The age-herald., 1900-09-01
CORBIN DEPENDS
 THE ARMY CANTEEN
In Letter to Senator Sewell He
 Points Out Its Benefits.
IT DECREASES DESERTI0NS
And Keeps the Soldiers in Good Health Only Beer and Light Wines Are Sold, Spurious Liquors
 Being Prohibited

Washington August 31.-Adjutant Gen- | eral Corbin has written letter to Senator Sewell of New Jersey, member of the military committee of the Senate, setting forth in defnit terms the attitude of the War Department on the question of the
 army canteen. The letter is as follows: War Department,
 "Adjutant Generals Office,
 Washington, D. C., August 2S, 1S90o
 .sTo Hon. William J. Sewell, Military Committee, United States Senate: Dear Senator;-Replying to your sev- eral inquiries concerning the post ex- change or army canteen.' have the honor to inform you:
 "First-That the sale of all spirituous liquors by canteen is and has always been
 absolutely prohibited.
 '-Second-Only beer and light wines are
 sold to either officers and men and these only when the commanding officer is satis-
 field that giving to the troops the oppor-
 tunity of obtaining such beverage within
 the post limits will prevent them from re-
 sorting for strong intoxicants to places
 without such limits and tends to promote
 temperance and discipline among them. ''Third-The 'canteen' was established | dDu Has DeeH nldlnlalQeu lHe lHlGiGSlS l of temperance and betterment of discipline with most satisfactory results. This is
 shown in fewer trials by courtmartial, in
 the decreased number of desertions and In
 the improved health of the men.
 Sold at Cost
 Fourth the exchange is a cooperative store, where supplies are sold at cost, or as nearly as possible, for the benefit of | officers and men of the army. The canteen | is department of the exchange, constitut- ing an enlisted mems club. Rooms in or 1 near the soldiers quarters are set apart for
 this special purpose, furnished with read l ing matter, billiard tables and other games, but where every form of gambling is ab- l solutely forbidden. It is where the men write their letters home and read the news papers and magazines. The government has no financial interest in either, the funds being supplied by the soldiers themselves. Almost every company commander has re-
 ported in favor of the exchange and can teen as effective temperance measure.
 One thousand and nineteen commissioned officers have made special reports 10 this 1 effect. It may be proper for me to say that l in the beginning opposed the canteen, but l was brought to its support by the over
 ~wnelming evidences of its benefcent re- I suit upon the morals, health and content l ment of the plan.
 "As set forth in the report of Assistant
 Surgeon Munson, U. c. A, who. under in structions from the War Department, made
 a careful investigation into the effect of
 the canteen upon the health of enlisted
 men, the result more than met the eXpec-
 tations of those most interested in the pro-
 NE itnr
 vice. He further finds that the percentage of assertion has been continually reduced since the introduction of the canteen. Prior to its introduction assertions averaged from 10 to Il annually. Since it's establishment these have decreased as follows:
 First year to IT; the next year to 5.7: the next, 5.7; then, 6.3; the next to 3,6; then, 53; the next to 9.4 and, finally, to 29. Further, the number of trials and con- victionS for drunkenness and offenses orig 1 mating therefrom for the six years pre- ceding the canteen was 375.5. These de- creased during the following six years of 1 its establishment to 1906. Further, that for l the seven years preceding the establish ment of the canteen, the average number of men who deposited their savings with the Government was 7,273. For the seven years following its introduction the aver
 age has increased to S,372.
 Decreases Consumption
 Tt has been stated in the public press
 that the receipts of the exchange are nearly all for drink. To meet this statement, I have to inform you that the official reports of the department show that the receipts from sales of beer and light wines are and have been less than one-third of the gross receipts, being in 1898 five-seventeenths and l in 1899 six-seventeenths Taking the amount l of the gross receipts on account of sale of l beer and dividing it by the total number l of officers and men shows that each officer and enlisted man for the year 1898 expended l on account of beer alone only 20 cents a | month"; equivalent to four glasses of beer per month or less than one glass week apiece for each officer and man in the
 military service. In 1899 the expenditure on the part of each officer and man reached an average of 5S cents per month. or but 19 cent day These facts make it clear that in comparison with all other citizens the army of today is the most absJemious body rhere iS