Tally System

Tally System is the name given to a mode of dealing by which dealers furnish certain articles on credit to their customers upon an agreement for the payment of the stipulated price by certain weekly or monthly instalments. This system of dealing is carried on chiefly in London and other large towns, in stores or shops known as tally-shops. Both seller and purchaser keep books in which the circumstances of the transaction and the payment of the several instalments are entered, and which serve as a tally and counter-tally. The prices charged under this system are usually exorbitant, and the goods sold, which principally consist of wearing apparel and cheap finery, furniture, hardware, and tea, are generally very inferior in quality. As a general rule, if a married woman in the absence of, and without the knowledge of, her husband, enters into a contract with a tallyman, her husband cannot, on his repudiating the contract, be made liable for the price of the goods unless they are strictly 'necessaries,' or unless he has directly or indirectly sanctioned the purchase.