The Penn's Grove record., 1900-03-30
THE TRADE CHECK EVIL,
Suffering Workmen Appeal to Wash
ingtop Authorities For Relief.
IT IS SPREADING EAST AND YVES

b Trade Check, Used Originally i'd
Lumber Camps, is Now Being Adopted
by Business Men In All Parts of the
C~ountry-How Laboring People Ar.
Affected by It-Biils in Congress.
WASHINGTON, D. G. (SpeciaI).-The Secret
Service Bureau is being bombarded daily
with an ever-increasing fire OF letters beg.
cling for official action to abate the trade
check evil. which is growing rapidly. The
bureau is alarmed at the state Of things re-
vealed by these letters, but is powerless to
remedy 1t.
The trade check system, which origin.
ated In the lumber and mining camps OF
the Northwest, is spreading s~outhward and
eastward, and has now got as far as In.
diana, which is becoming honeycombed
with trade-check communities. The vic.
tins OF 1t are unable to find any way ont
except to appeal to the Treasury Depart
ment, and the morning mail is full of such
appeals every day.
One case which Is a fair sample OF them
all was revealed in a letter received by the
Secret Service Bureau a few days ago.
The writer was q m Her husband
was sick. and she had no provisions in the
house. For some reason she could not get
them at the company's stores, and she
could not buy trade checks which are
not ~redeemable in money, and which
would not pass anywhere except at
the company stores. He had all his say.
ings, enough to support them in comfort.
In trade checks, and she could not buy
a pound OF flour.
These corporations issue trade checks to
their employees instead of money. The
trade checks are r~edeemable, not In money.
but In goods, at the Office Of the company.
The result of the system is that at the end
IT a mans employment he has no savings.
nothing to show tor his work but trade
checks, and is penniless. If he refuses to
take them and demands money he is dis
charged. He can sue, OF course, but 1t is
needless to say that that remedy is not
often invoked.
The Secret Service people say that the
trade check system, originally confined to
lumber and mining camps, is spreading to
all sorts OF industries. In agricultural re-
gions in the Northwest the country stores
rave adopted trade checks in dealing with
the farmers Of the surrounding country. It
works we'll enough while the farmers con-
fine themselves to exchanging checks for
goods at the stores, but the checks look
like money and it Is impossible to make
the more ignorant farmers understand that
they are not money. The result Is that
trade checks are exchanged with other
money, and pass from hand to hand, and
poor and ignorant people are continually
finding themselves heavy losers,
Business men are also complaining to the
Secret Service Bureau, declaring that In
regions where the trade check has come
into vogue it is impossible for any man to
continue doing business In competition
with the company stores.
Since the opening OF Congress the West
ern delegations have been flooded with
petitions for relief from this system. Mimi
esota is a hotbed OF 1t, and Senator Nelson,
of that State, has introduced a bill making
it criminal to Issue such checks. A similar
bill has been introduced in the House.