The record-union., 1898-09-17
A NON-DRINKING ARMY.

The much sickness due to over indul-
gence by soldiers of the volunteer
army in strong drink, the waste of
their small pay due to tippling and
drunkenness; the murders and out
RACES committed by some of them
while under the influence of liquor;
the rioting and disgraceful conduct of
many Of the young men when in their
cups, has brought out the suggestion
that a good army should be a temper
ance army.
That is a radical statement, but why
is it not a perfectly sound one? The
careful railway manager refuses to en-
gage in his business men given to
drink; the great mercantile houses in
many cases reject ability in men if
they are at all given to liquor indul-
gence. Many great manufacturing es-
adjustments refuse to have a man upon
their grounds who touches liquor ever
SO lightly. Many shipping firms deny
engagements Of shipmasters who look
upon the wine and hundreds of ships
sail for deep waters with no liquors
aboard save those in the medicine
chest
Banks, insurance companies and busi-
ness agencies by the thousand require
strict temperance, absolute total alb
stinenoe, indeed, among the men and
women in their employment, not only
in h17f J,% oF
should not the nation, in enrolling SOL
diers and providing for the conserva-
tion of their bodily strength, provide
that the use Of liquor shall constitute
an 'offense that will subject the soldier
to severest discipline and serious pun
ishment?
If an army is to be hardened, kept
in the best possible physical condition,
the stomachs of the men made strong
and hardy, their nerves kept study,
their muscles firm and sinewy, and
their brains clear and sharp, why
should it not be forbidden utterly that
which softens the muscles, upsets the
stomach, fuddles the brain, dulls the
AAASllAA4SS IlAC 1lSI YES anu QIll1AS
the man for serious duty, besides lead
ing him into excesses and crime?
An army of soldiers forbidden the
use Of liquor would be an absolutely
reliable force. 1t would have the min
imum of sickness, be disgraced by few
outrages and crimes, seldom demor-
allied by insubordination, and in all
respects would be in constant condi-
ton for hard service and trying situ-
atoms. We are by no means preach
ing a temperance sermon, but we are
treating of facts; the fact that the
medical arm Of the service attributes
a large percentage of sickness IN camps
TO Indulgence in intoxicants; that IN
going into the fever-infested tropics
strong drink had to be absolutely for
bidden the men: that those who Sc
cretly used liquors were stricken with
disease first; that brawls, fights and
in camps where intoxication is un-
known.
1t is a fact patent to whoever has
observed the volunteers in San Fran
cisco that the saloons profit most by
their pay days, and that in every in
stance Of lawlessness by the troops
the unduetuse of strong drink has been
the cause. A total abstinence army for
the Government is no more impossible
or unreasonable than a perfectly sober
force for an operating railway COM
pany or the crew OF a powder works
establishment, or the clerical forces of
a great mercantile establishment. There
are armies in the world the soldiers
of which never touch strong drink
why not an American army?