Page:Roy Ralph Hottman - Practical Collection Procedure (1923).pdf/44

30 been incurred, practically every debtor knows that he ought to pay the bill, the thing to do is to induce him, wherever possible, to pay without giving offense.

About 95% of all business is conducted on a credit basis ; the percentage may even run higher but this is conserv- ative. It can readily be seen then that practically every individual and every corporation throughout the country is always owing money to some one else, and hardly ever are they entirely caught up with their bills. Furthermore there is not enough money in circulation to permit the huge business ventures of today being transacted on a cash basis. If it were attempted, business activities would slump tremendously, there would be wreck and ruin on every hand and the millions of inhabitants in this country and other countries, would face starvation. Credit, in our complex life, working silently and smoothly, like a well oiled mechanism, is the mainstay of business, but, were it not for the fact that the majority of people are honest, the credit system would collapse like a house of cards.

The collection man must therefore remember that the big bulk of humanity is always owing money, that they are never even with the slate. He must further remember, however, that the big bulk of humanity is honest and fully intends to pay its bills. And he must likewise remember that the longer bills are allowed to become past due the more difficult it is going to be to collect them.

Let us consider a wage earner. He has a good reputa- tion as a steady worker and as being good for the debts he contracts. However, he moves into the other end of town and trades at a different store. His former creditor has every confidence in him, because of his past record,