The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-12-09
Commercial Failures in the South.

Commercial alAure8 the SOUTH
The Texas Grocers' Review In care
fully prepared article points out what
II believes to be the cause OF the many
failures OF country merchants in the south
at this season OF the year. and suggests
remedy for them. The chief cause OF the
failures It considers 10 be this: Whole
sale merchants who do more or less
trust trade begin TO be anxious about
their collections toward the close Of the
year particularly If their collections are
not as large as they think they should be.
Urged by this feeling Of anxiety they seek
for means TO force their slow paying
debtors 10 pay what they owe. One thing
they do is 10 send out their credit man
with Instructions TO use his judgment in
closing up all delinquent accounts. This
credit man. when he begins his work,
finds there are a good many country mer-
chants who cannot pay at once all they
owe. He gets the idea that the country is
on the verge Of commercial ruin. and he
becomes in a measure panic stricken. He
regards 1t as his duty to adopt stringent
measures to get for his firm an advantage
over al OAtltI GlElltUEH. he AnAlE Alal
occurs TO him to do is to induce the de-
unquent merchant to make an assignment
naming those he represents as preferred
creditors. He hurries from one delinquent
merchant to another, becoming more fear
full as he advances that he will be too
late to get the first grab at the assets OF
those who are indebted to his employers.
~.
other. are reported abroad until both cred
itor and debtor merchants become thor
oughly demoralized. and failures are
brought about for which there is neither
sense nor reason.
The remedy for this unfortunate condi-
ton of affairs is for the creditor mer-
chant to use more discretion in dealing
with the debtor merchant. and especially
for the country merchant, who is the
debtor merchant, TO absolutely refuse "to
make deeds of trust or an assignment at
the demand of any one of his creditors
to the exclusion of the others, and to con-
duct his business according to his own
best judgment, unbiased by the pessimis-
tic fears of any and everybody" The
leNaS GIOcerS review nOldS the opinion
that 1.-THE retail merchant should always
look with distrust on any man or firm
that asks him to make an assignment
or deed Of trust for the sole purpose
of protecting the creditor making the re-
quest"
There is a good deal of truth in
what the Texas Grocers' Review says. A
solvent merchant should not permit him
self to be persuaded into doing something
that is not for his good. If he can pay his
debts. If given a chance. he should state
his position fairly and then if his creditor
insists upon resorting to the courts to
collect his claim let the creditor take that
course. 1t is better for the country mer-
chant in the long run to fail if fail he must
in such a way as to retain the good
will of all of his creditors. There may
be good reasons in certain cases for pre-
ferring one creditor TO another. but the
cases are not numerous. If solvent coun-
try merchants were frmer in their de-
mands for a chance to pay their debts
both they and their creditors would be
better off. There certainly would be fewer
failures.