Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-12-31
THE ARMY CANrEEN SYSTEM.
Adjutant General kelton Says IL is Al.
ready an Assured Success.

Adjutant General Kelton today gave out the
following statement concerning the establish
ment of the canteen system in the army. On
the 4th day of December, 1888, the War de-
partment, with q view of ameiiorating the con-
dition Of the enlisted men of the army as Q
possible check upon the increasing tendency
to deserton, directed the adjutant general to
investigate and report upon the general subject
of army canteens. Two months later, the sub
ject having been thoroughly investigated and the
report rendered, Secretary Endicott approved
the rules and regulations submitted by the
adjutant general for their establishment and
government, which was duly announced to the
army by General Order No. 10, of February l.,
1889, and thus the canteen as recognized
feature of army administration came into
being. So quietly had the plans of the depart
ment matured, and so thoroughly had every
detail and objection been considered, that the
announcement came as a surprise no less upon
its friends in and ont of the army than to its
opponents, who, regarding ii as rival to
that time-honored institution, the post
traders store, have strenuously opposed its
advance for the past twenty years. For the
canteen, in one form or another, usually in an
experimental stage and merely tolerated rs
such at distant frontier posts, has been ever a
hope of advanced thinkers upon questions of
army reform no less than disturber of the il
lusions that have always surrounded the suit
lers store. 1t is still less than one year since
the publication of General Orders No. 10, yet,
notwithstanding vexatious opposition and I'M
reasoning predictions Of failure, it is safe to say
that
THE cANTEEN IS ALREADY An ASSURED SUCCESS.
OF over one hundred garrisoned posts of the
army on the 2Sth of December more than fifty
have canteens in active operation; at a number
of other posts they are being prepared as
rapidly as circumstances will permit; of the
remainder many are in the status
of prospective abandonment, or the
absence of suitable buildings has pre-
cludod definite action. The importance of
the subject and the general interest that has
been melted among the friends Of army reform
make it of interest to the public to state the
reasons which called for the introduction Of
the canteen system.
WHY THE SYSTEM WAS INTRODUCED.
Without dwelling upon the self-evident fact
that the soldiers life in time of peace is mo-
notonous, with few facilities for amusement,
there is a recognized obligation upon the part
of the government. which profits by his serv-
ices, to render his existence comfortable and
reasonably. pleasant by removing such re-
straints as may be compatible with good disci-
pline. Man is above ali things a gregarious
creature. He turns to the club room, in some
one of its many phases, as an escape from the
tedlum OF his own thoughts, Tor the diversions
of the hour, for social intercourse amid con-
genial surroundings. The monotony and COM
parative comfort of soldiers life are liable to
be succeeded by great excitement and extreme
fatigue and privation. At such a time
the post traders store has here
tofore presented the only practicable
refuge for his relaxation. The post traders
establishment is rot organized for philantbro-
pic purposes, but the trader is there to make
money. OF course this is a proper enterprise,
but is not, like the army post canteen,
ESPECIALLY IN THE SOLDIERS INTEREST.
The object of the canteen, which Secretary
of War Proctor has at heart is to provide the
soldier with trading establishment where he
may provide himself with such articles as he
may desire at a minimum costs a place also
where he may obtain entertainment and social
intercourse. and a trading establishment from
which, if there is any profit it goes
for the benefit of the soldier in improving his
table fare and to diminishing the cost of his
kit The sale OF beer is not the main object of
the canteen, though it is the main source of
profit; beer is sold to avoid the temptation of
outside saloons, but it is never sold to any one
to be used to excess. An establishment of this
kind practically increases the soldiers pay by
II,