The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-12-11

! A merchant in a nearby town was
recently given a three years extension
Oh his accounts and then the creditors
also agreed to sell him on a new &C
count any goods which were necessary
for him TO carry or his business.
Work For Bulk Law.
one OF the desires of this association
at TIE present time, as explained by an
official. is 10 have in effect here what
is called a bulk law. Such law would
be 10 the effect that no merchant could
dispose Of his buSfn.ss in bulk without
swing his crediturs due notice. and
/ that where notice was not given the
sale would be void. Such a law was
raised by one session Of the Utah leSis-
lature. but was later declared uncOu-
stitutionai by the supreme court. From
I the decision Of the court it appears that
the law was too restrictive and the
court decided that Il was really law
| in restraint of trade. All members Of
/ the association are confident that ii new
< law can be framed which viii overcome
the objection raised and stiu meet the
! requirements. such "A law would pre-
vent any dishonest merchant sfrom buy
I ing a bill of goods on credit and then
d.sposinS of them and leaving for parts
/ unknown. This can be done today and
] lFeAA e TIE tItullOI WHERE ne cannot Get
i his money. No honest merchant would
need TO fear such law, IL is held and
/ il is considered the only way to prevent
a dishonest one from robbing his cred
! itors here and then going elsewhere 10
repeat the trick
Such Il law is IN effect en- several of
the states The New York supreme
court has recently passed ON this qucs-
ton and decided that the bulk law in
that state was constitutional.
Money 70 Fight Fraud.
Another feature of the association is
the $4,000 fund fur protection from
fraudulent debtors. This amount is
subscribed by the various members for
the prosecution of any dishonest NOR
chant, and the association stands ready
Al any time TO use any part or all OF
/ this amount i'm the prosecution of any
one who seeks 10 perpetrate a fraud
llIOn its members While the assOcia-
tion tries 10 be mindful Of the interest
o. all the merchants doing a retail bus
iIess. il is unaltcrably opposed To de-
/ ceit and fraud al any time. As instGn"e
Of this il might BE- sighted where il
recently refused to accept d compro-
mise Of 40 cents on the dollar wiki Il
4 merchant believed 10 be dishonest. al
/ though the mans stock 1T the time. It
was agreed would not pay that
| amount It rather chose TO take the
matter 10 the court and get Judgment
against the man in question. and. al
though il was unable to prove fraud. it
still holds the mortgage which il claims
VIII be renewed until the mans death.
and then, if he owns anything, hold the
same against his estate.
The association is located in a suite
Of the rooms in the Commercial club
building. It's expense bills show that it
is spending considerable money in va
riOus ways: paying out over 81, 900
monthly on regular accounts.
Officers of the Association.
The present officers are: President.
10 II. Hewlett; vice president, John r.
Clark, jr.: secretary. Leon Sweet;
treasurer. c. L. Crockwell. These, with
l. ROsenbaum. T. r. Black. A. Par
sons. Willard ScOwcroft and J. W De-
lano. constitute the board Of directors.
Within the past year the Utah AssO-
citation of Credit Men has handled the
affairs of sixty-One different firms in
bankruptcy. trUsteeships, assignments
and composition of creditors. and in
tnat time has paid out in dividends
over $780, 900 to the various creditors.
and besides this, in its regular coIIec-
| ton department. it is receiving an aV
ersge of $1,000 per month on current ac-
counts. This means an avera &c Of
Learly $4,000 a month handled by this
association.
At the present time the association is
considering the advisability Of joining
the National Association of Credit
Men. The National Association OF
Credit Men is an organization Of all OF
the various associations Of the United
States. The one in Utah is the only
, one not affiliated with the main asso-
citation. The work Of the national as
ISOLATION is similar 10 that of the local
organization, except that it covers the
| v hole United States and Canada