Arizona republican., 1907-09-21
PHOENIX ARIz-, SEPT. 81. 1907.
THE CUBAN CANTEEN.


eraI Barry, commanding the Cuban
army of pacification. made public on
Thursday, will arouse a storm of pro-
test in certain quarters. General Bar
~ advises the sale of light wines and
beer at post exchanges in Cuba. Thus
the subject of the canteen which the
total abstinence people have been sue
cessfully fighting for several years,
has been Unexpectedly raised. The
question is also thus put up to the
war department and not to congress,
which has hitherto yielded TO the wish
es of the temperance people in the
matter Of the canteen.
1t may be surmised that the depart
ment will act favorably on the recon-
mendation of General Barry, since
army officers almost unanimously ad-
vocate the establishment of the
canteen as helpful TO the discipline Of
the army and as calculated to reduce
the number of assertions.
One thing is settled beyond dispute.
The testimony from every army post
proves that, and that is, that drunken
ness has increased since the abolition
of the canteen. That is no longer con-
troverted even by the enemies of the
wet post exchange, who fall back
upon the immoralitySof the government
in giving recognition to the liquor
traffic by the sale of beer and light
wines even under restrictions which
will permit the least possible harm.
This class of temperance people take
no account of the circumstance that
since the abolition of the canteen the
army posts have been fringed about
with the worst class of dives where
the vilest and most poisonous liquors
are sold without any restrictions what
ever, and where the soldiers, drunk to
insensibility, are robbed and cast out
either to be taken back and thrown
into the guard house, or TO be driven
into desertion. The canteen afforded
them no opportunity to get drunk, but
it did make the outside dives impOs-
siblee
II is a curious circumstance that in
the war against the canteen, the total
abstinence people and the liquor inter-
ests fought shoulder to shoulder, just
as the extreme temperance people and
the race track gamblers banded to-
gether for the defeat of Governor Her
rick of Ohio. a couple of years ago.
1t may be laid down as an unan-
swerable proposition that the less al
cohol a soldier or any other man con-
sumes the better it is for him. If there
We're no liquor obtainable outside the
army posts the abolition of the can
teen would be a good thing. We may
admit, weighing the evil of alcohol
against the good, that it would be far
better for the human race if there were
not drop in the world. But it is
here, and any measure that tends to
restrict the use of it, is a step in the
direction of temperance.
That the cause of temperance has
not advanced farther is attributable to
the uncompromising course of its ex-
tremest advocates, who cripple their
strength and influence by hurting
them against a stone wall.
We remember that Chancellor How
ard Crosby d. D., L LID, who for true
piety and extensive learning, stood
preeminent in the Presbyterian church,
said in substance in one of his Boston
Monday lectures a few years ago:
Whatever may have been the cause,
whether it be the weakness of the case
or the unfortunate choice of leaders
and defenders, the total abstinence
propaganda has been an overbearing
and tyrannical power: it has used a
violence of language that can admit OF
no excuse; it has condemned every
one, however faithful in all moral and
religious duties, who has refused to
enter its ranks"