Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-10-10
[How NJ UGH Do You Que?
BY FREDERIC j. HAsKIN
BY j. HASKIN

Washington, D. c., Oct. Eff in
this generation in the United States
1t was the law to imprison for debt,
about half OF the the American people
doubtless would be in jail, for the per-
sonal Indebtedness OF the people Of
this country probably is greater than
that of n nation in the world.
Personal indebtedness, as a matter,
Of course, IL something new and quite
modern times that 1t has been possible
for the rank and Ale Of tho people to
be constantly in debt and Keep out Of
trouble. In fact, only a little while
ago. and to this day in many countries
to. .be in debt is to be In trouble.
American business has popularized
indebtedness and has made the VI
ing of money a matter Of routine rath-
er than a badge Of Disgrace.
It is estimated that the personal
indebtedness Of the American people
is in excess Of $63;pQo, ooo. 900. This
is approximately $3N for each man,
woman and child In the nation. II
you add to this the national debt, that
is each individuals share Of the debt
of the Federal Government, the figure
is increased to $764 per capita, or
S76,A25,623,000 In the aggregate.
In all probability the figures which
A. 40 az GAL pV19AOAV W ~6SAAlAtdS0 ldll
fpr below the actual sums owed by
Americans. So vast and intricate ia
the network of American life that It
is out of the question to attempt any
exact statement. "
One or two groups are a~scertainnble.
For instance. the figures show defn-
itely that the American people owe
to the banks Of the country for cash
loans the huge sum Of $27,666,S23,0 900.
| Thio 10 q hnIIt 00NNnl tn-t~ rant n I!ttf~
In excess of-the national debt. OF
this $1O,s77,614,0o0 is owed to the
national banks inc the remaining
$1~6,689,20S,00 to state banks, trust
companies, mutual savings banksvand
private banks. / -
A New Line OF Credit.
The most difficult to estimate is the
group of debts Of a personal character
and it 10 this gruop which has intro
duced personal Indebtedness in the
United States on such q large scale,
This refers to the store credits. parti-
cularly to the instalment plan of store
credit by which the purchaser can OBJ
tain q commodity and have 9 long per-
iod In which to pay for It. !
1t was only in the last generation
that this sort otcredit was practical
~ unheard of. It is / usual thing now
for a housewife to eAter a store. make
a purchase, glibly say: Charge IT.,
and so home secure in the knowledge
that, in all probability, the purchase
will be delivered before she herself
arrives home. Not long ago no mer-
chant would dream of such a trans
action unless the purchaser vas a
friend or an old and highly valued
customer
This works both ways. this increase
| nf In r>ofatl froAo AShn,1aA
wife goes into O store. makes q purch-
ase and pays cash for 1t. She tells
the clerk to have the goods delivered
and h walks out Of the store. She
has parted with her cash and has
nothing to show for It. It Is within
the memory of our fathers. or at
least g~randfathers, when no one
in His right mind would do anything
Of this sort. With 9ee band the pur-
with the other grasp his purchase.
One who paid his money without OBJ
tanning physical possession Of the
goods would be regarded as a gullibls
simpleton.
a. T. Stewart, the great New York
merchant, probably was the first to
introduce the system Of delivery. AT
its beginning, people were certain
there was some trick ID 1t and would
not trust the store to make the de.
; livery. "No, cir. That clerk will tust
never see 1t again. or never see the
goodssI bought" That waaNt the atti-
tudeSof the public, and 1t took years
to edncate the purchasers that deliY-
cry would be made honestly without
substitution or fraud.
The Dollar Down PIaih.
u phe next stem in merchandising wo.