The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-09-17
BORROWING MONEY.
Men Prefer to owe Lenders Rather
than Tradesmen or Friends.

Men Prefer to owe Rather
than Tradesmen or Friends.
Washington Times.
why do men borrow money!" was asked
Of a local money lender by a Times re-
porter.
I'm order to get out of debt" A para
doxical answer, you say. but not a bit of it.
The money lender then went on to say
that he was not familiar with the chattel
mortgage business. that he and his friends
loaned money on notes signed by salaried
employees, and that in most OF the cases the
men who borrowed money did SO that they
might pay off other debts.
"A man." said he, prefers to owe money
to a money lender than to his renting
agent, his butcher or his milkman. He lets
little bills go by till they pile UP, and then
he wants to saw his household credit. He
does 1T by borrowing money from a money
lender. He takes the money that he gets
from me or from some one else in the bust
ness, brings it home and pays his house
debts with 1t. Many men borrow money
so that they can pay of their office help.
or so that they can arrange matters with
their doctor, or their lawyer or their in
surance company.
1.-The idea that many men go to money
l6nQeTS SO lldl lnty CAL k6I money TO
spend on horse races and pleasures of one
sort and another is ~unfounded. Most of the
borrowers borrow to save their credit, and
we would rather lend money FOR such a
purpose than for throwing it away. Men
get to know that we do not like to let good
money go after bad in speculation or dis
sipation. and they do not ask for money
on thoSee grounds. Next to the plea that
they must have money with which to run
the house or the office, misfortune comes as
the most pressing plea for money. Death,
avoided. and when any one of them comes
along the man who has to have money
looks up a money lender.
How do we know that the story he tells
is true? We don't know. If we did, we
would not have our safety deposit vaults
filled with worthless paper, with notes that
are not worth half the paper they are writ
ten on. The only safeguard we have is the
| tab system. Not many people know about
that, but it is all that stands between US
and bankruptcy"
The operation of this system was de-
When a man comes in and asks for a
| loan he signs an application blank. This
| tells where he is employed. what his family
consists of, how much property he has, and
other items of information which are of
| value to the man who is going to lend
money. Then the office investigator goes
out and looks up the references the would
be borrower gives, and If these are salts
| factory the investigator reports that the
loan seems to be a good one. Then the
name OF the man VINO wants TO borrow anC
the amount that he would like to get are
placed on a slip OF paper, and each day
an agent hired by all the money lenders
in common takes this slip to all the other
money lenders. Each one looks up the
name on his books. If he finds that the
man who wants to borrow from another
lender owes money already he is in duty
bound to tell the agent so, and he car
ries his information to the office of the
man at which the application for the loar
is on file.
The lenders agree to give no money to
men who already owe money, unless the
man to whom the money is owed will gree
to the transaction. This is as much a part
of the money lending business as the sign
on the door.
at is all that keeps everybody in town
| out of the business" said another money
lender. ut is, as my friend has said, the
only safeguard we have. and there are
times when it does not do it's work. These
a wrong name and arranges a set of ficti.
tious references he may beat the combina-
ton, but 1t is a long shot, and is hardly
ever played. /, as well as many others in
the business, find that most Of my clients
are men who borrow money to get out OF
others debt, but they cannot get out of a
money lenders debt by borrowing money
from another money lender, unless the first
man is willing"
The checking system and the widespread
reluctance that men have to getting money
to squander from money lenders are the
two strongest guards that business has.
1T is true enough" said the money lend.
er, that in the beginning men borrow from
us to pay their friends. In the end they
usually try to borrow from their friends tc
pay U.S."