El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-10-12
BUSINESS MEN To
DEAD BEATS
Protective Association Mem
bers Discuss How to Get
Rid of Bad Accounts.

One hundred and fifty OF FL PasO's
business men got together Tuesday
night in the chamber Of commerce at
the annual meeting of the Business
Mems Protective association. TO evolve
WAYS and means for running the dead
beat out Of the city and wardinE
against his activities while still Operat-
/ ing here
A. $. J. EyIar and Richard F. Burgess.
FL PasO-s representatives in the state
legislature were present and spoke
briefly on the matter of legislative
problems in the way Of getting" the
man who lives beyond his income at the
expense of his grocer. butcher and land
lord. Better collections came in for
earnest discussion. as did the limita-
lions confronting the man who would
change the present law fOrbidding the
garnishment OF current wages.
That the law cannot give adequate
protection against the dead beat" and
that the matter is not so much legal as
one in which care must be taken in as
Stunning a moral risk, summed up the
sense of the whole evenings formal and
informal speaking on the subject
Directors Named.
Announcement was made Of the cleo
tion during the day Of a new board Of
directors TO serve for the coming year.
4 chairman will be picked later. Those
are Claiborne Adams. ". NJ Butler, W
:. Clayton. H. Y. Ellis. A. 5. Jacobs, W.
G. Roe, Charles B. Stevens, R c. Sem
pie. and J. B. Watson.
The Business Mems Protective asso-
citation now has 237 members. as against
only 11s on May !. There are some 3d.
600 credit ratings assembled in work
able order by the associations office
staff It's object is TO annihilste the
dead beat" These points and many
more were brought out in the opening
address Of president ". s. Clayton. who
presided at Tuesday nights meeting.
and in the report OF secretary H. Y.
Ellis.
Dead Beat Well Dressed
The dead beat used 10 be the man
in shiny clothes who solicited our dimes
on street corners said president Clay
ton in opening the meeting. Nowadays
he is the well dressed man who spends
plenty Of money where it shows up big.
but lets his grocer butcher and tailor
lapse along into Ions weeks and months
Of no pay
Secretary Ellis. n making his report.
said that they had furnished a total OF
1873 reports to members from Septem-
Der 10 20 making an average Of more
than % 10 local merchants per day. and
that the new rate book being compiled
VIII be so arranged 10 take care Of the
increasing number Of additional ratings
received daily.
Moral Risk.
Walter H Scott. speaking on the legal
aspect or the credit problem. said. The
law doesn't and can't give YOU ade-
quate protection against the dead beat
The credit problem is not so much
legal matter as il is one OF moral risk.
We have rather liberal exemption laws
IN Texas We have exempted from gar-
niShment all current wages. There is a
wide range OF construction put upon
what those exemptions shall be. espe-
claIly in the homestead exemptiOn oI1es-
ton The trouble in the credit problem
IS not so much the inadequacy Of the |
law as II IS a matter OF carelessness in
extending credit TO customers who are
taken at their face value without proper |
precautions.
In closing. make the suggestion |
that cooperation along the lines
adopted by the Business Mems Protec-
tive association be resorted to in every |
case, so that the experiences Of each |
ana every one IN credit matters be ]
shared, making them entirely mutual"
Old Time Credits.
Judge Frank Z. Hunter, an FL Pasoan /
for % years. reviewed some Of the credit I
conditions in the early DAYS when there Il
were hardly more than 1000 people in 4
the little border town When the credit ]
question gets into the lawyers hands, il \
IS IN pretty bad shape said judge Hun /,
ter
". G. Roe extoIled the virtues OF the /
rate book for small storekeepers who
nave TO grab a new customer with short
notice for looking up his status in or
der 10 avoid letting good -one get 4
. y e--- AAN SUE - tea a loose lear rate
book 10 make additions easily cIassi-
led where they can be reached instan-
aHeously. Mr. Roe also told briefly /
low the Protective association members
ran bunch OF crooks out OF town I
only few weeks ago.
Safety First
r G. Semple touched on tangible I
benefits Of the association He spoke OF
decoy accounts carried BY professional !
dead beats for reference purposes. and
eferred TO the Protective association as
he safety first bureau
4 S Jacobs went into detail on the
redlt system employed by the Popular.
lie urged conservative efforts on the
acceptance Of new credit accounts. and !
declared that out Of IS applications for
redit in the last month. only p new
ccounts were opened
The time is past when the merchant I
an keep his business to himself He 1
lust cooperate with his competitors and |
o away with all petty jealOusies." said
IT. Jacobs And you have got to do a
redit business on a mans moral re- ,
H Y. Ellis and Charles R. LOOMS !
poke on the needed legislation for the
objection Of bad accounts.
Change in Laws. c
Suggestion was made to reuResenta-