The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-24
1NrEMpERArE rEMPERANcE.

they look on ridicule and abuse as the highest form of argument, forgetting that men cannot be driven or sneered out of their beliefs. As an example of what we refer to we find in recent issue of The Topeka Capital a com munication from an over-zealous oppo- nent of liquor. who starts out with the assertion that sone is not lover of his country who Is in any way friend- ly to the liquor trsffic."
 With this absurdly false dictum as text, the writer, one Wm. H. Barnes, proceeds to construct kind of ser mon which we have rarely seen equalled for intolerance and misrep- resentation. Here is fair specimen: Then our liquor drinking army do not love their country, and what use have we 'canteen" better than they love their country? Can this great United States afford to lean on such support In time of danger? If we cannot have an army of Men with a big M-Patriots, with big P-let us disband them and enlist an army of women. Women may be con- sidered weak, but they would surely be
 far superior to an army of sots, either II To show that these statements are wholly false would have little effect on person of this nature, who is either blind zealot or an arrant hypocrite, but 1t is unfortunate that the real friends of temperance should be humil- lated and embarrassed by such men as Barnes, whose style will always find endorsers and whose misrepresenta- tions will be taken as gospel truth by many weak and misguided readers. To say that men who drink are not patriotic Is a monstrous calumny. No civilized nation ever had or can have an army of total abstainers. and the man who argues that the armies of the United States are not patriotic. brave and efficient is eithep a monumental liar or a fit subject for a padded cell in an asylum. And to show how far he carries his theory he dramatically
 shouts: Away with every officer and every private who is not total ab- | stainer!'
 To say that our armies would melt | away like snow under this rule is only part of the truth, for there would be
 no army in the future. The United | States and all other governments might lay down their arms and de-
 clare wars at an end if no one could
 be enlisted except the total abstainers. Mir. Barnes might succeed in enlist | ing a few women like Mrs. Nation, | who would achieve wonders in cam paign against illegal and undefended
 saloons, but they would make about as much headway against an army of
 men as Don Quixote did against the
 windmills. Barnes is several kinds of ass.
 Then We have Congressman by the name of Bowersock, and who appropri, | ately and naturally halls from Kansas,
 who is a pretty good second to the other crank. He says: l The theory of the canteen Advocates Is | that it takes liquor to fire the patriotism | of Americans. What a nice spectacle IL | lot of rum-soaked old buns. The army | officers say that with the canteene open | the soldiers would drink moderately, but | now they go to town and drink to excess. | Why do not the commanding officers of | the forts prohibit the soldiers from leav- | ing the reservations? The soldiers cannot | go to town unless they are given per | mission. If soldier goes to town ana ] gets drunk, how easy it would be for the | officer to prohibit him from going again. | Why are the officers against the lawf The principal reason. in my opinion, IS | that it deprives them of some delicacies. | The profits from the canteen were used | to buy delicacies for the soldiers. Of | course, the army officers get Tn on IL;
 probably they get the lions snare. .i and | they naturally are against anything that | would deprive them of delicacies which
 cost them nothing.
 | Starting out with misstatement he
 revels and wallows in falsehood and
 ignorance all the way through. No
 advocate of the canteen ever was guilty | of the outrageous calumny against our
 army that ''it takes liquor to fire the
 patriotism of An ericans." And we ex-
 nect "an army of rum-soaked old
 buns" would do better service than one composed of men of his kind.
 | And what a wonderful display of ig-
 norance he makes when he assumes
 that army officers could prevent men
 from leaving camps! He must have an
 idea that all so,eIers are at all times
 kept under guard or locked up In a
 calaboose. l. would be an interesting
 snectacle to see this man placed in
 command of an army and see just how
 he would go about preventing his men
 from leaving camp. He would have
 srch a circus as the world never saw
 Rowersock is a companion ass to | Barnes. ..
 There are arguments without limit in
 favor of ten perance, both in the army
 and out of it. AN good men deplore
 the evils of interperance, and all true
 friends of temperance can find good
 and valid reason for their position
 without resorting to the falsehoods anc 4 1calumries of such bigots as the two
 B.'s from whom we have quoted. They
 are deadly enemies to the temperance
 cause and are obstacles in the way O
 all temperance advocates. In short
 they are nuisances to be suppressed.
 The Memphis Commercial-Appeal hal
 inaugurated movement to secure
 funds by popular subscription to pur chase A suitable testimonial for Adm