The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-06-17
SIAIE GROGERS.
ooptlnooA Fronl.eona PaEs,

Of those whose attention they were
canf ting for they have driven the peo-
pio away from them ana both have lost;
they have defeated the very object for
which the night was begun. Association
prevents u from committing business
ouiclde.
''rhe greatest Of all. In my Judgment,
! have not yet mentioned. The great
cal OF all evils With which we have to
contend u the credit cvil. II We. had
ali the money that Is due US, which We
viii never get, and which we would
never have allowed to be due uH IL VIC
had known the sort Of people We were
dealing with, we could employ the best
iaWVerO In the land to daht our other
batfIeS, and II we could prevent our
eelVeB from getting more bad accounts
ON our bnolLs we would coon get rich
enoigh 20 retire. Our association VIII
eStnbllsh a credit system which VIII re-
duce our losses to q minimum. With
: perfect organization we could easily
ascertain 4 mans standing ana credit
aud there would be no reason why more
than one merchant In the state should
b struck by the same de0d-beat. We
would report every man We felt was not
deserving OF credit and our members
would be saved. The giving OF credit on
Tie nsceEsar!eS OF life 70 one OF the
RreStest boons the general public en-
toys, Ie we did not allow credit, thou
5ands In our own state would actually
0ufler great privations, and yet, asS
anV. OF these people to help US avoid
loEleB and we almost invariably ask IN
Win. They would not tell us who OF
theft humber are worthy to enjoy the
privtleRe of credit which they find so
heinfni 20 them. They will not protect
us u they can and thereby preserve 70
themselves the benefits OF credit ana
enable Us at the same dime TO sen them
Foods cheaper than We can when We
must provide IN some way 90 cover the
loIVe5 Incurred by making the mistake
Ne are ail liable to make when we trust
10 our own estimate Of man. We must
help ourselves by standing by each 9th
er and By reporting every man to the
nsSociatlon whom we know to be unde-
SeryInG OF credit. A stricter dlscrimi-
nation in the giving Of credit Will work
no hardship to the honest man VINO IN
tends 10 nay his debts. Such a system
A. we propose to have can only be OPP
poged BY those who believe the major
ity OF the people are thieves.
Mr.. I.saoh's Address.
ar. John II. Leach, of Benwood. one
Of AGarahall eounty's delegation in the
west virginia. legislature. also a re-
tail grocer. spoke on Legislation and
Pure Food q subject In which ne rs
greatly interested. Mr. Leach saiu' IN
the course Of his interesting ADDRESS:
There are some laws upon our stat
ute books to-day that ought to be elm
mated: one of the most prominent IS
fhe one continued in the Constitution OF
orir own state Of West Virginia. The
nae refer to 70 found In article 8. sec
zion a IN regard to hOmesteads grant
"a a onr citlseaR. That law might do
a. All men were honest and would DO
,,7,fo others as they would have them
~ INTO them, but that law discrimi-
Soates and makes II possible tor the
county or state TO seize or sell LOT YAK
q thereon. while the private citizen or
merchant oan take pot luck Tor MS pay
and there are but few deld-beats VINO
are not aware OF this weakness In our
-. aTd they take advantage Of this
nniust constitutional right and detraud
o,ir merchants on every hand. Wen.
SoCne VIII say, why do you conduct your
ousine1S ON q credit basis? Why not
demand the cash or leave the goods on
S,oiJr sheiyes7' I will say in answer 10
fhot question, that two-thirdS OF all our
buginess 10 done upon a credit or conn.,
dence basis. The commerce OF our
county. our great Misunderstanding CON
Germs. banks and more than two-thirus
of All the business OF our wholesale ana
retail houses & done upon credit OF
conddence that the parties that tney
are dealing with Will be true 10 the
4rt1st they confided In them Another
iaS, which believe should be changed.
q ,Ns one IN regard to Limitation OF
oerTonal action" A debt, In my MIND
h 4 debt until It is paid, and no law
shouId be enacted that would declare
that Dill was paid when It was NOT
Maid: therefore, II II unjust and shouiu
- eiinniuated. We may never be able
IA 0et Though the legislature that
and OF law that will directly benefit the
merchant, because there seems to be a
tendency on the part of our iaW-makers
and the general public to detenu me
man who would most likely take the
advantage Of our exemption law. but
vet there II one recourse ana that Is loE
fhe merchants TO bind themselves TO-
Ssfhsy IN such strong bonds OF brother
Rood that we can resist this floating
raupef element, known as the dead
bSStS / FIRMLY believe that this Is the
onIy course for US to pursue; IN union
4bere Is strength. So then let us bind
ourselves together TO protect our pusl-
Tses sEainst profit -cuttlng and the
$3.50 T have already mentioned, the
dead beat. Let US have the same sys-
fen the jobbers are required to nave
and that is a combination on oil staple
articles. A.,,,,,o
will say other than that we should naye
the purest and best food; Just as PuIs
AZ II a Piyen 10 Us by an all wise Cfod.
han F1aHn from Hk-
az, SecfInn OF the state and the COVER
nor who recently retired, declared that
n was NOT demanded by the people, AZ
tsy n md been carefully considered by
MIR branches Of the Legislature, ana by
+S,sJy VOTES they had declared that We
Sho,,id have pure food. the governor
thoIIght otherwise. and vetoed one OF
ire hest bills that was presented our
Ing the last session OF the legislature.
Our surrounding stntes have laws con,
trolling their drink, drug and 1000 hno
vet West Virginia has to take such
stuR as they cannot sell in thciF own
states But we can refuse 10 place II
on sale in our stores"
Mr.. Barnrs' HemATkG.
The next paper was from Mr.. J. NJ.
barnes. OF weston, on PROFIT Cutting
and Cost Of Doing Grocery or Mer-
camille Business as ! see II" Among
other things, Mr.. Barnes said:
with ali the natural advantages We
are surrounded with, our country ought
surely 10 be n land OF prosperous mer-
chants, instead OF the shaky and totter-
inc ones there are. Wry should This
state OF affalrs exist? Are we as mcr-
chants, TO blame? What Is your svs-
tenn OF business?
There could be no financial crashes
II there was no credit system, either OF
the Individual or OF corporations, or OF
nations. Can business be done without