New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-04-16
"Do Won know whether Stewart g. Co. had much

"Do You know whether Stewart & Co. had much
of their paper discounted y -
Mr. Weller answered, "but it was well known
among commission houses that the hrn had laIgo
quantity of paper aloat. That, however proves
10 hing except that all the means OF he house were
full employed II was fully trusted in business
Mr. Stewa ~ custom, when he was lFlhs' N"' W
pay cash."
THE RETIREMENT NOT EXPECTED so SOON
"The retirement of Stewart q Co. was no s'ir-
prise to III, trade said c. Y. Wcmple the manager
Of the sales department of Garner Co., at No.
10 Worth-st. at came lite sooner
however. than | expected ii would come Wheh
they decided TO 90 uptown with their wholesale
business fine trade cave them five years IN wmch 10
reire Jhavc noticed the declcnsion Of their trade
for several wears past They never were s'eauy
iobbcrs Int in some years would do a very active
trade while in others they would hardly DC mc.n'
Of Their business course has been N,N ,nIiiiitr,
AS TO their loss Of custom through ,'uhp hi'' Id
attitude toward the jews. do not think Il eAoeeuou
- per cent of the jObblng business Inl' ~ IT. ."U
much red tape about Their bu mess meIho.S, in,S
have not kept up with the progress Oh 'i"' II ~
that uorticular They were hurt by thrlr gu
stvlcs of during business. believe there was su'i
c,cnt tolrnf i'm The sales department to have made
the house successful if it had not been tied do"n
and III. vented from development. But guess 'haI
Mr. Hilton and Mr.. LIBBY. both be ing wealthy men,
did not wish 10 give the buine~s the personal care
and attention necessary for Its prosperity. Judge
Hilton is more of lawyer than dry goous haI
and Sir. Iibny-welI he wanted 10 superlhich,i,
everything too much and to pu his stamp on al
transactions No. their retirement Will not be ap,
prcciatod more than the swallowing oil an lSlinu
IN the ocean; he waves of trade Will soon cio'o
over the place"
HE MANAGEMENT SAID TO HAVE BEEN UNwIsE
Another leading dry-goods man attributed the
decline of the house to the fact that Mr.. Hilton
knew little about the business which he undertook
to manage, and Mr.. Libby, while having been
brought up in the cloth trade, had little personal
knowledge of many kinds of dry goods. Some OF
the most valuable men i'll the establishment, he
said had left it because of unwise interference In
their departments by Mr.. Hilton. The methods
of the house were not liberal enough 10
pleas customers. The same merchant SAID that
af er the the firms wholesale business was
generally not success, especially III the line or 10
nestle goods Ii had been very prOserous during
the war. he sale of the firms merchandise would
have no influence on general trade us domestic
goods would be only "a flea ble on the market anI
lis assortment of foreign goods he thought. wouid
prove to contain a good deal OF pretty nard od
stock" In his opinion the property OF me hrm'
when converted mo cash, would still yield sur
plus of number of millions bove all obllgatlons.
A person, recently in the employ paiy
Of A. T. stewart & CO. flor S Mr
Stewards death, the managers began retrenchng IN
all directions, In dlscharung good men TO replace
Them by poor men at half the salary. tlmu
policy IN buying resulted in small profits IN the few
succe sfu ventures made The policy OF MT. Slew
ant in crIp2ling rivals and making sensation by
selling popular lot of goods at a loss was pur-
sued by the present managers. but only IN spas
nodic way that yielded no good results The same
person added " hen the honse began business II
had capItal of ~ 500 600, and II taxes more IMAM
five wears of bad business 20 use that much up.
Probably after all debts are paid a handsome for
tune can be realized
There have been constant discharges Of the EN-
poVcs of 4. f. Stewart u Co. for several months IN
ante. patton of the step just publicly announced
In S7G there were 900 hands in the retail store
IL Is sald that now the number IS only 500