The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1922-01-21
PAYING

TIIE Thrift, Week program dcsrgnatcs today a. Pay Yonr Bills
PROMPTLY pav. il. observance merit, the rertiruItr ru,nbosfs he
public addresses by the Associations OF Credit men in many sections
1t may well have the attention of good citizens everywhere.
The number of people who deliberately mcur bills with the in
teniioh "l cNadng payment. or beating Them, IS comparatively
small Such people Usually give evidence Of their intent early in their
carrcr, and are quickly marked They become relatively harmless
The number ~ these cheerful opthniiS who 90 hlthcly On their
way mourning indebtedness larger than their earning powers or in
tonnes justify. is very much larger. These people have no intent to
dcfaud anyone or TO work a hardship upon anyone. They believe
IN their ability 10 pay and armed with that confidence they are able
to make others believe in it. They have not given amy thought 10
THRIFT and are likely to give no Thought to IL until they run mp
against the inevitable necessity for settlement Then comes the test
of moral fibre. Those who have il learn thrift in the grim school OF
experience. Those who lack it do.eve themselves with selfpity and
suffer deterioration not only in credit but in self respect.
Retail business. as a class. is not without its grave responsibility
for the unfortuuate> who do not know the meaning of true THRIFT
and who ofteutmes will not learn it without suffering. Albuquerque
Is not the only city in which credit bars are down. II is a common
enough condition. It leads. We are told by the commercial statsta.
Clans 10 a majority f the involvcinents and failures n American
business The temptation 10 abuse credit is difficult 10 resist. partic-
uhly when abuse is not only made possible but seems to be- invited.
To say that retail charge accounts should be- abolished is rdru
But merchants certainly owe It to themselves a. well as 10 their
customers to require respect for the credit facilities they extend. The
rctuilcr who requires prompt payment of his bills does not sacrifice
IN" respect or friendship OF any recount he can afford Ia Keep. ANY
more than does the manufacturer or iobbcr lose the respect oi the
retailer from whom prompt settlement is expected
These things. however. do not alter NJ the hast tho duty of the
individual to learn that prompt payment Of bills is a first principle
OF thrift. lacking which all the attractions and arguments Of the
saving, account are futile.
There are times in the experience Of every individual aud Of the
vast majority of businesses when extraordinary credit is necessary
II is the rule Of prompt payment, lived up to 10y the majority, that
makes such credit possible.
There is the rule that Stevenson expressed so wdl in his. simple
the bottom ~ an true thrift. II is the rule that should raise the
danger signal before us when credit ceases TO he a business relation
and brcoinc> a favor That danger signal and the rule behind it is
the Thrift lesson the teaching Of which should begin IN the homo and
attend through every grade of every school. until in the mind of
Youth it develops from a rule into a principle, the principle of personal
responsibility. which. after all IS the foundation of what we know
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