Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1868-08-27

The Miss Evenlode of those days i
now my wife, and, as Mrs. Charles Tenn
pie, is at this moment sitting before you
IL Chambers Journal.
The Merchnnts' Protective Union.
' RATINGS AsTo STANDING AND CREDIT
1t is generally known that there are il
the city of New York establishment
styling themselves institutions, ,"'Com
mercial Agencies or "MercantiI,
I Agencies" which are supposed to hav,
great influence and actual power il
! producing or prejudiciDg the STANDING
and credit Of business men Throughout
the Union. Having their own secre
agents Ill nearly every city, town, village
and at almost every cross road in tn.
length and breadth of the whole land
these concerns have become interviewer
with the whole mercantile system of tht
country. Every merchant, trader. manu-
facturer and banker, whether likely ol
not to make purchases on time or to ask
for credit in any of the principal cities
| Is fully reported at their headquarters
his business, means, ''respectabiiity, y
standing, are published, and even his
private habits are detailed and open tC
the inquiry of their customers. So com.
plete and Thorough system of espion.
age as these concerns have everywhere
extended, is probably unknown even to
the police departments of France or
Austria.
So long as business shall continue to
be done upon the credit system, establish
ments of this nature will probably con-
tlnue to exist, in some form or another
but the mode i'll which they have been
hx-
OF Reports, in which tens of thousands
OF business men are denoted by dash
IL, or all asterisk ~ an Interrogation
point ~, or some similar mark, signify
ing that the party so indicated is mot
recommended for credit" or that the
customer should inquire at the Office
must in view of recent decisions in
SANDER and libel suits, be materially
modified.
Those establishments, with their nu-
merous clerks, standing behind longrows
OF desks, on which lie ponderous vol
umes wherein can be learned a story.
whether true or false, of every merchant
N any part of the country whatever.
will probably modify their business. or
pass away-the liability, in view of re-
cent decisions to slander suits arising out
of their operations, being too heavy to
incur.
In the Mercantile Agency case of
Beardsley against Tappan, the plaintiff
recovered ten thousand dollars and I'D
on motion for new trial, made before
the United States Circuit Court for the
Southern District of New York, the Hon.
Samuel Nelson, one of the ablest Justices
of the Supreme Court, has delivered an
opinion denying the motion, holding
that the publicity given to information
depreciatory of the standing and char
acter of merchants, ''by recording the
libelous words in book, deprived the
of the otherwise priviI-
eyed character" He was further Of opin-
ion tn 1t ITO legalize these establishments
in the manner and to the extent used by
the defendant, is placing one portion of
the mercantile community under an or
ganized system of espionage and inquisi-
ton for the benefit OF the other, exposed. |
from the very nature of the organization.
to perversion and abuse.
With the view of obviating the objec-
features of the former systems, |
q company, with capital stock of $780,
]00, divided into SO shares, has been Or |
yanized and incorporated under the laws
Of the State of New York, under the |
title of THE MERCHANTS PRoTECrIyE
UNION, on basis which seems to be free
rom the evils, difficulties, and embar-
easements under which those heretofore
n existence labored
The plan adopted by the Merchants |
Protective Union, though analogous in |
'ome particulars to that of the establish /
nents above referred to, yet differs in |
'uch material respects as not to he amen
sble to the objections urged against them,
he main points of difference being the
ollowing:
FirSt.-All necessary information as
o the pecuniary responsibility or finan-
,lal condition and standing of business
men will be based upon the written state
nents of the parties tilemselves--so far
IS attainaole-to be furnished at least
vice each year, the agents of the Union
Examining and revising such statements
Vhen deemed erroneous; and, where the
anne cannot be obtained from the par
les themselves, by reason of their de-
lining or refusing to furnish it, such in
ormation will be supplied by the reliable
nd responsible correspondents of the
whose names will also be {
in the Mercantile Reference
reports, to be issued every six months. s
he character of its correspondents. and |
he publicity thus given to their con-
ection with the organization, will prove I
sufficient guarantee of the correct {
ess of the information thus obtained. |
nd the justice of the reports furnished i
them. There will he nothing ''secretn t
r strictly coryfdentuF' in its reports of G
ne ratings and markings of the credit /
nd capital of business men-there will &
g no futile prohibition to the effect that a
lch information "shall never, in any i
'ay, be communicated to the persons t
ePorted'-there will be nothing that
lay not be exposed to the light of day. b
Second.-The reports and information v
Finished by The Merchants Protective I
MON will be confined to those who are b
'nsidered worthy of credit of some grade; t
nd the names of none who cannot be t.
for some line or degree of p
edit will be mentioned or in any way U
,ferred to. c
1t is believed the above plan, adopted il
ter consultation with some of the ablest Ii
'unsel in nearly every State, will avoid f;
le evils OF those heretofore in operation; p
ill be productive of no harm; will n
ork substantial justice to all and will, o
the same time, furnish reports more b
uthful and complete, and therefore of ii
uch greater value than any previously
sued. Fl
1t will be seen, from their announce d
ent in another column; that in Sep el
mber the Merchants Protective Union a
i'll publish in one large quarto q
'lume The Mercantile Reference Re- u
ster, containing among other things, Ii
e names, nature of business, amount is
capital, financial standing, and rating tc
to credit, of over 100000 Of the prin- p
pal merchants, traders, BANKERS, manu- W
cturers, and public companies, in more Il
an 30, 1000 of the cities, towns, villages, OF
ID settlements throughout the United tt
ates, their territories, and the British in
ovinces of North America and en- Iii
acing the most important Information h,
.ainable and necessary to enable the 81
to ascertain at glance the pl
pital, character, and degree of credit m
such customers as are deemed worthy br
any gradation of credit; with News =
per Directory, containing the title,