New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1890-04-16
Merchants Organization.


chants of the city met in the parlors of
the Dakota House Oh Friday evening.
and listened to an address by F. NJ.
Folsom, of the Merchants Retail Com.
mercial Agency, So Dearborn ST., Chica-
go. Ills. The system in use by this
Agency has for its purpose the pIotec-
ton of Retail Merchants. The legality,
practicability and results Of the system
we're fully explained. After considera!-. q.
ton; a motion was made that those
present proceed to organize a local
branch of such Agency. The motion
prevailed by unanimous vote. and
the following were chosen as officers:
Jacob Klossner Jr., President; F. H.
Retzlaf, Vice. President; Andrew J..
Eckstein. Secretary and Treasurer; S.
D. Peterson, j. F, Neumann, and
Charles Wagner, Executive Board.
This Agency uses no dlshonorable
means to force collections or settle
men.s, but the merchants propose to
exercise their legal right to refuse Gre
dit to a person who gains the reputation
of not treating member of the Agency
honorably.
There is no law compelling mer-
chants to sell their goods on credit
There is no law forbidding merchants
refusing credit to any person they see
fit, and when merchant sells his goods
on credit it Is as an accommodation to the
consumer, and if such consumer has no
appreciation of the favor extended and
wilfully neglects to make reasonable
and honorable adjustment of his indebt-
edness, the n he should be compelled to
pay as he buys. It is better for him
and much more profitable for the mer-
chant Many poor worthy man has
been refused credit for the necessities of
life because of the merchants unpleas-
ant experience with bad debtors, but
this system will tend to obviate all that,
because the man who does respect
his credit will be known and have a
standing among merchants, while the
''de0d beGt' and others of his kind will
also be known to the mem bers of this
Agency and be absolutely refused cred
IT.; no matter if he moves TO another
town or state, his reputation as poor pay
will follow him and the merchants in
such new place of residence will also
refuse him credit. This Agency issues
a regular and legal bi-monthly alb.
stract OF unsettled accounts. Each men,
bcr agrees to forfeit taUenty dollars to
his branch as a penalty, in case he ex-
tends credit to q person whose unsettled
account appears in the abstract and no
account can appear therein until the
debtor has had full and fair opportun-
ity to go to the merchants he owes and
in some way arrange such indebtedness.
The man aO7ao can pay and aOon't pay
and the man who cannot pay, but qUill
not 90 to the merchant and state his
condition and make effort to arrange,
is the person this agency is after.
The agency does not interfere with
the credit of men who deal honorably,
no matter if they are slow; neither does
it in any, way regulate prices. Its sole
object is to compel men to oe honest
With merchants or to pay spot cash for
goods purchased. Something of this
kind has been needed for long time
and this system will work. sin COM
binatioh there is strength 2 The mem
bers have the success or failure of this
system in their own hands. Wherever
merchants have properly combined, the
system has proven a great success. The
west is being carefully covered by the
agency, and the merchants in all small
town are visited and solicited to Join
the county branch.