The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1877-07-12
g Pay as You Co..

Credit is an advantage, almost q necessi.
ty, to commerce. Without its facilities
exchanges would be materially restricted,
and business would halt. But unless
there is mutuality of benefit to debtor and
creditor, credit becomes not only costly
to both, but also to persons whose pur
chases are made always for cash. A mer.
chant suffers loss through bad debts, and
to indemnify himself adds to the price of
his wares. All his customers suffer be.
cause OF the delinquency of few, and he
suffers because more fortunate and pru-
dent competitors are able to undersell
him. TO many persons credit is curse.
The facility of purchasing without the
necessity of immediate payment leads
them into reckless habits, which beget
bother and bankruptcy, for the day OF
reckoning must come; and these people,
whose frailty is speedily discovered by
shopmen, are compelled to pay from ten
to one hundred per cent. more upon their
purchases than the prudent class who
count the cost 1t is the penalty which
shrewdness imposes upon carelessness-the
difference between cash as a purchaser
and credit. II madam did not have the
run of the dry goods store, her necessities
would not be SO great. and if young men
were compelled to count cash over their
tailor's counter before coming into pos
session Of q new suit, they might have less
on their bacxs and more in their heads.
Sharp and designing men are always
ready to abuse credit in order to clinch a
debtor, and they come in such a plausi-
Bile shape, advancing propositions seem.
ingly advantageous, that the easy going
mortal. fiattered by confidence in his abil.
ity and willingness to pay, and not too
curious AZ TO the ultimate cost, closes a
transaction which he fondly thinks bar
gain. The whole system of sales upon
installment is, where not downright rob-
berry, a serious disadvantage to the pur-
chaser. The creditor has the whip handle
from the first. Whether he realizes it or
mot the debtor is his slave. A favorite
plan OF disposing Of sewing machines is
by the acceptance of payments on install.
ment. Women like It. 1t is so easy TO
pay five dollars per month as compared
with an out and out purchase, they think.
But 1t is far more costly in the end, as
any one with knowledge Of the simple
rules Of arithmetic can demonstrate.
And the contract they sign il all on one
side like the handle of jug, and that
side isn't theirs, a. they will ascertain if
they become delinquent in the paymentof
their monthly instsdlment Either they
must perform to the letter an extravagsnt
contract or lose everything. The courts
are with the creditor, and it is idle to fihht
company which hires its attorneys by the
year.
A case in point. A woman in New York
purchased sewing-machine under Z
printed form Of agreement, whereby she
agreed to pay t5 per month, ana in case Of
default IN any Of the payments the ma
chine was to be taken from her. The
machine was warranted to run for five
years. Within three months it failed to do
good work. She refused further pay
ments unless the machine was properly
repaired. TWAS removed by the company
for that purpose, but return was refused
unless she would pay ei5 still due Is pur-
ckasc money. This che declined to do |
unless the machine was again placed in |
her possession, bat the company kept both |
her money and the machine. She sued,
winning In The lower, bat losing in the |
higher court. bhe had 70 canse Of action |
the learned Justices decreed, though the
chief dissented:
II win never give my sanction to the
enforcement Of such an agreement e. the /
one n This case. 4 y, upon its face.
grossly unjust and designed TO take an I
needy: BY it, terms the sewingsmachine
amount Il Il declared b paid Ii advance |.
Ior he iise q Is machine: the rest ~
payable 10 monthly fnctlIlmeuA u Is |:
ZACH; ard, II the woman falls il he last
paymentof %, & auth0rf1eS ~ vendou +
a oss4s~ ~ ,,~es,s1 .1e 40 80 es..-