Post Exchange Methods / A Manual for Exchange Stewards, Exchange Officers, Members of Exchange Councils, Commanding Officers, Being an Exposition of a Simple and Efficient System of Accounting Which Is Applicable to Large and to Small Exchanges Alike.

by Paul D. Bunker

Kinds of Coupons.

There are two classes of coupons, the first being the well known “Coupon Book” shown in Fig. 13. These books are made in various denominations ranging from one to five dollars. They are composed of a cover and several interior pages, the latter being divided by perforations into five coupons each, representing values of five, ten or twenty-five cents, depending upon the value of the book. For instance, a $1.00 book contains three sheets, two composed of five 5c coupons each and one composed of five 10c coupons. On the cover of each book is printed the serial number of the book, its value and blank lines for the insertion of the signature of the person to whom issued, the signature of the Exchange Officer and the date of issue. It is also customary to have printed on the cover the words “Not Transferable”. In some cases, on the back cover of each book is printed a promissory note which, after being signed by the soldier, is torn off and kept by the Exchange authorities until the value of the book is collected in cash from the soldier. A variation of this scheme is to have a separate sheet in each book so printed that it will perform a like function. In either case, it is expected that when the book is depleted, the clerk making the last sale shall take up the cover of the book in order that it may be filed in the Exchange for such period as the Exchange Officer shall determine. This, for the reason that sometimes a man will claim that, although he signed up for certain coupons at a certain time, he failed actually to receive the coupons. The possession and production by the Exchange of these used-up covers are conclusive evidence to the contrary.

These coupon books have certain inherent defects that are more or less serious. In the first place, it is found that they can be used as stakes in gambling games and can also be sold or otherwise transferred by the original drawer. This is objectionable, not merely because it is against regulations, but also because the person who so receives the coupons is not apt to draw coupons of his own, thus tending to curtail the amount of coupon sales transacted by the Exchange. This transferring of coupons can be accomplished in several ways. In large garrisons it will take a little time before the clerks will know each man by sight, especially when there is an influx of recruits. If a customer is not known to the clerks, he might be able to use another soldier’s coupon book unless the clerk should require him to write his name and compare it with the signature on the book presented. This would be impracticable at certain times of the month when the coupon sales were heavy, as it would consume too much time, thus preventing the clerks from waiting upon other customers as promptly as they should. It is evident that this kind of a transfer could be effected with any kind of coupons, and there is no preventive except to have the clerks become acquainted with every man in the garrison at the earliest practicable moment. When there is time, the clerks should, in doubtful cases, require the customer to write his name and then compare it with the name signed on the book. All clerks should understand that when any person presents a coupon book not his own the book is forfeited to the Exchange and the occurrence is to be reported to the Exchange Officer.

Another way in which coupons can be transferred (unless each coupon is numbered to correspond to the cover) is as follows:—Private A borrows from Private B fifty cents in cash and gives him a dollar coupon book in exchange. Private B removes the staple which binds this book together, takes the book apart and throws away the cover. He then loosens the staple in a book which he himself has drawn at the Exchange and carefully inserts enough of the loose coupon sheets from A’s book to fill it up again, and bends the staple back into its original position. This scheme is of wider prevalence than most Exchange Officers would imagine, and it is very hard to detect.

Another fault to be found with the coupon book lies in the possibility of there being a wrong number of sheets of coupons in it. Printers are but human and it sometimes happens that there are too few or too many coupons in a book. Unless this is detected before issue, it causes an error in our statement of coupons outstanding. To prevent this, it is necessary to examine each book before issuing it, (even before handing them over to the coupon clerk), a tedious operation, one which consumes unnecessary time and labor.

In most Exchanges, the conviction sooner or later arises that there are coupons outstanding of which the Exchange has no record. This may occur through the suspicion that some person has acquired coupons in some unauthorized manner. When such cases arise, it is customary to place the Exchange Officer’s signature on the backs of the coupons or to employ some secret mark. This is a laborious and expensive operation and should not be resorted to unless necessary. In justice to our printers, be it said that they use every endeavor to prevent coupons from falling into unauthorized hands, but Exchange Officers, if inexperienced, do not always appreciate the importance of taking like precautions. All coupon books should be kept in a place that is absolutely secure, and nobody should have access to same, except the Exchange Officer himself. He should use every effort to prevent a single book from reaching his customers except in the regular way. He should take from the coupon vault only enough books to supply the demand, and they should be carefully accounted for by the clerk who issues them to the men.

Some Exchange Officers use a fac-simile stamp instead of countersigning each book in person. If this is done, the stamp should be most carefully guarded, and kept in the personal possession of the Exchange Officer. When the stamp is made, there should be incorporated in it, some secret mark, otherwise, any person could secure another similar stamp, to the possible loss of the Exchange. This secret mark should be in the nature of a double instead of a single period or some other inconspicuous mark that would probably not “take” well should any person attempt to produce a second fac-simile from an impression of the genuine stamp.

The second type of coupon, shown in Fig. 14, corrects some of the faults of the coupon book. In the first place, it is much cheaper, the first order being about one-half and subsequent orders costing about one-third of the price of the coupon books. This is an important saving because the cost of coupons is a dead loss to the Exchange, and if a satisfactory coupon can be obtained at a low cost, it should be used as a matter of course, and the overhead charges correspondingly reduced.

Figure 14.

As will be noted, these coupons consist of a single sheet of stamps or coupons, separated by slot perforations, the whole sheet containing twenty 5c coupons. Considerable experience in this line prompts the statement that no real advantage is gained by having coupon books of denominations higher than one dollar. The style of coupon here illustrated makes a virtue of this fact and all slips are ordinarily made in the one dollar denomination only. In counting up the coupons after the day’s work, we know that, regardless of colors, each coupon represents 5c. Another beauty of the scheme is that it is practically impossible to have strips containing a wrong number of coupons, the method of manufacture almost precluding such a possibility, thus obviating the laborious checking process. Still another advantage is that the whole dollar’s worth of coupons is printed on a single piece of paper, thus preventing any addition to its value, as is possible with the book when partially depleted. One might think that the smaller size of these coupons would make them hard to handle and count, but an officer of considerable experience in this line of work states that by using the rubber end of a pencil they can be counted with more facility than can the other style of coupons. Some Exchanges would probably require each strip to have attached to it a detachable stub on which the soldier would be required to receipt for the coupons and also promise to pay for them at next pay day. In this case, as in the case of the coupon books, such practice merely adds unnecessary work and serves no useful purpose. On pay-day, we should have to handle one such stub for every dollar’s worth of coupons that each soldier had drawn; each of these stubs or cards would then have to be stamped “Paid” and returned to the soldier. This is not an efficient method.

Whichever style of coupon is decided upon for use should be printed on stock of various colors and coupons of one color only should be issued until it is desirable to have a check on our outstanding coupons. (Of course, if the books are used, it will be necessary to have the 5c and the 10c coupons of different colors.) The color should then be shifted and when coupons of the old color cease appearing, we can arrive at an approximate check on our outstanding coupon account. We say “approximate” because it sometimes happens that a man puts away a whole or a partially used book in a garment and thus inadvertently retires it from circulation for a space of time that may stretch into months. Of course, this could be prevented by issuing a notice that all coupons must be presented before a certain time, and that after that time, no coupons of the old colors would be accepted. This would give us a fresh starting point as regards our outstanding coupons, but such a proceeding should be resorted to only under the most serious circumstances, because it savours somewhat of a person refusing payment on a draft. When, however, there is good reason to believe that our Coupons Outstanding account is incorrect, such a step should be taken immediately, as it is about the only practical way in which we can correct the account—a very important one.