MERCANTILE (or COMMERCIAL) AGENCIES

This article appears in Volume V18, Page 148 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: MEC-MIC

MERCANTILE (or COMMERCIAL) AGENCIES , the name given in America to organizations designed to collect, record and distribute to regular clients information relative to the

standing

STANDING

of commercial firms. In

Great

GREAT

Britain and some European countries trade protective societies, composed of merchants and trades-men, are formed for the promotion of trade, and members ex-

change

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. 冠 urmu', to bend)

information regarding the

standing

STANDING

of business houses. These societies had their origin in the associations formed in the middle of the 19th century for the purpose of disseminating information regarding bankruptcies, assignments and bills of sale. The mercantile agency in the United States is a much more comprehensive organization. It came into existence after the

financial

FINANCIAL

crisis of 1837. Trade in the United States had become scattered over a wide territory. Communication was slow, and the town merchant was without adequate information as to the standing of many business men seeking credit. Undoubtedly the severity of the collapse of 1837 was due in part to the insufficiency of this information. New

York

YORK
YORK (
HOUSE
- HOUSE
- HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
  Gothic
  - GOTHIC
  it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)
OF)
YORK, EDMUND OF
LANGLEY
- LANGLEY, SAMUEL PIERPONT (1834-1906)
, DUKE OF (1341-1402)
YORK, EDWARD
YORK, FREDERICK
AUGUSTUS
- AUGUSTUS (a name 1 derived from Lat. augeo, increase, i.e. venerable, majestic, Gr. Ee0avr6s)
, DUKE OF (1763-1827)
YORK, RICHARD, DUKE

merchants, who had suffered so severely, determined to organize a head-quarters where reports regarding the standing of customers could be exchanged. Lewis Tappan (17881873), founder of the Journal of Commerce (1828) and a prominent anti-slavery leader, undertook the

work

WORK

, and established in New

York

YORK
YORK (
HOUSE
- HOUSE
- HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
  Gothic
  - GOTHIC
  it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)
OF)
YORK, EDMUND OF
LANGLEY
- LANGLEY, SAMUEL PIERPONT (1834-1906)
, DUKE OF (1341-1402)
YORK, EDWARD
YORK, FREDERICK
AUGUSTUS
- AUGUSTUS (a name 1 derived from Lat. augeo, increase, i.e. venerable, majestic, Gr. Ee0avr6s)
, DUKE OF (1763-1827)
YORK, RICHARD, DUKE

, in 1841, the Mercantile Agency, the first organization of its kind. The system has been wonderfully developed and extended since.

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