THE DAY OF RECKONING.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 365, 17 October 1889, Page 3

THE DAY OF RECKONING.

HOW IT’S DONE.

Stbuck with the astonishing number of people who seem to flourish in Gisborne under the beneficent wing of the credit system, one of our staff has been amusing himself for the past few days in collecting information as to the various means devised for the defeating or delaying of creditors by impecunious debtors. The information has been derived from various sources, but it is an astonishing fact that not one confessed to having resorted to the practices he threw light upon. It appears that after all much depends upon the kind of maa yon have for a creditor, and that while you can dilly-dally with One man for months, it would be extremely dangerous, not to say expensive, te delay another creditor for an equal number of days. The man who desires to I become an adept at putting off creditors must have a good address, an abnormal quantity of cheek, and not too great au affection for the truth. ‘ Promise ’ should be this person’s motto, and when the creditor is disgusted with waiting ‘months.’ he should try 'weeks,' 'a few days,’ 'a day or two,’ ' to-morrow,' l in an hour.’ or he can make it ' half an hour,’ or even ' fifteen minutes.' Of course in all these cases it rests with the ingenuity of the debtor to find some way of evading meeting with his creditor, or should he be so unfortunate as to have himself given away, he must put on as good a face as possible; tell the creditor that he was just looking for him to tell him that he could not manage ‘that’; and promise that he (the creditor) shall have his money without rail next week or as the case may be. It is sometimes found convenient to work (head tniierieordiam racket, poll out a twa shilling piece from your Docket, tell the creditor that is all yon have, and that he may nave it if he Bleaeee, but you would feel very much obliged if he would call again at the time you mention, It is not always safe for a novice to try his hand at thia game, because it has been worked so often that the creditor is likely to want that very amount to make up a pound he has to give to so and so. Io mislay, forget, or leave in some one else s charge, the key of the cash box is an un. answerable argument, especially if you 1 have - been keeping just enough ' for your creditor. ■ Enforcing punctuality on the debt collector is ■ another good way, and gives you an opporf tunity of venting your righteous indignation on him for coming a few seconds, later than the time at which you had told him to call. • I have this moment paid your money away, gives an sir of importance to your own business, and makes the creditor feel mighty small. Almost every etage of the credit system is fruitful with excuses for delay if the debtor only keeps his wits about him. For instance in the rendering of accounts mistakes are sot uncommonly made. It may be that owing to its being hastily written a word is not always over plain, and as it is but right that you should know what you are paying tor, the least you can do is to return the account for explanation. Now and again yon will find a sixpence or a shilling too touch or too little charged against you, In the firstoase it is only right that you should bo charged what is correct, and it is a Compliment to your business rapacity to have it known that you take the trouble to scrotinice yonr accounts when they are rendered. It the boot be on tbs other foot, and you be not charged with a small sum that chould have been charged, it is not less your duty to inform your creditor of his mistake. The vary fact that you have exhibited such sterling honesty will tell In your favor, and Incline the creditor to allow you a little more latitude—besides it doesn’t cost much. When you happen to drop across a large mistake it then ! becomes a matter for your consideration > whether your creditor does not deserve to suffer j for being fo careless. The quick-witted debtor | is able to devise various excuses for returning i accounts, but these sometimes appertain to > the special accounts, and are not common to ! all. Aman who hsan’t brains enough to dis-! oover these special excuses, does not deserve j, to be trusted with things on credit, and is as ;

likely as not to make a mull of the whole affair by paying up at the first threat. A very common practice is to send back an * account rendered 1 for the items to be supplied, the account having been mislaid, and if any time has elapsed the circumstance under which some of the amounts were incurred must have slipped your memory, and require explanation, which, in the hope of speedy payment, the creditor wilt only be too ready to give. If you have a banking account you will be able to deal in cheques, which com- • modifies are of incalculable value to the needy debtor. They are not however altogether harmless things to deal with, and the amateur must bear in mind that there are such offences as obtaining money under false pretences, and passing valueless cheques, which are punished with imprisonment. The practised debtor however laughs st these dangers, which are after ell only bugbears it one plays his cards properly, The man who has a banking account is a small, god in the eyes of the one who has not yet had the pleasure of drawing cheques, and the latter takes the cheque bait greedily. Give him a cheque for the amount, and ask him as a special favor to hold it over for a short time, which request can be repeated from time to time until your creditor is disabused of the idea that a cheque is as good as ready money, Ton can post date yopr cheque If you wish, or better stjll cross it. The letter will neceslitateits passing through a banking account, pnd you will have plenty of sonpe for expressing your surprise that your creditor has not got * banking acpount—why did he pot tell you ? you will ask, and he will fee! so shamefaced ae to be willing grant you another week to replace the money that was intended tor his cheque, but through your mistake was used to pay another person, There are several ways of arranging a cheque so as to gain time, such as giving it after bank hours, pr the day before a holiday, drawing it by « mistake upon the wrong bank, putting in the Wrong month, always of cotirsA substituting a jppnth npf ypt passed, or even inadvertently dating it riexft year instead of this, ib surprise that these things don’t fail to criticise yourfor your stupidity, Selfie harmless, and it i| a leftllrneut to th- person who dismistake. If your creditor is s fbe district it is very easy to Dear Sir,—l beg to enilose a Cheque for your account. Please acknowledge receipt,' and then tp send a delayed telegram that yon had omitted to enclose cheque. You needn’t even go to the expense of the telegram, but leave yourself to discover the omission when the party replies that no cheque was enclosed. Instead of sending a cheque you can ask yonr creditor to draw upon you, trusting to find an excuse for returning the'draft for explanation, dr y’du tan send a cheque upon another bank, at the Jtsme time fefsrrlng the draft to drawer qnfl pty that for reasons which the creditor can guess at but which you cannot explain, it aid not snlt you to pay money through the Mrticulsr bank upon which the draft was drawn. Wo have by no means exhausted the information gleaned by our reporter, and there •it many other ' tricks of the trade ’ which we may possibly refer to oh a future occasion.