The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-02-18
Eugene l.. Brown Gives His Views on Subject Recent ly Discussed in Various Circles
UNFAIR TO ASSUME
 THAT CORPORATIONS
 ARE IN THE WRONG
Says He Is Glad That the Subject Is to Be Investi- gated and Hopes for Ab- solute Fairness

Eugene l.. Brown makes an i'm
 terestinE contribution to the dis
 cussiOn of the commissary ques- l tion.
 l He maintins that the subject de-
 mands "fair, intelligent and honest 1 thought" and deprecates the | vagueness and uncertainty of as-
 suminS without investigation that
 the operation of commissaries is
 an unfair imposition by the cor 1 pOratiOns upon their employees and
 the retail merchants of Birming- ham. His statement reads:
 "In the public discussion of any ques- tion wherein the interests of the city and district are involved, care should be taken that the arguments and facts presented should be both fair and &C., curate. Any newspaper individual or organization performs public duty, when, from proper motives, based on sound conclusions reached through as- certained facts, evils are discovered and their abolition championed.
 1 'It seems that the News (and by the News I mean it's owners. for the News, editorially, is only a sheet of paper on which their individual opinions or de- sires are printed), together with a number of the good citizens of Bir- mingham have seemingly discovered l that the operation of commissaries by some of our corporations Is not only throttling the growth of the city, but depriving our retail merchants of busi- ness, which from various standpoints, belongs solely to them.
 HOW MEN ARE PAID
 'It is assumed that the interests and lbusiness of the wholesale merchants iand manufacturers have not been con- sidered. I have not as yet seen any statement giving an approximation ot lthe gross pay rolls of the corporations loperating commissaries, nor the per lcentage of these pay rolls expended ir the commissaries. If published, have mot seen any statement made that the iprices charged in the commissaries as a whole were higher than those ob- ltained by the stores competing for this Ibusiness; neither have I seen any Icharge worthy of consideration that the employees were generally coerced iinto trading with the commissaries.
 Tt has not been denied, as far as II know, that most of the corporations lpay their employees in money twice a month, and all of them, at least once la month. I believe it to be generally ltrue that the vast number of wage learners in this district, other thar those employed by corporations oper' ating commissaries, as rule are not paid oftener than once or twice month. ly. It is a matter of common knowl- edge that these people do not trade in commissaries, and it therefore seems reasonable to suppose that employees of commissary operating corporations unless unduly influenced or coerced . trade with them because of conven. Hence, better prices, or other consid ierations satisfactory to themselves.
 '"If from any angle of reasoning thu position can be taken and sustained Ithat a corporation has no right, either lin morals or in law, to sell to it's em lployes merchandise, even though they Voluntarily elect to buy; if in the con lduct of their business it Is incumben lon them to require their employees tt Isacrifice whatever of value the com lmissaries have been to them, and spent their earnings only with the retai merchants of the city; if the employe' themselves are mere chattels devoid lof independence and subject to the de lsires and commands (selfish or oth ierwise) of those who have no part il lcreating or maintaining their pay rolls then, with some basis of justice, cal a campaign be made for the abolition of the commissary system.
 SHOULD REGULATE ABUSES
 "It is needless, I take it, to argu lthat if there are abuses in manage ment, they should be regulated; if co ercion is used and excessive profit , demanded; if unfairness and injustic Iare inflicted upon the wage earner |these things should not only be recog lnized by the employees themselves, bu l should by them be made known to tn public. I am of the opinion, however ] lthat the time has passed when cor lporations or individuals can with i'm : Ipunity consistently impose upon labor II am of the opinion that among tn . larger corporations, at least, commis lsaries are operated not for the pri lmary purpose of making money, bu l Iare operated for the same reason tha , ltheir welfare, educational and healt departments are conducted. Many em