The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-06-29
THE BIRMINGHAM AGEHERAID TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 1920

for any persons to exact prices
 for any necessaries any person violating any of the provisions upon conviction shall be fined 5000 or be imprisoned for not more than two years. or both" Chap. 80 Stats. A. L. 66th Cong. 1st Sess.
 On the hearing the plaintiff abandoned all it's prayer for injunctive relief ex-. cept that the defendant be restrained
 from attempting by word of mouth or by communication to the newspapers In the city of Birmingham, Ala, or any ar ticles or communications mentioning the plaintiff or the Beavers Cafe in connec- ton with the price at which it may sell it's coffee''
 Of course, if the plaintiff has committed the criminal act denounced by the Lever act, the fair price commissioner ought
 not to be enjoined and will not be enjoined | from invoking criminal process It IS 1 plain that the intention of Congress was to confer the right of summary criminal action upon the commissioner. And that 1 is his lawful and proper remedy if the law had been infracted by this plaintiff but he has not chosen to pursue sucn 1 course; on the contrary, he has resorted | to questionable methods, indulging in Ipropaganda, oral and printed against the plaintiff and has threatened to continue
 the same This may seriouly effect the |
 nc adequate remedy, but that is not now determined
 ISLANDERS OR LIBELS | Of course, if the commissioner islanders
 or libels the plaintiff or it's business he | would, in doing so. exceed his lawtul | authority And in an action at law
 against him for damages, it would not,
 in my opinion, be defense to say tndt
 he did it under the color of his office.
 think that such conduct had under the
 mere color of official authority would laggravate rather than excuse such Wrons- | It may be said that the issuance of an | injunction by a federal judge is largely
 matter of discretion and his action m | such case will not be interferred with on | appeal unless it is made manifest that | the judge has abused his discretion l In denying the injunction, it may be | said that the proper and unquestionable course for the commissioner to pursue ls , to take a warrant for the piaintif1, II It has violated the law. and If such course i be pursued, the whole controversy pe- | tween the plaintiff and commissioner can
 bo settled in a regular and orderly fash ion and the law fully vindicated, whether
 the result will be the exoneration or the conviction of the plaintiff.
 JUDICIAL KNOWLEDGE Moreover it appears to me that ID cents l for a cup of coffee, with the desireo quantity of sugar and cream, under con 1 ditions now existing, is not excessive. Fspeciallv is this so when from common 1 Knowledge sugar is selling per pound at | 27 cents and upwards; and the same l common knowledge permits even judge l to know that in restaurants, hotels ana dining cars, the food furnlshers aio" I their customers to have sugar ana cream I as they want it, and sugar IS no longer served to them in little paper envelopes such as druggist uses III pue'ihe op | dose of calonel.
 Again if 10 cents is fair price for col ] fee at one place in Birmingham, by what sort of ratiocination can it be salu' thae | 20 cents per cup at the TutWller or io cents per cup in a tea room IS lalr price, It is no answer to say thal the l Trtwiler hotel as was said in the argu- nent loses money on it's restaurant, and | therefore. must be allowed to recoup, as near AS may be- by charging 70 cents | for a cup of coffee served in a small pot. It may be further said that even ! judge may be allowed to know that such small pots do not contain more thaI one fair sized cup of coffee It was said | in the argument that the Tutwiier fur nishes music for it's customers who ire ouently dance there. It may be jazz, II | iazz is music at all, and it may be very delightful to some of it's patrons and | horrifying to those of very delicate sensl- blites.
 | However that may be- the price Of cof- fee ought not to be enhanced because | the place may have a jazz attachment; | and as to Miss Jennie's Tea Room 1t may be that she is having hard tune making living, and I do not doubt that | she is a most excellent lady and deserves 1 to succeed. But this does not furnish any reason why she should be unmolested TOT | charging 10 cents for cup of coffee, and this plaintiff compelled to charge only l eight cents.
 I think this case, which is nothing more than a proposition to limit the price of coffee to cents rather than 10
 cents, belongs to the category of metic- ulous matters-not exactly tempest in a tea pot but a great deal of fuss com ing out of cup of coffee. I dare say that most of the first class hotels and restaurants in the state charge 10 cents for a cup of coffee.
 Considering the high prices of things entering into cup of coffee and the rel 1 ative high prices of all other commodi- | ties, including shoes, clothing, potatoes, 1 and so forth, the prices demanded by the plaintiff of it's customers is not unreason- able and excessive.
 I And finally, I ask in 8 large sense, of | what profit is it in any cause to strain l at a gnat and swallow a camel?' I hA