Collection Agency Comes to Statesville, 1906

Editorial from the Statesville Landmark, September, 1906

The Bad Debt Collection Agency is causing more or less a stir in Statesville and those who have been in the habit of paying when they got ready and too frequently not paying at all are pretty much perturbed. They complain bitterly against this new and unusual method which is disposed to make a man pay his just debts, whether he wants to or not, or stand exposed in the community. The mental anguish on account of this new and unusual method of doing business is sufficient for several damage suits.

It is all right to eat a man’s rations, wear his clothes, take his medicine, read his newspapers, or otherwise use the product of the brains and labor of the other fellow for your comfort and convenience and let him suffer—if anybody is to suffer. He may have to scrimp and economize to pay his own bills, if he is honest while you owe him, but that’s all right. It doesn’t break your rest. He may buy goods on 30 days time but if you pay him in 12 months or five years he ought to be thankful for your business. He may have to pay his bills whenever they are due, pay his labor at the end of every week, but you can owe him for years—and never give a moment’s thought to how strained he may be for the money. You can tell him a dozen lies about the payments, but if finally in desperation, he puts the screws on you, you feel outraged. Your honor (?) is impunged and you are very badly treated; and if you can do the man any harm you’re going to do it. Why? Because he is trying to get what belongs to him and you have compelled him to force it out of you.

The whine about forcing people who have been unfortunate, etc., is but a cloak. Not one business man in 100 will oppress a debtor who is really unfortunate. Ninety-nine per cent of those who obtain credit usually get more consideration than they deserve. The force method is for those who show no disposition to pay and make no effort to do it. Everybody knows that and the talk about oppressing people deceives nobody.

The Landmark holds no brief for any collecting agency. It has no accounts with them (but it may have); but it is submitting some general remarks on the general proposition which no honest man can gainsay. And business men who have lost hundreds and thousands by dead-beats are more or less amused and pleased to note the alacrity with which people responding to statements who do not as a rule pay any attention to them.

(Quite a number of those whose eyes may fall on this can look out for statements from this or some other agency in the near future, as we are bound to take some steps to collect a large amount of debts that have accumulated on our books for the past 19 years.)