It is a very common thing to collect distant accounts by means of commercial drafts. A debtor is more likely to meet a draft than he is to reply to a letter and inclose his check. It is really more convenient and safer too, for there is some risk in sending personal checks through the mails. There are some houses that make all their payments by check, while there are others that prefer to have their creditors at a distance draw on them for the amounts due.

If a business man who is accustomed to honor drafts continues for a period to dishonor them, the banks through which the drafts pass conclude that he is unable to meet his payments. Circumstances of this character have a tendency to injure one's credit.

The messenger from a bank who presents a sight draft is not authorized to accept a check in payment, but the person upon whom the draft is drawn may, if he chooses, write across the face, "Accepted, July - ,19 - ,payable at First National Bank" and under this write his name. Such a draft is then really a check - an order on his bank to pay the amount due for him, and the particulars must be entered in the check-book just the same as though an actual check had been issued.

Some houses deposit their drafts for collection in their home banks, while others have a custom of sending them direct to some bank in or near the place where the debtor resides. If the place is a very small one the collection may be made through one of the express companies.