The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1892-01-01
To Credit or Rot to Credit.

That il the question. Whether II is bet
ter to-have your goods and to hold them, or
10 trust every Tom. Dick and Harry that
comes alor &, and to turn yourself into a
busted community. This may not be Shake
spsarean or Biblical, though It does not fall
very short Of being gospel. In tho. age in
which ye live, it would net seem possible
business without credit. Though. in
n from time immemoria ial il has been a
custom to give and TO receive credit. But
in the early days, there was, doubtless. m ore
honor among the people than is current mt
the present time, and tho credit extended,
WAS not so abused as it is now.
The great trouble with the credit system is
that go mauy are granted that privilege who
are not entitled to it. THIS would apply
moro to The retail trade than to the whole
s,ler. With the latter il is rare thing for
q man TO obtain line Of credit unless his
c,mmsrc'al sanding is we'll esiablished,
.arr,ni"S the jobber to extend that cnur-
t,>y. for Courtesy 1t il, and nothing el.e:
Notwithstanding that it is usage born of
custom. A man may be ever so jolly q fell
low, wearing fine clothes and living in good
style in a fashionable neghborhood this
so't Of thing will not pass muster with The
Wholesale dealer. He must have better evil
dcnce that the firm or individual is able TO
meet his bills when they fall due. Why,
prscaution! 1t is true the who o'esaler has
the advantage of the retailer in this regard,
in so far rs he is able to keep we'll posted
as to the standing of nearly every merchant
through Bradstreet's or Dun's commercial
agency: The retailer, generally speaking,
has no such p5a ~, though there are
some cities. nots6syNe& York, where the
credit rating Of families is given for the
benefit Of the grocer. But, at the same time,
the grocer cannot be too careful in this re-
gard. He owes it not alone to himself and
his family, but to the 5sbber ~ho sells him
on credit. When the wholesaler allows the
retailer to purchase goods of him on time, he
does not only because the dealer has good
financial standing, but for the rc,s,n that
he believes that the retailer is q good busi-
ness man with n methodical way Of doing
bu. iness. II the jobber for one moment
thought that his credit customer made a
practice oftrusting families indiscrim, nately
for the goods supplied them, it is more than
likely that he would restrict the ret.iler's
credit, il not withdraw that privilege alto
Eetier. And yet that ia just what thousands
~ retail grocers are doing today. If lit
tie more attention were given to this impor-
'anl matter, there would be heavy falling
of in tho failures of the retail grocer trade.
No retail grocer should open IN account
on his took with n man he knows nothing
about. The same line Of inquiry should be
pursued here that is carried on by the COM
mcrria' agencies. The grocer should first
cndeav r 10 ascertain in what business the
parry asking credit is engaged, or VIII +, em-
ploy and. if possible. what is his source
Of r, venue the amount of his income and
hi. la'lts, and where he formerly purchas-
ed his supplies. BY making it n RUE to
require references in every case where
Tho party is not known, the retail Rroccrs
will find that they wi be many n dollar
ahead NJ iNnend Of the year. The best plan
for tha Iould be to have printed the
following blank. which every customer ask |
ing credit, whose standing is not known,
should be asked 10 fill out. No grocer neci |
fear OF giving offense, for it is pretty safe |
a.snmp ption that n man who will get mad |
when asked to ray his debts, is not desir- |
able customer TO have, and the sooner he is |
disi o.cd of the better it will be for the |
grocer. The man who is able and willing |
to mctt his obligations is not going to tske |
his trade away because he is expected to nav |
his i'll when it falls duo by using the |
following blsnk the retail groccrs viii save |
: W 81 aeSe u l.. 1i reside, -
long have you ssided lthareY
,,n What IS ayQpr. busih ess ahesa. .1asuusSp |
a h,rs 90 Eou lasf hase your -, LEO.