Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1891-09-04
Merchants Organization.

The Retail Merchants of Butler met III
the Huselton Hall Thursday evening Aug.
% and listened To an address by the Agent
of The Merchants Retail Commercial y AceL-
cy, 53 Dearborn St, Chicago, his The
system in use by this agency has for Its
purpose the protection Of Retail Mer-
chants The legality, pIacticablhtyand
aud results Of the system We're fully e1-
planned After consideration, a motion
was made that those present proceed again
organize the Butler Branch Of such Agen-
cy The motion prevailed by unanlm-
ous vote The following were chosen as
officers. b. \. Heck President; ID. i.
Cleeland. Vice President; T. D. Colbert,
Secretary; Jos ROckenStein; Treasurer;
IL Reiber T. Kemper, J. H. Trugtman,
All H. Reiber. J. y. Patterson. }. B.
Mitchell. W Hartzell, {. E. Herr and
T. D. Colbert; Ex Board.
This Agency uses 10 dishonorable means
to force collections or settlements, but the
merchants proposes To exercise their legal
right TO refuse credit % person who gains
the reputation of not treating a member of
the Agency hono-ably.
There is no law compelling merchants
IN sell their goods on credit. There Is no
law fOrbidding merchants refusing credit TO
any person they see tit. and when mer-
chant sells his goods on credit it Is as an
accommodation to the consumer, and Il
such consumer has no appreciation OF the
favor extended and willfully neglects to
make a reasonable and honorable adjust
ment Of his indebtedness, then he should
be compelled to pay as he buys 1t Is bet
ter for bin and much more profitable for
the merchant Many poor worthy man
has been refused credit for the neccessltles
of life because of the merchants unpleas-
ant experience with bad debtors, but the
system will tend to obviate all that because
the man who does respect his credit VIII
be known and have a standing among
merchants. while the 'tdead beat and 9TH
ers of this kind will also be known to the
members of this Agency aud be absolutely
refused credit no matter If he moves TO
another town or state his reputation as
poor pay will follow him and the mer-
chants in such new place Of residence will
also refuse him credit. This Agency issues
a regular and legal Bi-Monthly Abstract
OF unsettled accounts. Each member
agrees to forfeit twenty dollars to his branch
as a penalty, il case he extends credit 10 a
person whose unsettled account appears
in the abstract and no account can appear
therein until the debtor has had full and
fair opportunity to 90 to the merchant he
owes and in some way arrange such IN
debtedness. The man who can pay and
won T. pay and the man who cannot pay,
but will not go to the d chant and state
his condition and make effort to arrange, Is
the person this Agency is after.
This agency does not interfere with the
credit IL men who deal hcnorably, no mat
ter if thev are slow; neither does it in any
way regulate prices. Its sole object Is to
compell men to be honest with merchants
or to pay spot cash for goods purchased:
Something Of this kind has been needed
for long time and this s. stem will work.
'In combination there is strength" The
members have the success or failure OF
this system in their own bands. whenever
merchants have properly combined, the
system has proven great success. The
West IS 5einz carefully covered by this
Agency, ana The merchants in al small
towns are visited and solicited to join the
county inch
E. d -olberl. sycGetary of the Butler
branch.
Soue alIogod irrea.l ,fities at the State