The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-02-11
A Modern Mode of Stealth q i.


correspondence of the Boston Transcript. ]
am sure that you will be willing to
help make wholesale public opinion
against petty but too common form
many people, Of deferring, often for
weeks, sometimes for months, the pay
ment of bills to tradesmen, dressmak-
ers, milliners, provision dealers and
| others. These bills are frequently small
and seem of little consequence to those
who neglect them. Perhaps they are
forgotten altogether On the other
hand, one hears Of scandalous instances
where it appears to be the deliberate
intent of well-to-do and even wealthy
| persons to postpone the payment of all
small dues as long as possible. Per-
! haps these culprits are using their mon
| ey in promising ventures or investments
| from which 1t is not convenient to sub
| tract any Of the profits. But whether
the fault comes from selfish intent or
from selfish negligence, the result is
the same, SO far as the numerous VIC
tins Of this habit are concerned. They
lose the use of their money; in other
words, they are compelled 20 submit to
forced loan Of their money without
any interest The debtor-the custom
err or the employer--quietly enjoys the
use of money which justly belongs to
the tradesman the grocer or the doc
tor Is not this form of stealing?
Some one answers that the amount of
the bill is small, perhaps only dollar
or two. Why do you not pay 1t then at
once? But 1t is not small to the man
who has to collect a score of such neg
ligent accounts. 1t is not small to the
washerwoman who depended on that
very dollar to pay her rent for the
week. 1t looks small to the well-to-do
debtor, who spends that very money or
more at the theatre; it is not small to
the poor carpenter the creditor, who
for want Of that money cannot enter
the theatre People ought to know that
real and quite reliable causes of suffer-
ing in society are the anxiety, the dis
appointment, the sense of injustice and
the distress with which many house
holds are constantly burdened, not only
on account of the failure of those who
cannot pay their debts, but on account
Of the easy-going neglect of large
class who put off paying their debts till
their own convenience.
This is not all. The delays Of dues,
that begin in small accounts carelessly |
withheld, presently accumulate into |
more or less stagnation of credits
throughout the industrial system 1t |
becomes hard for the larger merchants
to collect their dues from the smaller
men--"the baker, the butcher, the cam
dlestck Maker The smaller CUSTOM |
ers are not free to buy as they would |
like. When Is business good? 1t Is /
good when the circulation of money is !
active, and especially when the multi
tude Of small spenders have money to
spend. If well-to-do people keep back
any Of this money. which ought to be
in the hands of the workers, they i'm
pair the circulation upon which all bus
mess and all incomes depend. My point
therefore is that negligent habits of
the payment of small bills
and dues are not only an injustice to
every individual who Is robbed of the
rightful use Of his money, but it is an
injustice to all Of us who are made to
suffer indirectly the evil consequences
Of all injustice.
/ have a theory that the men are more
to blame in this bad business than the
/ suspect that part of the trou-
BILE Is in the old English tradition that
the man in the family must handle all
the money, while the wife and daugh-
ters\ must be obliged to ask for every
dollar that they need. l am inclined to
think that payments would be more
prompt If the women generally were
held responsible for their own Depart
nents in the household and were given
l regular allowance accordingly. Wher-
ever the women carry the purse they
seem to show quite as good business
ability as the men. Perhaps they ought
20 have higher praise than this.