'Line-Book, March 1871.
B.H.
6 £0 2 6 £0 2 6
17 0 3 3 0 3 3
45 0 11 0 0 11 0'
And so on.
M. Sanderson, 7297; R. Sinclair, 2592; J. Sinclair, 3251; R.
Linklater, 2695.]
For several pages at the beginning of the book the numbers are
not consecutive; and it was explained that the unpaid notes in a
previous book had been copied into this book, book, in order to
avoid having to refer to two books in the course of business.
The notation employed consists of the letters of the alphabet, with
a number up to 100. When the single letters were exhausted, that
is, when 2600 lines were issued, the lines were marked AA 1, AA
2, and so on, up to 100; and then AB 1, AB 2, up to 100, and so on
till the latest entry, which was on January 4, 1872, DA 90.
Each of the tickets (which are in this form-'CY 92-Credit
bearer value in goods for 18s. R. Sinclair & Co., J.J.B. 22/12/72')
is marked with the same letters and number the corresponding
entry in this book. When it is returned, goods are given for its
amount, or for part of it,-the payment in the latter case being
sometimes marked on the line which is retained by the knitter.
When the whole amount is paid the line is marked in the line-book
'Paid,' and the date of settlement is generally added, thus:
'B.H.
93 Paid 18/11/71 W.B. £0 1 6 £0 1 6
98 Paid 23/11/71 0 15 0 0 15 0'
The majority of the lines now standing in the early pages of this
book are still unpaid.
Thus, on page 1, out of 29 lines from BAH 6 to BL 34 (199 lines
issued within the same period having presumably been paid before
this new register was begun), only 3 are remarked as paid. So, on
the second page, out of 30 lines, from BL 36 to BO 24, only 4 are
marked paid; and on page 3, from BO 40 to BR 57, only 3 are
marked as paid.
Taking as a specimen the 74 lines issued on the first four days of
December 1871, the average amount of the sums for which they
are granted is 5s. 6d. the actual amounts varying from 31s. 6d. to
1s. Out of these 74, 21 lines, amounting in all to £8, 6s. 2d (and
averaging 7s. 1020/21d), were paid at 4th January. It does not
appear whether the extinction of the lines is always effected by
taking goods to the full amount of the line, or whether part of a
line is not, on the occasion of a purchase of goods, transferred to
a new line, which might very readily be done.
Although Mr. Sinclair has the largest transactions in lines, they
are resorted to when required by most of the merchants who buy
hosiery or fancy goods.
[J. Anderson, 6709; L. Moncrieff, 11,497.]
A few other merchants employ the same system of lines and a
line-book on a smaller scale; and they, too, ascribe the practice to
their solicitude for the convenience of the knitters. The merchants
of course have the benefit of getting their hosiery, to some extent,
on credit; they have the use of the money without interest so long
as it remains in their hands; and when they pay, they pay in goods
on which they have a large profit.
[T. Nicholson, 35; M. Laurenson, 7299.]