hip with
every trader in his particular field. He is a constant solicitor of
the banker and merchant for facts. His business is not merely to
gather information respecting the resources of business men, but to
investigate rumours that in themselves may be detrimental to one's
credit, and to disprove them where possible and sustain and support
the credit of a house. Too often it is supposed that the reporter is
seeking evidences of weakness when in reality his business is most
frequently that of discovering elements of strength. Information is
freely given him as he interviews men whose businesses and experiences
are the depositories for a wealth of credit information. He soon
becomes a confidant of the merchant himself, who not only tells him
all he knows about the customers and their accounts upon his books,
but his own business affairs as well. Indeed, the relation becomes so
very reciprocal that the reporter often furnishes information to the
merchant in the interview on some matter of credit of pressing notice.
In this way a corroboration of facts or the denial of a rumour may be
effected. He inspects the books of the offices of public record to
find the evidence of mortgages, judgments, and transfers of property,
and have the same recorded on the agency's books. It is the reporter
who finally has gathered the information that determines a firm's
ability to have and to hold a line of credit.

It is essential to the life of the agency that its reports be honest
and free from any element of doubt. The public confidence in the
reliability of the reports will determine the prosperity of the
company. Perhaps at first glance it would seem as if the system of
reporting financial information was a serious discrimination against
the men of smaller capital and in favour of the wealthy. But mere
capital is not the only element entering into an estimate of one's
ability to pay. Character and reputation are powerful forces in
assisting a merchant in determining credit. An agency discloses facts
and not opinions. And it is within the range of possibility of any one
to create and maintain his credit. Capital may grow gradually but
credit is sometimes established or destroyed by a single act.

The facts obtained by mercantile agencies are not public property.
They are given in confidence and for the sole purpose of aiding the
business with respect to the propriety of granting credit. The private
reports are for the eyes of the in