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Show H I I THE CANTEEN. H One reads so frequently of army of- H liccrs who say the restoration of the !! canteen Is necessary that an adcrse 1 statement of one high ard long In tho service comes to the public as the J i first rose of tummcr It is delightfully H I j t refreshing. Col. Patrick II. Hay. of m t Fort Thomas, Ky., takes a magnltl- H j cent lcw of this question, and Ids H testimony is worth reproduction. He H ' "1 am not a temperance crank, and I H do not want to abolish the sale of llqu- H ' or, but I hold tho same view as legards H the sale of liquor that Is held by coi- H J poratlons. Wtmio vvoik Is to be done it does not promote clllclency to give men frco access to liquor. Soldiers arc conservators of tho peace, and when called upon to act should be clear-headed and cool. Through over forty years of scrvlco and observation I have found that when troops are suddenly put In the field, without a single exception the men who fall out on the march arc beer drinkers. Even a whiskey drinker has more endurance en-durance than a man sodden with beer. I have served at many posts where the canteen has been in full operation. I have never found Ita place of decent amusement or recreation for the better bet-ter class of enlisted men. On the con-tary, con-tary, it ha alwas been a place where tho most vicious class went to get drunk. I am trying to Improve the condition of affairs and arrange for a post exchange. While over $25,000 has been spent of tho appropriation, there is no appropriate post exchange. There Is only oho small available room for a chapel and post library. There is no billiard room, no restaurant, no store or placo of national amusement outside of the barracks. The only placo the men may break the monotony mono-tony of barrack life is tho 'Midway., Another thing, olllccrs under the canteen can-teen system were placed in an anomalous anoma-lous position in that they managed a groggcry where men got drunk, and then sat on a courMnartla'. and tried them for getting drunk." A writer In presenting this testimony testi-mony continues: Ono of the most important statements state-ments in this article Is that which brings out the fact that although nearly near-ly ',000,000 have been appropriated by Congress, somo of It two years ago, at the prompting of tho antl-cantccn forces, to furnish our soldier bojs with amusement rooms and gymnasiums, no such Institutions have yet been developed at this Important post. If the ofilccrs of the array had been ordered ord-ered to erect buildings for the salo of beer with MiIj money, it is safe to say that every post would hac been provided pro-vided within three months, Instead of dragging the matter along as now seems likely, for three years. There can bo reasonable doubt that Congress will agree with the sentiment that has been expressed, not only by Ron. Miles, but by tho Secretary of War, that before anything Is done toward restoring tho beer saloon In tho array the gymnasium and amusement rooms must have a full and fair trial. |