In the opinion of many, it is unfortunate that an arbitrary limitation of credit has been fixed as shown in the first sentence of the above quoted paragraph, as it tends to work a hardship upon some of our most valuable soldiers. Most of our older non-commissioned officers and N. C. staff officers are married and spend most of their pay for articles that are carried in stock by well equipped Exchanges, such as meats, groceries, etc. It is not always convenient or even possible for them to pay cash for purchases, and there is no doubt that they would do a much larger business with the Exchange if greater credit were allowed them. It is a well established custom to extend reasonable credit to all commissioned officers; it would seem but just to extend a proportionate amount of credit to such N.C.O.’s as might be vouched for by their respective organization commanders. It is hoped that this limitation may be modified, but until that occurs, the Exchange Officer has no discretion in the matter and should be careful to avoid any infraction of the general rule.
The second sentence of par. 15 also merits more than a passing glance. It requires a previous request “in writing” by the soldier before credit coupons can be issued him, and the request must be approved by his company commander. It is not specifically stated that this request must be renewed every month, nor is the writer aware that this point has ever been decided. We may, therefore, assume, when any man has once made this written request, that credit to the amount of one-third of his monthly pay be extended to him, that he need not formally renew this request monthly. Should this interpretation prove fallacious, we must have the consolidated request (Form 25, to be described hereafter) signed by the men monthly. If this is done, the list should be signed at the same time as the pay rolls, to save trouble for the men. It is found that when there is an unnecessary amount of “red tape” connected with the operation of securing credit coupons, the men will (perhaps unconsciously) tend to shun the process, with consequent loss of business to the Exchange. There is every reason why we should make it as easy as possible for everybody to transact business with the Exchange and any unnecessary stumbling blocks should be carefully searched out and removed. The Exchange should be run on the same general principles which govern a civilian store, and if the latter subjected its customers to petty annoyances of any kind, it would soon be driven out of business by lack of trade.