Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1898-09-30


the men who had alcohol in their sys-
TEN were in prime condition for every
contagion that was going" An officer
of this young mans regiment confirmed
his statements. 1t was noticed that
there was a larger per cent Of sickness
among the drinkers than among the alb
stainers, and that the abstainers had
greater powers of endurance and greater
recuperative powers when attacked by
disease.
Such testimony should be taken by
our government and acted upon, as it
concerns our national strength.
4. The cause of the large amount of
sickness in the various camps is another
point for the committee of nine. Sol
diers say there was an utter disregard of
the rules of health by the boys and that
beer-drinking caused biiousness that
especially exposed the system to strong
attack of malaria. The 10th Iowa kept
the canteen out of their ranks and gave
attention to the rules of health and its
sickness was less than half that of any
other regiment in the camp at Jackson
Vile, Fla.
There was an appalling prevalence of
filth and sickness in our camps at Chicka-
manga, Tampa and other southern
points. 1t is affirmed by those who saw
it. that the cantcen was the cause of it.
Gen. Boynton, in his report to the war
department, broadly limited that the al
most unparalleled sickness in the Sth
New York was related to their canteen
as effect to cause. A United States sena-
tor asserts that the beer drinking at
Camp Alger was responsible for the
prevailing sickness and the many deaths
in that camp.
Lager beer drinking predisposes one
to disregard the rules of health, to dis
regard the presence of filth,and to readily
take whatever disease is going.
3. The transport horrors are to be
looked into to find their source. 1t is
asserted that liquor played part in
them.
g. There are widespread, believed
reports that certain officers, who had i'm
portant commands, were made unfit for
service by the use of strong drink. Such
reports demand attention and the officers
should be proven guilty or be freed from
the charge.
I. There is law of congress forbid
ding the sale of intoXcants in camps
located in prohibition territory. Yet
that law was ignored at Chickamauga,
at some of the camps in Florida and
now at Montauk. The extent of such
criminal proceedings should be de-
termined, the crime located and the
criminal severely punished.
All these matters are not local matters
but concern us as a nation and so demand
national investigation. What the Spanish
army and navy could not do, our govern
ment canteen, backed by brewers and
other liquor dealers and protected by
our military system, succeeded pretty
well in doing. The most dangerous
army our boys have had to face is the
army that beset them through the cam
teen. 1t is this army that demands sum
mary treatmt MT and quick suppression
and speedy transportation. But where
shall we transport them: There is only
one country made known in the whole
universe that would not be dsgraced
and immensely harmed by sending this
army to it, and that country is He'll.
But instead of this army being properly
dealt with, it at present has large
place In running the government.
While we are having such experience
with the canteen and its beer England
is teaching us grand lesson. Many
papers have stated the lesson to us. In
one of them it is worded thus, "England
has thought it important to her position
as a military power to make investiga-
tions with regard to the effect of alcohol
upon her army, and the victorious march
of Sir Herbert Kitchener through the
deadly Soudan to his triumph at Khar-
toum is the result" May Uncle Sam
learn this good lesson from his brother
Jonathan. r. j. BARTON.
Salisbury, VT, Sept. 20, 1898.