There may be an honest difference of opinion regarding the utility and morality of the army canteen which is now no more, but the same arguments which were made against the abolition of the canteen cannot be made against the order of the secretary of the navy, abolishing wines and liquors from the officers’ mess, on shipboard or on naval reservations.
It was to be said in favor of the canteen that it stood in the way of the disgraceful dives which now hang like a dirty fringe just outside of and around our military reservations. To a large extent the canteen removed the enlisted man from the temptations which now allure him.
But the order affecting the officers’ mess is an other matter. It takes away no privilege from the enlisted man in the navy, for previous regulations deprived him of liquors except when he was on shore leave. The officers are now reduced to the same status or raised to the same status.
If it was upon the theory that the use of liquors injuriously affected the efficiency of the enlisted man of the navy, that he was deprived of alcoholic stimulants, there was still greater reason why the officer should be deprived of it. Drunkenness in an enlisted man ordinarily affects only his own efficiency, while drunkenness in an officer would affect the efficiency of many subordinates.
But leaving all that out of the question, the order is a good one from the single standpoint of fair play between the officer and the enlisted man.
It may result in deprivation and inconvenience in the entertainment on ship board, or on naval reservations of naval officers of less abstemious nations, or distinguished guests. But, as we understand it, the order affects only our own officers. Visiting naval officers and distinguished guests may bring their bottles with them.
The time has passed in the evolution of this country when we feed our sailors on liquor and gunpowder to make them fight more savagely. More of our fighting is done with brains than with muscles and the brain needs to be clear, just as we used to think that the muscles were temporarily strengthened by the use of strong drink.
The Arizona Republican, Phoenix, AZ, April 19, 1914
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