One of the principal bankers of Raleigh asserted with some feeling that the commission houses have been an incubus on the cotton mills of the South; it is true, partially, that many mills would not have come into existance without them, but it is also true that the commission houses put into the hands of the mill projectors little real money; they would take bonds or advance working capital after the _capital_ stock of the mill was exhausted in erecting the plant, but when they advanced money, it was usually on goods sent them to sell, and then only two-thirds of the value of the goods would be advanced.[304] This statement is rather borne out by information given by a member of a commission firm which has gone into the South with all its interests, and would therefore be inclined, one would suppose, to lend sympathetic ear to Southern mills in their financing problems, namely, that usually the commission house stands to the mill in the position of creditor rather than of shareholder, for it must have a liquid and not a fixed capital; the commission house arranges loans, discounts loans, and lends direct.[305] It would appear from one source that when a commission firm lent money to a mill, it did not take a mortgage on the plant, for this would have destroyed its credit. They had, in fact, hardly any security other than the value of the plant.[306] A young lawyer whose firm has had considerable to do with suits over cotton mill securities, referred to the fact that in the process of starting a mill capital is often depleted before goods are got on the market; at this critical juncture, he said, come to the commission men. Their part has not by any means always been for the good of the people of the South. They get a breeches hold on the president of a mill. The mill may in time go up, but they will have cleared on their commissions.[307]