The Forrest City times. [volume] (Forrest City, Ark.) 1871-1919, 1913-03-21
BUSINESS FAILURES AND WHY.

the past eight or ten months. These
failures have not been caused by lax
business methods or management.
Some have gone down, no doubt, be-
cause they have endeavored TO spread
out and cover too much territory.
In some instances business men fail
because they are not satisfied with
doing profitable and successful
small business, but endeavor to en-
large and put in more extensive stocks
OF goods, hoping to do much greater
business, only to meet disappointment
when they find out too late that they
either have not the capacity to handle
the greater volume of business or
that business conditions are such
that the greater invoices of stocks
remain unsold on the shelves. Then
the crash comes and the man capable
OF doing satisfactory small business
Is shouldered out and left with the
wreckage, when his ambitions and
aspirations carry him too far into
the game of chance. All business is
risk. Through almost every CON-
mercial enterprise there runs an
elements OF chance
A gentleman who was formerly
engaged in merchandising in this city
was talking with Times man day
or two ago. This ex-merchant said,
II did we'll until l tried to do too
much" So this, you see, is what one
merchant thinks is the rock upon
which his ship was wrecked-'trying
to do too much business"
Within recent weeks we have heard
the credit system and the mortgage
system with which st. Francis county
is ridden, or perhaps cursed, severely
criticised. 1t is said that many of
our merchants are too lenient with
the negro laborer and share.cropper.
The negro is given running account
at the store and thereafter his
principal business is hunting and
fishing and coming to town to get a
little more rations on his running
account, until he is so far in debt
there is never a chance for him to
pay out. The negro cropper and
laborer hunts and fishes when he
ought to be working in the fields.
This shiftlessness on the part of labor
is also one cause OF so many business
failures. The negro goes on the
fhpnFV rNt So,
ter take kere ob me-" and the mer-
chant carries the negro cropper on
and on until he is crushed beneath
the burden. II the negro happens to
make good crop, all well and good,
but the negro knows nothing about
farming scientifically Everything
must be just right for the negro to
make good crop. The distribution
Of sunshine and rain must be perfect
for Mr.. Niger" to make good
crop. This is to say the ordinary
negro who does business from year to
year on a mortgage and running
account.
There is still another reason, leav-
ing bad business management out of
the reckoning, why men fail in bust
ness, and that is when times are pros
porous and money Is easy, the majority
OF US become prone to excellent and
luxurious living. We are likely to
acquire the habit OF travelling at
high rate of speed and we forget to
slow down when times get tight The
consequence is that many men who
fail in business may attribute their
misfortune to living beyond their
means and sometimes TO extravaganza
business policies and wastefulness.
The Times has only recently heard
rumors OF the most unique failure
in Forrest City that has ever occurred
in any town. The story runs like
this One Of our friends engaged IN
business found that he was so deeply
obligated that he could not pay his
debts, Immediately this resourceful
man sat down and made up number
of lists OF his creditors, setting down
|
the amounts that he owed them. The
merchant liz question then worte all
the creditors personal letter at the
same time mailing each one list
showing the amount OF his indebted
ness, explaining that he could not
pay what he owed and Offering to
settle up on basis of twenty cents
on the dollar. Strange TO say this
merchant received favorable replies
from all the people he owed as a
result of which he settled up with
everybody for twenty cents on the
dollar and carried his business on
without ever closing his doors or
| hiring lawyer This is what The
Times calls going some" We were
not surprised however, when we
learned the identity of the merchant