Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1880-02-19
AN UHBUsINE ss-LIKE BUsINE ss
CUSTOM.


cious request Of a neighbor or friend
than when he asks him to sign his
name as surety to note, and stand
good, without pay or reward, for a debt
that he neither contracts nor cannot
possibly derive any advantage from.
We say, one man never makes a more
presumptious request OF another than
this, unless it be when he asks him TO
stand surety for him on an official bond,
and take upon himself the risk OF all
the penalties for misfeasance or mai
ieasauce or misiortunes in an office
from when he, the surety, derives no
profit. and in which he has no concern
whatever.
Yet these two requests are everyday
occurrences in business circles. They
are customs which every man has come
To recognize as u kind OF necessity in
business. They are customs rendered
necessary 10y the provisions OF law un-
der which We live. A man cannot oc-
cupy an office unless he has friends
enought to take all the risks ofhis admins
tering the office. tie cannot execute Il
trust imposed by a court or individual
unless he can find a friend foolish
enough to take all the risks OF the mat
ter on his shoulders. lie cannot put a
note in bank" unless some one or two
others who don't get the use OF the
money or any other advantage from 1t
agree to make the note good II the prln-
cipal does not.
Every man, in ms inner sell, says thus
is wrong. Every man who asks such Il
favor does SO, If he has proper sensi6ii-
ity, with great reluctance and great re-
ugnance Tor the circumstances that
make il necessary. And every man
who grants such a request does so be-
cause an oneruus and unjust business
custom has imposed it upon him.
There would he just rs must proprlety
in u dry goods merchant going to his
neighbor or friend with q proposition
something like this: Il am going into
the merchautile business; | have a large
| stock of goods on hand, and have no
very great experience IN the
business, and therefore the public
has no very general confidence IN
my business capacity aud ability
to sell them the best class OF goods Tor
the least money; | may, therefore, not
have a very large trade until become
known. and | fear that the large in
ycstmeutS | have made, and the large
expense attaching to the business may
bankrupt me; | have therefore be-
lieying you To he u friend OF mine,
drawn up paper here, which ask
YOU to sign, agreeing on your part
that ii | tail within u year you will
pay my debts.
There is nothing more preSumptuouS,
We say, in such Il proposition rs the
above, than there is in one man asking
another to stand good Tor money he
has borrowed, or for tho risks OF an
official position, IN neither Of which
the surety is to derive any profit, or
has any other than II friendly interest.
Now, there ought TO to- u better pro-
vision for such business emergencies
than this. 1t is time this unbuslneSS-
like aud oppressive custom had been
displaced. We have regularly organized
insurance companies which, Tor n proper
compensation, take risks against fire,
against death, against accident, and al
most every other kind oi damage or mis-
fortune; why should We not have an in
surance company which would, at
established, definite rates, endorse the
note ui u man who desires tn borrow
money. or make good the official bond
ui an officer, or trustee
in any capacity? Why could
not some Of our insurance companies,
or at least the casualty companies, make
this a branch of their business? There
could be- no question about ITS becom'
iug profitable to u good reliable compa-
ny. whose endorsement would pass cur
rent in a community, and who were
acting under the same legal restraints
that tire and life companies are required
to observe ior the protection OF policy
holders. And certainly there could be
no hesitation with business man, deSir-
ius security, Il to whether he would pay
u lair compensation Tor the endorse
mcut, or ask Il friend TO take the risk for
nothing. There could be no better rea-
son given for declining such u request
than to be able to refer to a responsible
company willing to take the risk Tor a
fair compensation, and it would eiIectu-
ally break up the burdensome business
custom which nov prevails.