The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-01-06


1t is now more than u quarter Of century
since the first commercial ana mercanIile
arescy was established in New York city.
This branch of business had been known IN
Europe for some years before the system was
introduced into t,.r United States. Benjamin
Douglass, an old and respected merchant,
who became unfortunate in business and iall-
ed, was the founder of the first agency IN Ne"
York. and his experience and sound judgment
ensured the success of the system. From the
first establishment, presided over by Douglass,
several other agencies have sprung up, Great
ing an immense business, and extending thelf
branches into every State and Territory in the
Union. The New York Post says:
The object of mercantile agencies is to assist
the merchant to inquire into the character anu
standing Of his customers; 10 ascertain tlcia
antecedents and their character as business
men. By means of the full and frequent re-
ports. the merchant is enabled to ascertain the
exact standing of his customers, and many
Arms have been saved from ruin by few
now ISFoRMAT1oN is OBTAINED.
The main office of the. great chain OF agen-
cies in the United States is in this city, and 1t
has established branches In nearly every large
city in the Union. The main agency depends
upon the smaller branches for its general IN
formation. The sub-Officcs are also ulsLrlcted,
and appoint their own agents, principally iaW
yers and bankers, or sometimes lnfluentlal
merchants, to obtain reports OF the standing
of business men in their section Of the country.
Each agent is provided with blanks on which
are printed the name, residence ana occupa-
tion, wealth and business character OF the per-
son inquired for. The agent nils up lnese
blanks when required, and adds such lniorma-
ton as may be needed TO strengthen or weak
en- the report, as the case may be, SO that
fair estimate can be formed. After 1illlng out
the blanks he sends them to the district
agency, where copies are immediately made,
one of which is for the merchant VINO makes
the inquiry, and the other Tor tne use ci inc
New York office. 1t is also registered IN
volume of reports of the town and State to
which it belongs, and thus the report is fully
registered. ,.
Information is usually sent in an abbrcvi-
ated form, and letters and figures are often
used. To illustrate: Suppose Messrs. Brown,
Smith & Co., wholesale grocers, OF New YORK,
have sold to John Silverthorn, of Gaena, Illi-
nois, bill OF groceries; and although silver
thorn may have good verbal recommenda-
tions, they wish to know further concerning
him. The customer is in the store. and Mr.
Brown sends boy to the mercantile agency
while talking with his customer. The boy
paper, which perhaps reads thus:
JoHS SILyERTHoRS. Groceries and dry goods.
Ga!cna, Illinois. December /, 1863. Age 80.
Married; family. Was for six years clerk Win
julius & Rich. Owns real estate worth Seeoo;
encountered $1,000. Stock worth $4,000; paid for.
Estimated worth $4,000 to $4,000. Is making
money. Economical prudent, honest anu con-
sidered good for his wants in business.
The report g w;itten out in full.
A CONDENSED re port Off different character is
sometimes mtde out in this manner:
RICHARD ROE. Groceries and liquors. Harris
burg, Pa. November 60, 1859. Age 3o Unmar-
ried. Means limited; estimated worth SS0oa $1,000.
Owns no real estate. Been two yearsin business.
8. 9. "a. 6S. y. 90.N
All these reports before they are sent out,
are stamped across the lace IN red Ink WIN
the word "COnfdential."
Sometimes special inquiries are made by
persons who have learned outside the office
that somcthi: g is wrong with their customers,
but who wish TO learn particulars when
answers are returned to these special inquiries,
note is sent to the person inquirinS as fol-
lows:
Mr.. John Smith: We have received special In, IN,
formation concerning Richard Roe, for Which
CASH & Co., Mercantile Agency.
This special information generally refers to
former antccedents Of persons inquired for, or
to failures, swindling transactions, or flandr-
leuL COUSeyduCc VI ptOpSitl.
ton is never sent to subscribers OF the agcn-
cies in writing.
Besides the employment OF agents in the
towns and villages Of the different States, each
district sends ont every few months several
agents whose duty it IS to go over the entire
district and revise each report. This IS ncces,
sary from the fact that each OF the commercial
agencies issues volumes of printed reports i'll a
condensed shape as books of reference for its
subscribers; and as there are several editions
of these volumes in the course OF the year, re-
visions are essential; fer man may change
his standing and character In three months.
new firms may start up, or old firms fail or 60
out of business Besides three or four annual
editions, printed weekly sheets Of corrections
are issued every Saturday from the New York
office, and mailed to all the customers Of cacn
agency In the United States. These weekly
sheets contain record of failures, business
changes of ali kinds, records OF fires and inSu-
rance, deaths, and all other Information ncces-
sary to the business community. These also
are stamped Confidential"
THE BRANCH AGENCIES.
The branch agencies, regularly dIstricrcd
from the home office, are situated In the prin-
cipal cities of the United States in every State
and territory, and even in the British colonies,
the West Indies and Australia. Each branch
agency Is presided over by manager or Sill
perintendcnt, who reports daily to the prnci-
Dal OIuCC Ill NEW 1OTh- CiiCL ttScLtJ ittS I'D
regular number of copyists and reporters be-
sides its agents Reports of business men, as
fast as received at these branch offices, are CO.
pied and sent to all other branch offices, and
to the main office, wherever any information
thus sent may be ola local value.
AGENTS AND THEIR COMPENSATION.
The persons employed by a mercantile agen-
cy and its branches consist of surerntendentS,
bookkecpers, cashiers, city reporters, agents,
copyists and office boys. The superintendents,
who are selected on account Of their general
good business capacity, integrity, shrewdness
and good Judgment, receive from $500 to $500
per annum; bookkcepers and cashiers from
$1,000 to $500; agents, some $500 per annum,
and others copies of all reports, and free use
of the Office for what information they need.
If they are lawyers, q large collection business
Is thrown into their hands. Agents in small
towns receive annual subscriptions to some Of
the popular magazines of the day, or county
newspaper. Copyists, who arc required to be
very correct and careful, receive SIS per week
for ten hours daily work, and twenty-five cents
an hour for all extra work. Office boys and
messengers receive from S25 to $50 per month
as their compensation.
GENERAL STATISTICS.
The number of mercantile or commercial
agencies doing business in New York is five,
and these have established numerous branch
Iztk. a..