these same brethren are embarrassed and distressed for want of means. God knows all these things. Every selfish act, every covetous extortion, will bring its reward. 1T 176.1"
"Redeeming the time, because the days are evil."
EGW directly uses the phrase 'redeem the time' from Ephesians 5:16. The context of urgency also aligns.
"There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty."
The proverb speaks of the principle of generosity and its rewards versus stinginess and its consequences. EGW's passage addresses the same principle in the context of Sabbathkeepers dealing with each other, where withholding (exacting more than worth) leads to poverty (distress for want of means).