The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-02-18
THE MERCANTILE 4GENCIES.
Where they Get their Delicate Infor1na.
ton.
From the New York Post.l

Each country merchant or shopkeepcr who.
with a capital Of five thousand dollars and an
unlimited quantity pf energy, does business
of o hundred thousand q year, fin IS it neces-
sary to buy more goods than he can pay Tor
Immediately in cash, and comes to New York,
Offering to Stewart, Claflin, or to anybody who
will trust Inn, his notes al three, SIX or eIgh-
teen months for the silks and calicoes he
needs. It is, therefore, indispensable that his
character for industry and integrity should be
unimpeachable; and to the office OF rec ord
goes tho city merchant Tor 1nforma ION con-
cerning the country gentleman who asks cred
it. Here be is told that Peter Smith, OF iuba
Dam, New Hampshire. is thirty-fve years
of are, married, and has two children; has
beer engaged in the trade seven years, and is
believed to be honest, has working capital o
5000, owns homestead worth S12OO and has
''eteat expectations" that his w.te's UGcle
Billy, who is old and pa a:alytic. will soon visit
his ancestors, leaving to Peters wife the nice
little sum of $40 600 i'll United States bonds.
Smiths credit is, therefore, pronounced to be
''good," and Mr. Merchant let's him have
thousand dollars worth of calico, tape and
spool cotton, to be paid for at tho end OF Six
or nine months. Or, it may be that Mr., Smltn
is not known TO have any money, except that
which his wife holds in her own name; that
he is extravaeant and immoral, and 80, OF
course, may not be recommended rs buyer
on time. Smith is therefore politely bowed
out OF the warehouse, to seek credit wnere
the secrets of the record" are not known.
But in what way is information concerning
traders in distant places obtained. and how do
we know that the office OF Record or Mercan-
tile Agency contains true and trustworthy
register OF the characters and property OF our
couptry cousins =? There are two WAYS OF
compiling the register-a thorough ono, such
as thst adopted by Broadway Co. and Done
Brown aud another, mrch used by the lnfe-
rlor offices of Ke,chum & Cheatham and Kill
him l. Sprat. In each village or hamlet, how
ever small, there are, ct course, blacksmith,
liquor-dealer, and an attorney, and these are
the men who furnish the material tor compn-
ing the records Of second or thlrd-class Offices.
Tie attorney is appointed correspondent re-
ceiving as wages Harper's Magazine or the
Ledger. with the promise OF any legal
business which may arise, and gives his own
opinion, with q medley OF the gossip obtain
ed at the smithery md tavern. This state,
ment of facts is sent t. New York, and on it
depends The reputation OF the shopkeeper and
the amount of credit that he may command.
But the better class OF agencies are conducted
by their proprietors with iberality, and aim at
comfortableness intellieent clerks being en-
pIoy. d and paid handsomely. Instead OF de-
pending on the letters OF 'shysters, !" the super
intendents send educated men OF skill to every
village, and to each OF even tue most retired
CrOSS-rUduS, dPPsiSoShou 40
first made to storekeepers personals. VINO sell
dom refuse to give accounts OF themselves,
which are afterward verified or modified by
bank presidents, county clerks. inen Of known
wealth, &c. BY this means record Is made
up as accurately as it is humanity possible to
| make anything.
TO conduct first-class agency properly, a
large number of clerks are necessary; report
ers canvassers. recorders, copyists. readers,
&C.. beng numbered by scores aud hundreds,
whose salaries range from twelve to sixty dol
lars week, according to their proficiency;
while the picayune imitators ordinarily. pay
five to eight dollars to their penmen or little
more to those who write from s A. NJ, till II
p. NJ, and do not too ofen fall asleep over
their work. Subscribers to these agencies pay
| from seventy-five to three hundred dollars q
year, according to the number of inquiries
each may make. Prominent merchants, as
Clafll or Stewart. my have private .'aGen-
cicsn OF their own, wnere lists OF their cns-
toners, with biographical sketches, are kept,
with black-books containing the names OF
bogus firms OF those who are likely. 10 go up
in balloon, and Of young men OF promise
who never pay.