The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-01-14
Mr.. stimson and the canteen.

From the San Francisco Argonaut:
The question of The army canteen
is once more broueh+ to the front by
Secretary Stimson's report on the
manners and the morals & the sol
der. Probably Mr.. Stimson might
Just as well hold his tongue for all
The effect that his utterances Will
have upon the little group of noisy
agitators whose persistence first Sc
cured abolition of the canteen and
whose unyielding. prejudices have pre-
vented its restoration. But Mr.. Slim
son, as secretary of war, is bound TO
present the facts, and 1t is we'll that
he should do so for the benfit of
those who wish to know the real
causes of army vice and to lay the
blame at the right doors. And the
blame very obviously lies at the doors
Of those who supposed that the sol
der could be discouraged from drink
ing by the simple expedient OF send
ing him from the barracks, where ee
could be supervised and restrained,
to the Infamous dives outside The bar
racks, where he could be neither sup
ervised nor restrained. That few
pious women by the mere force of
clamor should be able to regulate the
barrack life OF soldiers and to enforce
their own will against experience and
prudence is one of the marvels of
our civilization. IF 1t were less seri-
Gus It would be laughable. But It Is
not laughable that small num-
Der OF "reformers" should stand SO
obstinately as barrier between the
soldier and his protection from the
most degrading bodily Ills.
Mr.. S.imson tells US that he has
personally visited forty-nine OF the
army posts In every instance he
found nest OF vile and filthy dives
Just beyond the reservation gates,
laid and baited as traps for the dam
nation OF the soldier He founG, up
on inquiry, that certain unmention-
able diseases were claiming more vic
tins in the American army than all
other important diseases combined
more victims than in any other army
| IN civilization. And Mr.. Stimson has
20 doubt as to the cause for thrs
cruel and abominable state of things.
Ke tells Us that 1t Is due to the aboIi-
/ ton OF the canteen and to the fact
that maiden-sunt Legislation has
driven the soldier into these dens Of
| iniqutty where alcohol is the very
4 Ieoet NJ tho ay;1o TINT ,-vot+ MIN, 7,
I the old days the soldier drank beer
in the army can. cen, and presumably
4 IT was good beer. He had neither the
! temptation nor the opportunity to
| dr.nl; to excess, and still less to de-
baunch himself. Left to himself and
treated as human being. his natural
/ tendencies would lead him to 90
neither the one nor the other. And 1t
may be said incidentally that the SOL
der has as good a right to drink a
g ass Of beer as TO eat his dinner,
and as good a right as woman has
10 drink cup of tea. To say that
he shall not drink glass of beer in
barracks has no other effect than to
send him straight to the dives that
are thus invited to collect around the
reservation gates and that are no less
: thil miniature bells in the variety
Of moral and physical damnation that
, tbey dispense.
Mr.. stimson has said no more than
ms PREDECESSORS, and probably he has
SAID It just as fruitlessly 1t is one
: OF the disheartenlng nays. cries of our
! civilization that small organization
Of clamorous psejudiccs AID ignoran.