Evening star., 1936-06-14
How's Your Credit?

Continued From First Page)
press. 1t is not known whether the
notice precipitated another clash, but
the husband asked the credit asso-
citation to ignore his advertisement.
Department store people have OBJ
his wife disagree seriously, she Is
likely to go downtown and charge
everything she has been want
ing for years The next day,
probably after q reconciliation, she
takes 1t all back.
Individuals getting into the heaviest
difficulties with bills are those with
small incomes carrying several &C
counts of moderate amounts" says
Althaus. mo one account looks baG,
but the total is formidable"
Further relating why credit bureaus
exist. Althaus says that applicants fo-
credit with a checkered bill paying
career naturally name as references
concerns they have never engaged in
one way correspondence on remittances.
The store, through the credit aSsocia-
ton, may discover that the information
volunteered is correct, but that the
applicant failed to pay a doctor bill
in 1890, was sued in 1881, had judg.
ment against him, and did not pay
that.
People of moderate income ars
usually good pay and Government
clerks have the reputation of paying
their bills promptly; although some
times there are indications that gov
ernmental department heads are no.
always as good pay as business execu-
tives. It is interesting to note that
the wealthy do not always pay more
promptly than the poor.
WAGE scales in Washington are
responsible for many headaches
among employment managers. It seems
that Government workers in minor
positions earn more than people on
similar jobs in business Offices, whereas
governmental department heads fire.
quently receive lower salaries than
civilly employed executives. For these
reasons individuals with high credit
ratings sometimes lower them during
few years sojourn in the Capital, at
! tempting to adjust themselves to
| standards of living unequaled, perhaps,
in any other city of the United States
Merchants are interested in knowing
whether or not you make unfair re-
turns of your purchases, according to
Althaus. You may eventually get the
adjustment manager in your favorite
store to return the purchase price OF
| the blouse you wore only few times
and want to return because you saw
one elsewhere you liked better, but
unfortunately that information goes to
| the Credit Bureau, too.
Credit black lists, which seemed to
be rather common few years ago, ara
almost non existent today Each con-
cern draws its own conclusions from
the contents of the file envelopes
Twice monthly members of the asso-
citation are sent a mimeographed list
of people who have passed bad checks.
or published mot responsible" notices,
or haven't been paying bills, or have
instituted divorce. annulment. or
separate maintenance proceedings.
The credit system of the United
States has grown long way since
the New England merchant knew who
was going out to the fishing banks
by glancing at the harbor, or when a
poke of gold dust spoke glitteringlv
for itself at the Chinese store of a
Western mining camp, or when 8
stand of cotton or tobacco was visible
to the man selling calico and sugar
in Southern settlements.
TO-DAY the Credit Bureau maintains
L a service department for receiving
complaints and finding special in
formation. A collection department
is used by retailers pessimistic about
receiving payment for goods sold. Let
ters are written by the department
and if these do not bring a check, COL
lectors are sent to the homes of
people with delinquent accounts. One
debtor insisted he could BE- found
home only at a.m.-the collector
was there.
Expansion of credit terms is the
| subject Of the hour Il the credit
world, according toe. w. Prettyman,
assistant manager of the association.
Previously, deferred credit has been
extended only to purchases Of furni.
ture, ice boxes, automobiles and ra-
dios, on the theory that if payments
were not kept up the goods may be
taken back for resale. Today retailers
are considering expanding deferred
| credit to all sorts of merchandise,
including clothing, which, when once
worn, has no value except to the per-
son who wore It.
Illustrating why credit men are
considering this drastic step, Pretty.
man told of a man who complained
that he could easily obtain credit on
an $500 automobile, but that he had
been refused the privilege of charg-
ing pair of shoes.
Rules requiring District government
employees to pay their just debts or
face dismissal were promulgated not
long ago by committee in adopting
a report drafted by a committee OF
District and Federal chief clerks.
But neither past nor present trends,
Prettyman points out, are the concern
Of folks who pay their bills.
I Approximately $50 American com