The Washington times., 1915-03-26
ADDRESSES CREDIT
MEN ON FIRE WASTE
c. F. Nesbit Says Education Is
More Important Than Laws
For Reducing It.

Education of the public in hre pre-
! vention does more to reduce fire waste
| than statutory regulation. Charles r.
Nesbit. superintendent of insurance Tor
tho District. told the Washington Assoc
| citation of Credit Men at their luncheon
this afternoon at the Ebbitt.
A strong plea for a standard form of
! financial statement by all business
, houses. such as that already employed
| by banks, was made by Samuel j.
Henry. manager of the Fifteenth and
In street branch Of the Munsey Trust
Company.
Fire waste for 1914 reached the enor..
nous sum of s2S5,59l $50 in the United
states and Canada, Mr. Nesbit pointed
| ever reported in single year except in
those years which saw the Chelsea. the
San Francisco, and the Baltimore con-
| fagrations.
Two Ways To Reduce II.
| There are two methods of reducing
| this fire waste" Mr. Nesbit said. "One
is by education. and this Is by far the
more important. The other Is by laws
and regulations controlling buildings,
building improvements, and the use of
explosive and highly infiammable ma
| MIR. Nesbit described an effort now be-
ing made in Washington TO obtain cdu-
cation along this line in the public
schools. and pointed to the prizes Offer
ed through the Board OF Education for
the best essays on The Prevention Of
| Fire Waste" open to high school
pupils as the first step In such an edu-
cational campaign here.
Wants Fire Prevention Day.
| Fire prevention day has been made
an annual event in many cities and
States, and Mr.. Nesbit said an effort
would be made to have such day set
aside in Washington next fall. He
already has made this recommendation
to the commissioners.
Fire Commissioner Adamson, OF New
York city. the speaker stated. took the
! most progressive step toward fire pre-
| Vention when he endeavored to have
| the cost of fighting fires in buildings
which had not complied with Are regn-
lations charged to the owners of such
buildings.
Arson is more common than we
| would like TO think" Nj. Nesbit con.
! cluded. Personally. feel that TO
property should be fully insured. l feel
| that II the owner OF the property knew
| that anv fire must result in consider
able loss to him, 1t would increase
| care"
For Efficient Methods.
The prime purpose in the adoption OF
a model form of financial statement.
Mr.. Henry said. is to make business
methods more efficient and less waste
] full
In order to make fair profit two
things must happen" ne asserted. "One
Is that losses from credit granting must
be reduced. and the other that n large
volume. OF trade must be maintained.
All thk means that those who grant
credit must at all times keep efficient
the machinery in hand for safe and
prompt action on credit transactions.
He who sells finds himself in the
same positions with banks. as extensive
dealers in credit. and just as banks
require statements from borrowers. 50
will the merchant have to do the same,
and do it in an increasing percentage
OF Cases"
Those At Dinner.
Carl c. Mueller. a director Of the
credit mems body. presided at the
luncheon today. Those present at the
dinner were Major Charles Kutz. En-
gineer Commissioner; II. II. Mckee,
Thomas w. Smith, H. X Simpson.
Mckee. f. b. Adams. 7. w. Buckler,
George f. Walker. Z, B. Earnshaw,
Joseph X Sharp. G. L. Bowman. Bailey
Shumate. r. w. White. Lee ID. Latimer,
W. II. Wes. Edward F. Riggs, II. II.
Bergman. E. J. Walsh. w. A. Brown.
II: {. Birge. John Loughran. A. W.
Wright, r. Il. Cook. II. F. wilkins. J.
Y. Wi<iams. Max Fisher. w. J. Wen
| borne. c. c. Mueller. F. A. Tschlffeley.
s. C. Redman. NJ. E. Horton. A. X.
Phillips. r. X. Tyler. Joshua Evans,
jr., John d. Howard, Floyd f. Davis,
G. B. Starkey. G. NJ Emmerich, l.. r.
r.. James F. Hood. A. l.. Clapham.
G. w. Warden. II. l.. Phillips. S. !.
HArv. John l.. wilkins. Leo Nielsen,
Arthur May. G. II. Pope. A. +. Harlan,
Frank Hume. r. Preston Sheally. A. F.
Eberlv w w Shrawe, H. G. Jordan