, 1890-03-12
AN ARMY OF pEApeEATs.
Quaker City Men Who Forget to Pa,
Their Tailors.

@HtA @AAoNh-
There are between 5000 and 6,OOO men
IN this city who do not pay their ~tailors'
bills. This statement is made upon the
authority of a member of the new insti-
tuition known as the Merchant Tailors'
Protective Association and Exchange,
which is preparing the list for publica-
ton and circulation among the members
of the organization. When this black
list is once made public it will ruin the
credit Of the hundreds who have existed
on the tailors in the past.
The Merchant Tailors' Exchange has
had a list of this character for some
years, but h membership of that organi-
cation is small and limited almost en-
tirely to the tailors having large estab-
lishments in the vicinity of Walnut and
Chestnut streets. The new association,
which was organized on Monday even
ing, will cover a much wider field, and
efforts will be made to include every
tailor in the city. Each member will
turn in the names of those from whom
he has been unable to collect his II
and copies of the complete list will be
furnished every tailor in the city.
The list is to include not only the dead
beats hat never pay, but all those who
help to make the life of a tailor a bur-
den. For example, it is almost impossi-
BILE to make clothing to suit some men.
No matter how carefully they are made,
some objection will be found, and after
enough alterations have peer made to
eat up all the profit the price must be re-
duced, on the ground that after so many
changes have been made the garment
comes under the head of damaged goods.
Under then new order of things these men
must change their tactics or depend on
the ready made dealers for their cloth
ing.
Hiram DeWalt, who was made tenn
porary chairman of the new organize
ton, says it is surprising to what ex-
tent the business of beating tailors out
of their money has been carried. lit is
confined to no particular class" he said,
but is done by men in all the walks of
life. Two classes of people stand out
more prominently than the rest, how
~ever-those who want to make a greater
display han their circumstances will
warrant, and the sons of rich men who
evidently use their allowances for out
side pleasures and want to get their
clothes at the expense of the ~tailors.
III Nv SOlnp lldJlOh Ol Int lSJ great
care and caution will be exercised. The
tailors will all be given numbers, and the
names of those reporting delinquents will
not appear on the list; but opposite the
name and address of each Objectionable
customer will be given the name of the
tailor at whose insistance he has been
blacklisted, and the cause for the action.
ut is only after a man has shown con-
clusively that he does not intend to pay
that his name will be reported. After
dunning a man for a year without get
ting anything out of him, it is safe to
suppose that he does not intend to pay,
and down goes his name on the black
list. l don't believe, however, that the
losses from this source are so heavy as
are claimed by some. The tailors have
learned wisdom, and during the last few
years have been very careful about trust
ing people they were not absolutely sure
of. But even with all this care they get
stuck every o and then, and the gen.
eral black list is intended to remedy
this"
Robert Stewart, the president of the
old Merchant Tailors' Exchange, is a
firm believer in the efficiency of the
blacklist. Nothing but the best goods
in the house will suit those people who
make habit of not paying" he said,
land whenever we lose by one of them
it rs always a pretty fair sum. A man
who appeared to move in the best circles
came into the store some time ago and
ordered a suit of clothes for sos. After
he had gone l looked over our list and
found his name there. 1 Immediately
sent him a note stating that we could
not make the clothing without having a
good deposit. He stopped in shortly
afterwards and explained that he ex-
pected to receive some money in about a
week or SO, and would pay when the
clothes were made. He never returned,
however, and l have since seen him on
the street in a new suit, but they were
ready made.
"a black list of this character may
seem rather hard to some outsiders, but
it is the only way by which tailors can
prevent heavy inroads into their yearly
profits. l think 5000 a low estimate of
the number of men of that character in
this city, and for the tailors to clothe an
army like that free of charge is consid-
cradle of a draft upon our purses -
Philadelphia Record,