The Washington herald., 1907-02-26
AGAINST ARMY CANTEEN.
Why It's Opponents insist II Shall
Not Be Restored.

Editor The Washington Herald:
As a matter Of fair play, a large num-
Der OF your readers will be glad to have
you publish the temperance, anti-drink-
ing side of the army beer canteen ques-
ton although we prefer 10 leave the can
teen buried, and we believe il is safely
entombed; yet your editorial OF a month
ago seems to show a bias, and those op-
posed are grieved. You are responsible
for creating public sentiment A reply
would seem fair to cur side.
Your paper is excellent in many ways,
and We admire your pluck and enterprise,
your elaborate news columns. and congrat-
ulate you on your success IN pushing your
NEW enterprise. You give us many good
and vigorous views favorable to good citi-
zenship. We thank you for them.
/ knowing as we 90 that liquor drinking
! begins usually with wine and beer. and
/ leads 20 the downfall Of many men and
1 the wreck and ruin Of countless homes in
this fair land Of ours. a strong and dead
/ ly habit. we are convinced that mod
crate indulgence in alcoholic POisons is
| dangerous.
! We contend that the soldier boys, many
OF them good. clean home boys when they
enlisted, should be protected from the be-
/ ginnings of the dreadful habit instead Of
/ being persuaded 10 drink beer in their
own camp. and old drinkers often force
! the new ones 10 drink. especially where
/ it is so convenient, and they were often
overpersuaded by being told that a large
part of the profits went to help their
ration list The Temperance ladies'
mentioned in your editorial cannot be
well informed as 10 the bad effects Of the
beer canteen in camp. an appetite-form-
ing saloon right in the soldiers quar-
ters. The country was disgraced and
alarmed by the sale of beer TO the sol
diers by the train-load at Camp Chicka-
manga and Tampa. Of the Spanish-Ameri-
can war. and many soldiers became
drunk The drinking of beer in those
camps may be a reason why so many Of
the boys sUccumbed 10 disease in Cuba,
their digestion being impaired,
The facts. as we have them, do not
/ bear out the idea that low dives Of liQ-
uor saloons sprung Up around the
camps when the canteen was closed. but
were there before Men progressing in
the drink habit are not long satisfied with
peer. DuL desire SplliGtlliNB clltNBtis uN-
less they break OF Our well-equipped
army officers. except the drink habit.
ought to learn that soldiers are better off
without drink. Abstinence is necessary
in extreme cases of heat or cold, as we'll
as 10 do ones best in the height Of ath-
Ietic effort Personally. I can testify
that many volunteers in the civil war
got along without any canteen, and with
out strong drink, and are well and hear
ty now at 6. I affirm that in four years
Of service in the SOS I never took one
drink Of beer or stronger drink. We may
cite Havelock and his legion and their
endurance. The japanese soldiers, in
the war with Russia. teach our army
lessons in valor without intoxicants. II
is a libel on the character Of American
soldiers or should be so considered, to
maintain that they are booty lot, who
must and will have their strong drink
as the principal thing Of their lives. II
is a shame for the government to de-
bauch its young soldiers by providing a
saloon IN their camp, convenient for them
to get drunk at viii.
A L. SWARTWOUT.
Washington Feb. .. 1907.