Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-09-06
THE ARMY CANTEEN.
Adjutant General Corbin Declares
1t Works For Temperance.
FIGURES TO BACK HIS ARGUMENT.
Says He at First Opposed the Cam
teen. But Was Brought to Its Sup
port ty the oV"rvheiin- Evidence
nf II. n,.ucfic.nt u,sIft

port hy the Ovcryv.eIin-; Evidence
of Its Bcrciccnt Result.
Washington, SeLt 1.-Ndjt. Cen.
Corbin has written Il letter to Senator
Sewell, Of New Jersey, member OF
the military committee Of the senate,
setting forth in definite terms the at
titude Of the war department on the
question of hC army canteen. The let
ter is in substance as follows:
"The sale of all spirituous liquors by
the canteen is and has always been alb
solutely proLiLited Only beer and
light wines arc sold TO either officers or
men, ard tEc-c Cn!y when the COM
manding officer is satisfied that giving
to the troops the opportunity of OBJ
tanning such beverage within the post
limits will prevent them from resorting
for strong intoxicants to places without
such limits, and tends to promote tenn
perance and discipline among them.
The canteen was established and has
been maintained in the interests OF
temperance and betterment of discip-
line with most satisfactory results.
This is shown in fewer trials by courts
martial in the decreased number OF
desertions and in the improved health
of the men.
THE exchange Is cooperative
store where supplies are sold at cost,
or as nearly so as possible, for the beIl-
eft of officers and men of the army.
The canteen is department of the ex-
change constituting an enlisted mems
club. Rooms in or near the soldiers
quarters are set apart for this special
purpose, furnished with reading m at
ter, billiard tables and other games,
but where every form of gambling Is
absolutely forbidden. 1t is where the
men write their letters home and read
the newspapers and magazines. The
government has no financial interest
whatever in either the exchange or
canteen, the funds being supplied by
the soldiers themselves. Almost every
company commander has reported in
favor of the exchange and cant cen as
an effective temperance measure. One
thousand and nineteen commissioned
officers have made special reports to
this effect II may be proper for me to
say that in the beginning 1 opposed
the canteen, but was brought to its
support by the overwhelming evidence
of its beneficent results upon the NOR
ale, health and contentmelt of the
service.
''As set forth in the report Of Assist
ant Surgeon Munson, U. $. A, who,
under instructions of the war depart
ment made a careful investigation into
the effect of the cantee upon the
health of enlisted men, the result more
than met the expectations of those
most interested in the promotion Of
temperance in the military service. He
further finds that the percentage Of
desertion has been continually reduced
since the introduction of the canteen.
Prior to its introduc ton desertions
averaged from 10 to IL per cent an
nually. Since it's establishment these
have decreased to 2.9 per cent. Further,
the number of trialf; and convictions
for drunkenness and offenses originat-
ing therefrom, for the six years pre-
ceding the canteen, was 372.5. This de-
creased during the following six years
of its enlistment to 1906 For the
seven years preceding the establish
ment Of the cante en- the average num-
ber of men who deposited their saw
ings with the government was 1878.
For the seven ears following its in
PRODUCTION the average has increased
to 1882.
1T has been stated in the public
press that the receipts of the exchange
are nearly all for drink To meet
this statement | have to inform you
that the offic ial reports of the depart
CHI IL ha re 1ao
of beer and light wines are and have
been less than one-third of the gross
receipts, being in 1898 five-seven-
teenths, in 1899 six-seventeenths.
Taking tie amount of the gross re-
ceipts on account of the sale of beer
and dividing it by the total number of
officers ;Ind men shows that each Of
ficer am enlisted man for the year
1898 expended on account of beer only
20 cents a month, equivalent to four
glasses of beer per month, or less than
one glass a week apiece, for each Of
fcer and man in the military service.
In 1e 80 the expenditure on the part of
each officer and man reached an aver
age of 5S cents per month, or but 1.9
cen Is a day.
These facts make it clear that in
CO. nparison with all other citizens the
ar my of today is the most abstemious
body in our own country There is no
ommunity of which we have any re-
Tort or knowledge that will show so
small a consumption of drink per
capita. This average should, in fact,
appear much lower for the reason that
citizen employees, of which we have
/ taken no account, have the privilege of
purchase from the canteen. The num-
ber of clerks, mechanics and teamsters
employed with an army in the field Is,
as you know, very large This num-
ber however, is not obtainable, but,
you will agree, would very materially
reduce the average of 20 and So cents
a month