The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1901-07-19
SOLDIERS
AND BEER
Result of Abolition
Of the Post
Canteen.

Since the closing Of the army cam
teen at camp Mckinley the officers In
charge of the camp have had their
hands FUN There has been "a material
increase In the amount Of drunkenness.
there has been more stopping out after
hours. and altogether the transition
from the beer OF the Cautucn to the
whisky Of the downtown saloons, has
had decidedly dpm0rali2ing effect
upon the bad men Of the camp. There
are a few bad men at the post, as there
are at every post, though the men
here are Of a higher grade than Is
usual, in the opinion of several officers
who have been stationed among them.
The time of trouble is payday, ana
the few days Immediately following.
The presence of money in the pockets
of the men makes IL impossible for
them to resist the attractions of liquor,
and since they may not have beer at
the camp, they must come down town
and patronize the saloons, where they
get whisky, and drunkenness follows
Recently, within the past three months,
the police records tell of the many ar
rests of enlisted men for various kinds
of troubles in the city. First it was
fight and rescue on King street, then
the stealing of street car and a col
llSlOH Win TIE pplICt III IL SGlOOll, Nhtlt
the policeman lost his club, and the use
of It on himself, put him out of COM
mission. There have been others Of
less moment, but they have been quiet
ly kept out of the public eye.
This is the work of a few men only
at the camp, in the opinion or some
of the officers. The rank and file is
composed of unusually good men, but
the few cannot be kept within bounds.
rIa ,It1n ttn1 that Of ~,
has completed his duties, if he Is not
on guard. he may be absent until re-
treat, and then until lights out he has
freedom once more. This gives the
chance needed to try and drink all the
whisky in town, and the few men VINO
will carouse, take it. In former times
they had the post exchange, where
they would gather and give up their
time to gossip and drinking beer The
beer did not seem to hurt them under
such surroundings, and the results OF
the operation of the system of disci-
pline seemed the best, when it was con-
sidered that men would have their
liquor. Now, when there is none of the
restraints of being in camp about them,
when they have whisky instead of beer
for their beverage, it is said by their
officers that the men are very mucn
more likely to become intoxicated and
to make trouble.
This has been the universal report
from all over the United States, and in
consequence, Secretary of War Root
has ordered all post commandments to
report to him upon the results of the
abolition of the canteen system. AS
this must go forward soon, Captain
Shaker the officer in command here,
yesterday said he could not discuss the
question in detail He said, however:
Since the abolition of the canteen,
where the men could have their beer,
right at home, there has been an In
crease in the number of arrests. The
change has not been effective to pre-
vent the men from having drink at all,
if it did it would be all right, but il
has driven them to seek the saloons,
and there get, not beer but whisky.
The strong drink is what makes the
trouble.
II am of opinion that the temperance
people, with the best of intentions in
the world, have made matters worse
1t was one fight where the saloons and
those who oppose them We're together
when the Congress abolished the can
teen. The whisky men wanted it done
away with so that they could have the
soldiers to trade with them and drink
their whisky. They saw the inevitable
result The temperance people did not
see it as a choice between two evils,
but jumping to the conclusion that they
could abolish drinking by doing away
with the post canteen, aided the whis-
ky men right along"