The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-02-25

Their 3nttOes-
Phissdelphia Record
There ara between 5.tfO and 600 men n
this city uho do not pay their tailocs' bills.
This <tatement Is made upon the 8uthor ~
Of member Of the uew institution known
- The Merchant Taisors' Protective Asso-
citation and Exchange. which Is psepaysn1
the list Tor publication and circulation
among the members Of the organization
when this hack Inst IL once made public Il
viii ruin the credit Of the hundreds uho
hare existed on the tailoss in The past.
The Merchant Tailors' Exchange has
bad lis Of this character for some years,
but The membership Of that organization
II small and limited almost entirely 20 the
tsi'crs having large establishments In the
vicinity Of Walnut and Chestnut streets.
The new association, which was organized
on Monday evening. win cover much
wider tield. and ef!crts viii Be made 70 in
Guide every tailor in the city. Each mem-
her will turn In the names OF those from
whom he has been unable TO collect bis
money. and copies OF the complete list viii
be furnished every tailor in the city.
The list is to inciud not only the dead
heats that never pay. but all those who
help 10 make the life Of tailor burden.
For example. it is almost impossible 20
make clothing to suit some men. omat-
ter how carefully they are made some OBJ
lection will Be found. and after enough al
tsrations have been made to eat UP all the
profit the price must be reduced on the
ground that after so many changes have
been made the garment comes under the
head of damaged goods. Under the new
order OF things these men must change
their tactics or depend on the ready-made
dealers for their clothing.
Hiram Dew alt. who was made tempo
rary chairman of the new organization.
says it Is surprising to what an extent the
business of beating tailors out of their
money has been carried. lit is confined
to no particular Glass; he said, but is
done by men in all the walks of life. Two
classes of people stand out more promi-
nentiy than the rest. however--those who
want TO make . greater display than their
circumstances will warrant. and the sons
OF rich men Who evidently use their allow
ances for outside pleasure and want to get
their clothes at the expense OF the tailors.
In the compilation of the list great care
and caution viii be exercised. The tailors
will all be given numbers and the names of
those reporting delinquents will not APP
pear on the list. but opposite the name and
address OF each Objectionable customer
will be given the number of the tailor at
whose instance he has been blacklisted and
the cause for the action.
1t In only after . man has shown con-
clusively that be does not intend to pay
that his name viii be reported. After dun
ming man for q year without getting any
thing out of him. il is safe to suppose that
he does not intend to pay, and down goes
his name on the blacklist l don't believe
however that the losses from this source
are so heavy rs are claimed by some. The
tailors have learned wisdom, and during
the last few y ears have teen very careful
about trust ing people they were not abso-
luteiy sure Of. But even with ala this care
they get stuck every now and then. and
the seneral blacklist is intended to remedy
this
Robert Stewart, the president of the old
Merchant Tailors' Exchange. is q fiIm be-
lever in the efficiency of the blacklist.
will suit those people who make habit of
not paying" he said, land whenever We
lose by one of them 1t is always pretty
iaiI SUN. n uau WHO uppcdIcu W aUSc
in the best circles came into the store some
time ago and ordered suit OF clothes for
So. After he had gone looked over our
list and found his name there. l inmedi-
ately sent him . note stating that we
could not make the clothing without hav-
ing good deposit He stepped in1shortly
afterwards and explained that he expected
TO receive some money in about week or
so, and would pay when the clothes were
made. He never returned, however. and /
have since seen him on the street in new
suit, but they were ready-made.
"A blacklist of this character may seem
rather hard to some outsiders, but it is the
only way by which tailors can prevent
heavy threads into their yearly profits.
think 5000 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 considerable of draft upon
our purses.