Omaha daily bee., 1918-09-17
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CIrarets and the Army.

| Omaha, Sept. Ito the Edltor
Of The Bee: AS a resident Of Oma-
ha and a loyal American want to
protest against the statements &C.
| credited to Rev. Harry b. Foster,
pastor of Dundee Presbyterian
church, made in his church Sunday
evening.
The pastor has said, according to
the report in The Bee, and which
have learned from other sources,
| that vast sum Is being spent to en-
courage the use of cigarets and to-
bacco. He says there is deliberate
propaganda on the part Of some
trust" to encourage the habit. Does
| he know what last years sale Of
cisarets, tobacco and cigars amount
ed to? Does anyone think that prop
uganda is needed to keep a custom
SO thoroughly established as this in
existence?
l was told that Rev. Mr.. Foster
deliberately ridiculed the activities
of three Red Cross young lady work.
ers at the railway stations in Omaha.
He Is said to have denounced their
being there with "a basket of cigar
cts, basket Of matches and a basket
| Va ShS Wing uil lOI SOlu-ClS
or passing through the city. He is
said to have paid policy tribute"
to the general work Of the Red
Cross and then to have turned right
about and censured this splendid or
ganization for giving cigarets to the
| soldiers.
Are not all the churches behind
the Red Cross? My church is and
thought all the others were.
have always been given to UNDER
stand that all the churches. all the
religious Orran'7at' all forces for
good in our country were behind IT,
Red Cross.
Surely the Red Cross has had am
Pile opportunity to probe this enemy
question.
] would like to ask this preacher
II he knows where the first call came
to the Red Cross for cigarets? II
| came from men in field hospitals on
| the battlefields; it came from men
who had gone forth and offered their
| lives for their country; men who had
faced the foe and. shattered by his
destructive acknowledgement. bullet
or shell-Was lying, perhaps, at the
point Of death. Should the Red
Cross refuse this man a cigaret?
Should the Red Cross refuse any
man in our uniform the solace of
smoke if he wants it bad enough to
ask for It? If thought for one Sec
ond that the Red Cross would co this
] would never give it. another cent.
| But know it will not.
There are thousands, tens and
hun ~ rods re M af
smokers in the United States army
and in the armies Of all the allies.
The fact that they smoked eigarets
did not prevent the examining doc
tors from accepting them for service,
and they appear to be doing pretty
! well-oh, l would say they are doing
fairly well--over there. They are
| making little progress-a few
miles every Cay, despite the terrible
| handicap" Of cisarets.
/ am not in any way connected d.
rectly or indirectly with the tobacco
| business. l have many friends in
the army here and over there. Most
of them smoke. The most able MN
ister l know smokes cigarets and
gays they are the best smoke because
they are the shortest one. So we see
| there is difference in opinion
among ministers.
suggest that Re-. Mr.. Foster
read the little article headed, "You
Can't Fool Yankees with Pulpit
Camoufage," which appeared on the
first page Of The Bee.
1t is a noteworthy fact that COM
| plants On ciSarets are not coming
from the fighting men. Coed for
the Red Cross. LOYAL"