105 / 274
— 105 —
has. If you know all about the endorser, that he is
a man of good standing and ample means, and the
check is afterward returned to you, marked "N. G."
or stamped "Insufficient Funds," then you have an
opportunity to collect by process of law, if necessary,
from the endorser. To repeat: In every case you
should know the business and residence address of all
those connected with the check—the maker, the en
dorser, and the person who presents the check.
Another point is, that when you accommodate your
patrons by cashing their checks, and a certain party
is in the habit of taking advantage of your willingness
very often, it is then wise to find out the reason why,
for, as a rule, a man that makes it a habitual practice
of using checks in payment is one who has not much
money in the bank, and this class generally exist and
keep up their bank account on the strength of other
people's money. For instance: There are a set ofmen
known as "cheek writers"—you may know them by
their over-politeness and frequently their extreme gen
erosity, which costs them nothing—who may have in
bank the sum of $5, $2, or only five cents. Cashing
a checkof $200with you, they will deposit $150, keep
the balance in their pocket, and, during the same day
or upon the next, will cash another check for $100 or
more elsewhere, deposit enough of this to make the
check you have taken "good," and in all probability
will be asking the same favor of you again in a few
days and repeat it from time to time with you, and
probably several other people, always increasing the
size of the sum of money, until at last they are finally
refused everywhere, and then the crash comes. They
are then, as they have always virtually been, bankrupt,
and you and others must lose the amount of the last
cheek cashed. It is useless to sue them, and you'have
no chance for criminal prosecution against them, be
cause they have always had an account at the bank.
fi