Middletown transcript., 1877-09-08
The People who PayEtheir Bills and the
People who Don't

and butchers may fancy that onlylthe
particular dealers with whom they
have long traded are able to tell how
prompt they yare in paying, and whether
or not they are desirable customers.
AS a matter of fact, however, they
are all the time building up a reputa-
ton for responsibility and trustworthi-
ness which speedily becomes known to
retailers throughout the city. If they
chance to enter a new shop to make
purchases, their ability to pay bills,
and t.eir habit Of promptly paying
them, or being dilatory in the matter
are known to the civil merchant, who
is eager to have them run up an ac-
count, or takes pains to see that the
goods are delivered only on the pay
melt Of the cash, according as their
known reputation is good or bad. TIE
gauge the dealer has of the customers
standing as to the responsibility and as
to his p1onpsness in meeting bills is not
a haphaza-d one, but is accurate and
readily applied.
There IS in New York an institution
called the Retail Dealers Protective
Association, to which belong the mer-
chants Of good business who sell at re-
tail to the class of the people who are
included, or aim to be included, in the
well-to-do part of the community, and
WHO have been regula- purchasers Of
private supplies. This Association,
with great care and surprising accura-
cy, obtains the facts which 60 to show
the financial position Of these individ-
uals, and what the habit of each is as
to the payment Of bills. This infor-
nation, so valuable to the retail deal
er, is furnished him in the form Of an
alphabetical directory, wherein against
each name is set down the persons
standing in these regards. For this
bulky folio, containing many thous-
ands Of names, the member Of the as
sociation pays a large price yearly. It
enables him to tell exactly what sort
of man this customer is-whether it is
safe to trust him or not. This knowl-
edge he can get by minutes exami-
nation of the directory.
People, therefore, who have found
that strange dealer was in no haste to
send them the bill for what they had
bought, Or was particular to exact the
money before they got the goods, will
now understand the reason why.
Thus we see how desirable it is to
maintain a good character, to pay our
bills promptly, and to secure the con-
fidence Of those with whom we trade.
1t is idle to fancy that man who has
cheated one prominent grocer can play
the same game on another; that man
who keeps his tailor chasing after him
to collect his dues, and never pays un-
til driven to it, can easily lead another
tailor into the same scrape. He must
plank down the cash, or go without the
goods. He has sent before him her
aid who proclaims his reputation, and
be he never so well dressed, and though
he present a countenance of placidest
assurance, the dealer who belongs to
this association is not deluded by him.
The most remarkable thing about
the facts obtained by this new exam
pie Of the organization Of modern life,
is that wealth and credit do not always
90 together. Rich men, very rich
men, not unfrequently are undesirable
people to trlst. They hate to pay
their bills. Relying on their known
financial soundness to get trusted, they
keep the trader without his money un-
til Els patience is almost exhausted.
Some such men will not settle q bill
until they are threatened with legal
proceedings, and then they haggle over
it, and, taking advantage Of the Gre
ditor's dislike of going to law, or his
fear of the expense, get off without
paying any interest, though interest IS
fairly due, even if they don't manage
to ret an honest account cut down.
These rich men are pirates, and they
are now known to the dealers general
ly, and marked as such in their private
associative records.
There are other people who, having
the means to pay bill, delay settling
it from mere dilatoriness, or because
they dislike to diminish their bank ac-
counts. The dealer knows they will
pay in the end but they are not the
best customers to have, and what he
l-s.e,ss-se IL h;s felInzr members Of tshe as-
sociation know also. Perhaps some
men who read these words have won
dered why, though rich, they have not
been readily received and trusted by
retailers. They will understand bet
ter now, and we hope they will treas
ure up the lesson Of what we say, and
never fail hereafter to pay their bills
like men when they are honestly due,
1t is a mean business, keeping a cred
itor at your heels for money you know
you ought to pay, when all the time
you have it about you. Yet there are
men who never like to pay a bill until
it has been much creased with frequent
folding, and has grown yellow with
age. Their small obligations they car
put of, and they do it; their large
ones they pay because they must. They
are not honest, are not fit 70 belong tc
a church, for they withhold from th'
laborer his hire; yet some of them oc
eupy the best pews, and they woult
resent it as an insult if their piety wa,
impugned.
Another curious fact is shown
Sometimes men are poor pay, Will
their wives are good pay. In sucl
cases either the wife has money Of he
own, or she defrays her expenses from
a regular allowance, which she mana
ges to better purpose than her husban,
his income. This is greatly to tn
credit of women, and we record it witt
much satisfaction. Shallow observer
or fippant fellows prate about the ex
travagance of women, and, undoubt
edly, some Of them are free in the ex