Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1859-05-25

s..,,S rRuIes should work both ways.
Some days since We received letter from an
.xcslIspt friend in whose Judgment We have long
been accustomed to place great confidence, object
ing to our cash system violation Of good b0si-
ness rule. This rule, he says. is to pay when the
work is done. He liked our paper, he said; had
long been a subscriber; and had always PusctuAlly
raid for it at the end Of the year. II would be just
as convenient for him to pay in advance, but ne
could not consent to have sound business rule VIC
lated in his case.
Let us see how this rale is. Our friend is Presi-
dent Of 8 Railroad Company. Now how would his
rule work in the building Of his road Suppose
the subscribers to stock we're to say to him what ne
says to US. Suppose they we're TO tell him. as ne
tells US, sit is sound business rule to pay Wnen
work is done. G., to work and build the road, ana
when il is all done we viii pay our stock" Ne
doubt much if cur friend would call this +" sound
business rule"
Or, II he we're able TO build the road, on these
terms: will he manage it on such cOnditionsE u
course not he requires man to buy ticker 0g0Ts
entering he cars The conductor viii start on MS
rounds with the starting Of the train. "ShoWyour
tickets. gentlemen" The man who hasn't ticket
must instantly fork over or the train is stOPt and
he is put off, to be laughed at by the rest OF the
passengers" Suppose the passenger were TO say
to the conductor, "it is sound business rule 10
nav when the work is done, and We will peg when at
the end of the road" Would our friehs. Inc
President in question: admit the sOundness OF this
ue and direct bis conductors 20 collect fare at the
| end of the road Not a bit of it And yet, Why
! should his case differ from ours9 In his case,
the conductor has his passengers all before him,
and, in most cases, each passenger has baggage on
the train to be sequestrated for the fare But cur
passengers are scattered all over the Southern part
OF creation, and none Of them have particle Of
| baggage in our possession After we have carried
them road, they can pay us or not, as they
| please. In many cases. it would cost US ten times
more than it is worth to 60 after it, and, in many
Othsr cases, were we to 60 after it, We couldn't
get it.
To carry the illustration little farther: Rail
road Company, which would carry passenges on
the credit system, could soon strike an average,
showing the proportion of passengers from whom
no fare could be collected at the end Of the road
To make up these losses the fare would have to be
raised on the passengers who did pay. If passen-
gers could be carried for two dollars hundred
miles where all paid, the Company would have to
charge three dollars per hundred miles where
| only tWo-thirds paid. Now, we respectfully sub
nit it to our friend If it is not "sOunder bust
ness rule" for each man to pay for himself, than
to charge those who pey, an extra dollar each to
make up the deficit for those who do not pay! The
| illustration is IS fair as it is clear.
Why, then, should II be objected, when the rule
is good one IN every other case, that we, too say,
when starting subscription, ''Your tickets, gen
! tlemen?" That We reduce the fare to the lowest
possible sum, and secure payment from all pas
sengers, by exsctng it4n advance, and that We put
from of our train all who do not pay the fare?
The illustration could be carried to hundred
other branches of business, which it would be an
absurdity to attempt to carry on in any other way
than upon the cash system. But farther illustrs-
tion must be unnecessary. We shall send this copy
of paper to the friend we have referred TO-
fdeDt that we shall thus convince him that have
adopted the only sound business system in the cash
system, and that he will promptly renew his sub
scripton on reading this article We make the ar
gument public, because there may be others to
| whom il may be useful.