The Sunday globe., 1901-08-04
NO SALOONS
Should be Permitted in Soldiers
Homes or Barracks.
LIQUOR NOT NECESSARY IN WAR
Much Less so In PeaCe-The American Sol
dIer Temperate BY lnhertanOe-0O MOI
Corrupt the Young Nor Encourage The Old
Soldier In Indulgence The Editors Expert
ence In The Fed-Leller from Mr.. LlggIns

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Soldier In Indulgence The Editors Expert
enCe In The FleId-Leler from Mr.. LIggIns
We have received the following com.
munication, and desire to state in con-
nection Herewith, that our experience
as a soldier IN the field, from the VIII
derness to AppomatoX, corroborates
the testimony offered as to the endur-
ance of the soldier who refrains from
liquor. The commissary whisky which
was occasionally issued as rations to
the men in the trenches in front Of
Petersburg never did them any good;
on the contrary, the young soldiers
who traded their ratious Of whiskey for
coffee or hard tack with their guzzllng
companions, were the men depended
upon by the officers to be yigilant on
the picket post and ready for every
emergency.
The saloons in the Soldiers Homes
throughout the country ought to be
abolished. to the end that the inmates
who do not indulge in intoXicants may
not be compelled to submit 20 the an
noyances and disgusting companion
ship at table and in the sleeping quar-
/ ters with those who load up with beer
and make hogs Of themselves when
ever the opportunity presents itself,
such as pension days, monthly pay
days, etc. AS for the army canteen, 1t
was a base and servile imitation Of the
British barrack gin mill, where tens Of
thousands Of young British soldiers
/ first learned to drink and acquired the
taste for liquor.
Real genuine American soldiers are
/ inherently the most temperate military
men in the world and consequently
have proven themselves the best fight
] ing material anywhere. They come, as
a rule, of parent stock noted for sc.
briefly and temperance We boys Of
/ the Civil War, thousands Of us not
over 16, found no trouble in carrying
60 rounds Of ammunition and a Spring
/ field rife day after day on the trying
marches, over dusty roads lined at in
tervals with dead animals, and, alas
with thousands Of our more mature
comrades who broke down under the
strain, and in too many cases fell vic
Tins because of the impairment Of
their natural healthy constitutions by
Indulgence in liquor and the gratifica-
ton of the liquor appetite whenever
they could find opportunity to do so
The hospitals of the Soldiers Homes
can incidentally furnish the old or all
ing soldiers whose physical condition
may require stimulants the necessary
liquor, under proper safeguards, and
there is no necessity whatever for tie
saloon in such a place except, indeed,
as a means to Skin" the old soldier
Of his pension money for the benefit
of the officials who secure a "divy' on
the receipts.
The following it is unnecessary to
state The Globe indorses without quail
ifcation:
. EDITOR SUNDAY GLOBE:
Generals Miles, Shafter, Wheeler,
. Guy v Henry, Ludlow, Boynton, o. o.
Howard, Rochester Bliss and IS 9TH
ers. and also As colonels, have express
ed themselves as being strongly op'
posed to the regimental liquor saloons,
commonly called canteeus, because Of
their demoralizing effects. They great
/ lv increase the number Of the victims
of the drink habit in the army and
multiply the number Of soldiers who
frequent outside saloons on pay-days
or other days Off
Nearly all the chaplalns have been
in strenuous opposition to the army sa'
looms and many of them have publish
ed testimony to their terrible resultant
evils; and some of them who have had
more than ten years experience at va
rious camps and forts state that the
regimental canteens are the least reg
ulated of all saloons,
Secretary of the Navy Long did not
issue his order abolishing the sale or
furnishing Of intoXicants to the officers
and men of the Navy until he was
strongly advised TO do so by leading
admirals and other naval officers, who
testified to the baneful effects Of the
opposite course.
AT the last session of Congress the
demoralizing army saloons were abol
ished by a good majority Of both
Houses, but recently a campaign of
misrepresentation has been begun by
the advocates of them in the hope OF
getting them re-established at the next
Congressional session. The canteeners
assert that there is more drunkenness
and disorder in the army now than be-
fore the canteens were closed, and that
there has been an increase in the num-
Der of saloons in the neighborhood ul
the camps and forts. But the various
cases cited by them have been inve9ti
gated and the charges have been proved
to be utterly without foundation, as
we are prepared TO show The very op'
posite of what they assert is true.
"The army posts and the adjacent
towns or villages cited by the canteen
ers have been visited by Journalists
committees of clergymen resident in
the districts, leading officers Of TEN
perance associations and others, and
after full investigation they testify to
the beneficial effects of the abolition
of the canteen and to the non-increasa
in the number of outside saloons. AT
some posts they found that restaur
ants, where only food and temperance
drinks could be obtained, reading
rooms. etc, had been substituted and
with the happiesr results. Some Of the
investigators say that there is evident
ly a conspiracy to renstate the cen
teen BY persistent misrepresentation
Military commandants at the posts end
civil officers in the districts have de-
Clared that the statements Of the can
| teeners are mere fabriCations.
Engaged in this conspiracy appear
10 be the wholesale liquor dealers, The
proprietors Of some secular newspa
pers. certain army officers, and soue
officials of the War Department. Near
w every week some deceptive campaign
document is issued in the form Of q
despatch to the daily papers, AMI al
most as fast as the Misrepresentation
of one are exposed, another is forth
coming. 1t is to be deplored that many
newspapers which have published
duped by the false reports, are now
barred against the real facts, AMI 81
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