The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-08-24
CLUBS KEY CREDIT LOW THE CUSTOM IS CHANGING Practice of Posting a List of
 the Derelict Payers
 Abandoned.

ening rather than lengthening. Old l established clubs, indeed, cling pretty well to their early rules on this sub ject, but even some of these have shortened the time and cut down the amount of credits. The newer clubs i tend to keep credits low and the term short. A few clubs even try to en- force the rule that debt shall be paid on the day 1t is incurred and before the member leaves the clubhouse. It is still possible, however, for a reput- able man belonging to four or five clubs to dine without paying for whole year by judicious use of his credit.
 Within the last few years some clubs have abandoned the time-honor- ed posted list. There must have been a time when the monthly posted list was effective in making men pay their current club debts, but the effect upon men of seeing their names posted month after month along with those 1 of the most respectable of their club members soon ceases to be felt, and in time a place on the posted list is re- garded almost as an honor.
 Some clubs have abandoned even the practice of posting the limit list, that is. the names of those whose credit exceeds the limit fixed by the club rules. The distinction between the monthly posted list and the limit list is clear, and important.
 ! The monthly list is of those who have not paid their last months house bills, small cr large, at the end of the time allowed for credit, which is usu- ally 5 days from the end of the month. The limit list includes the names of those who have dlsregarded the monthly posting until their bills have reached the amount at which credit absolutely ceases. It is not yet an honor to have one's name on the limit list in any reputable club.
 In some clubs the limit is %s high as $200, in most 1t is not above $1OO, in very few no sum is named, but man who should consistently let his debts pile up would be subject to in- quiry and then. if need be, to disci- pline. In the case of the clubs that have ceased posting the limit list the limit is fixed at a point that man easily reaches in the course of 8 month, so that the member who long neglects his monthly bills Is at once subject to inquiry and then to disci- pline.
 In most clubs all these things come about automatically by the operation of fixed rules so that the personal ele- ment is not obtruded, but the rules can be strictly and promptly enforced to rid club of undesirable members.
 Many of the newer clubs fix their limit list as low as $25, so that a member may easily find himself in arrears several times in the course of month. This means suspension of lcredit, and perhaps serious embarrass- ment.
 The unwelcome news that the club cannot serve a man with meat or drink comes unpleasantly enough when he has planted himself at table a and demanded refreshments We'll managed clubs contrive that man shall receive warning of the fact that his credit has expired before he has undertaken to exercise his ordinary privileges as a club member, but there are a good many ill-managed clubs ill 1 New York where negligent members meet with just this form of embar- rassment
 Some clubs that have ceased to post l tck sct eti1 post the names of those who have fail ed to paw their dues when the term of credit has expired. This term usu- l ally extends for at least month af- ter the annual or semi-annual pay ment has fallen due, but it may eX- ltend to two or even three months.
 No self-respecting man likes to have his name on that list. and few clubs will long tolerate men whose names habitually appear here A good fel- low, however, who spends much money at the club and has never driven the board to threaten extremities may of- fend in this way for many years. It is a perfectly well-recognized idiosyn- crasy of some men to be slow pay and the club can afford to be patient with the slow man who is a free spender
 It is sign of improved club man. ners that the posted list, when still !, maintained, is no longer made con- Ispicuous. It is, of course, always con Icealed when the club entertains guests, and there is an increasing ten dency to regard it as bad form to lscrutinize the posted list too closely.
 The club gossip was never nice person, and he is more, than ever drowned upon. It may occasionally be convenient to know that a fellow member of ordinarily punctual habits has not paid his club bills, but there are usually earlier premonitions of a mans financial embarrassments. Those who most promptly discharge their club debts are far from being the safest men to deal with in money matters. To get into good club and, keep clear of the posted list is worth much to climber.
 With the shortening and lessening of club credits has come in many clubs a stricter rule as to the cashing of members checks. It is a well-recog- nlzed old trick to kite check at the lclub from Saturday noon to Monday afterpoon. Perfectly reputable and solvent men do it, and the clerk at the desk often feels a moral certainty when he cashes a check for $50 or S100 that the maker has not enough money in the bank to cover it. Some clubs refuse to cash the checks of members, In such clubs man in ned of ready cash outside of ordinary