The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-03-07
THE ARMY CANT EN-.

Prohibitionists on the Mainland are
saying a great deal about the Army
canteen and President McKinley's re
sponsibility" for It. According to these
/ Jealous reformers the canteen is an Of
/ fetal inducement for soldiers to drink
alcoholic beverages. which the Presi-
dent maintains out of sheer perversity
or from desire to get the votes Of the
rum-sellers. Touching the latter point,
how the President could please the re-
tailers OF strong drink by depriving
them of the greater part of the patron
age they used to get from the soldiers
is a question in metaphysics we shall
not try to solve.
The canteen, a place within perma-
nent military camps, where pure beer
and wine are sod, was established by
Act Of Congress on the urgent recon-
mendation of the officers of the Army.
The reason for the measure was that
the lowest class of saloons sprung I'D
about the military cantonments. and
in them the drinking soldiers were
robbed. poisoned and sometimes MUIR
dered or led to commit murder. The
influence of such places was democrat
izing the Army Upon careful inquiry
the War Department made up it's mind
that 1t would be better for discipline.
morals and health to provide the light
er alcoholic beverages in camp, regu-
lating the quality, the price and the
maximum amount each man should
buy, than to leave the drinking SOL
diers to the untender mercies of the
beasts OF prey who lay in wait beyond
the guard line. In this view Congress
concurred. Hence the canteen law.
Later on, Congress, under pressure
from the temperance societies, amend |
ed the Act in a way to seemingly make |
the canteen unlawful; but when the |
statute came to be examined by disin- |
terested lawyers. the Attorney General
Of the United States among the rest, 1t
was found that it had really left the |
institution intact. In other words. the |
repeal was trick.
At the request of the w. c. T. U. and /
the political Prohibitionists, the Presi-
dent had the Attorney General exam
Inc the law a second time, in the hope
that some way might be found to meet
their principles halfway. The Attor-
ney General did so, and reported to
the President that, after a careful con-
sideration of the case, he was unable to
come to any conclusion different from
that first reported. Attorney General
Griggs says as much in a letter to Mrs.
Margaret Dye Ellis. superintendent of
the Department of Legislation of the
w. G. T.. u. and adds: Further
more. at the request of the President,
the legal effect of the anti-canteen law
was considered by the present Secre-
tary OF War, whose duty 1t Is to en-
force the law to the extent Of its legal
effect. and that officer (who is consid-
cred to be a lawyer Of reputation) con-
CURED in the views and opinion given
to the President by the Attorney Cen
eral. Consequently. the President has
been enforcing the law according TO its
real meaning as interpreted to him by
the officers of the Government who
are charged with its Interpretation and
II there is anything clear in these
circumstances it is that Congress and
not the President is to blame for the
present status of the canteen law. As
to the question of whether the canteen
is a good thing or bad thing. that de-
Ponds wholly upon the point of view.