The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1867-10-22
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Tpesaayy FI.es y hEornihgg @ g October ss 1857,
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: The New York Isfb4ds notices d
change, and I'VE think a change for
the better, in the mode Of; doing
:bpsineas. Thirty or forty years ago, ago,
as the 1Fibstas remarks, most com
modities were sold on credit Nine
tenths Of the dry goods which left
the Northern markets, were sold ''on
fimep they said, though the time
often glided into eternity. v
= In 1887, as many of us we'll renem-
Der, q very largo proportion of the
importers and jobbers Of the country
failed, simply because their custom
DTS did did moi, and 4 generally could not,
pay them, In those good old hal
.4oyon. days, the country merchant
paid a part of his indebtedness every
; year; but he. bought sat the same
time, on credit, more than he paid
up, SO that his debt was steadily ac-
Icnmulating, until "a panic" occurred,
when it was wiped out, and the Gre
ditor with it. The jobbers were thus
ruined, and with them many of the
importers; but new men stepped in
to fill their places, and all went on as
before till theInext panic.
+ But the late war has wrought a won
derful change on this old fashioned
mode OF doing business. Very few
merchants now ask for credit from
Wholesale dealers, and very few are
insdebt; while in the old times, they
we're never out of it.
The favorable change extends, too,
to the planter, to the mechanic and
to the laborer, in every department.
Formerly, the planter, just because
he had the credit, would run up O
bill with his. favorite merchant, that
swamped up the whole proceeds of
his crop; and, in fact, we have known
some of them to draw upon factor,
to make up defcienoies-said draft
being based upon next years crop.
Then, q bag of coffee. barrel of
sugar, a cask of bacon, took rank in
the long list of supplies the planter
bought with his first load of cotton.
No,o, we see, as we did the other day,
a former large planter, buy piece
Of bacon and put it in his buggy.
No yearly running accounts are now
permitted, and the result is, that
when the produce is brought to mar
ket, the planter pockets the whole
proceeds in gold or greenbacks, and
has the whole market to choose from,
and is not tied down to his favorite
merchant, or be compelled to pay ten
per cent. more for his goods for the
sake of o years credit. We believe
this change in the mode of doing
business, is one of the best results of
the war, because it benefits every
body; and we think will be perma-
nent, for neither merchant or buyer
will be in hurry to return to the
defunct credit system. y
The Tribune, in the article to which
we refer, writes the following curious
but very truthful paragraph:
n ssThe decrease of credits is paral-
leled by the expansion of advertising.
Firms that formerly lost $4,000 per
annum by bad debts, now pay that
amor,nnt instead for advertising, and
do o far larger as well as safer bust
ness than of old; selling far more
goods at smaller profits, and never
losing sleep through fear that they
will be driven into bankruptcy by the
failure of their customers. Five per
cent. profit on cash business is far
better than fifteen per cent. on
credit business, beside enabling the
retailer to sell twenty per cent. lower
than he formerly did. He who has
aught to sell cheap that is really
worth buying, can always sell it by
efficient advertising. And every day
increases the proportion of those who
prefer to keep their wares until, by
advertising, they can find customers
willing to pay cash down for them"
There Is no doubt but that judi
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