Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-10-07
PAYING CASH.
Some of the Evils of the Credit System In Re
tail Business

some OF the Evils OF the credit system In he
tail Business.
| Perhaps in the millennium CT those
/ who dream dreams have had fair visions
| people may pay as they go, and thus the
| accounts may be vastly simplified says
| The San Francisco Chronicle. Bnt until
| that time comes we may look to see the
old credit system prevail, with all its
| vices. And these vices are many. Their
chief result is that they make existence a
| hard struggle for thousands of honest
energetic business men; that they put a
premium on dishonesty; that they waste
a good many estate in litigation, and that
they forcee tn mon who pay cash to bear
a portion of the burden caused by the
lmprovidence or knavery of those who
live on credit. 1t is perhaps true as as
serted by political economists that credit
has many advantages when properly
extended, but the tendency is always in
the direction of carelessness. If men
could always judge the integrity of their
ne1ghbors accurately the credit system
would be deprived of half its dangers.
But as we are all liable to be deceived,
the cash plan seems the only safe one.
If adopted it would put an end to the
speculative ventures which so frequently
largely restrict the number of men engag-
ed in all kinds of business, and would
force these men into more productive
branches of industry. One of the worst
evils of the large cities, in this as in all
other countries is the overcrowding of all
branches of mercantile business. Ten
men desire to keep store and earn an
easy living where there is legitimate bus
mess for only one merchant. The fruit
of this is ruinous competition and
heavy percentage of failures, Every
failure means loss to creditors, frequent
ly the crippling of fine business houses
carried on for years in an upright and
honorable manner. The general adoption
of the cash system would do much to pre-
vent this overcrowding and it would COM
pei honesty beside.
But even granting that IN wholesale
trade the credit system offers many ad-
vantages to merchants, of which it would
be hardship to deprive them, the same
argument can not be advanced in regard
to the retail trades. Here is the direct
meeting of the consumer with the mer-
chant, and there is no good reason Why
the cash system should not prevail. We
have inherited the credit system of Eng
land. 1t is relic of aristocracy which
argues that the plebean trader must be
kept in proper subsection and to do this
is to withhold as long as possible the coin
THAI rightfully belongs to him. The
wealthy classes of our large eastern
cities adopted the same ideas. 1t is no
uncommon incident to find butchers,
grocers, and other retail dealers with I'M
paid accounts of millionaire customers
running over two or three years. These
men will tell you that they are perfectly
sure to be paid in the end, unless their
customers fortunes should suddenly col
lapse, but that they are constantly ham
pered for the cash which these wealthy
customers could pay with ease, but APP
parently never dream of doing, save at
long intervals. The dealers send in their
bills regularly every three or six months,
but those intimations are received as a
mere matter of routine, and it is seldom
that any attention is paid to them. Re-
tail dealers in almost every department
of trade could parallel this instance.
There was a case recently of a dealer in
rare books in New York who failed be-
cause he was unable to collect the ac-
counts on his books, many of them be-
longing to wealthy bibliophiIes. If he
could have collected these debts which
represented only fair profit on what he
paid for the books, he would have escap-
ed the disaster that overwhelmed him af-
ter quarter of a century of active bus
mess life.