Help


from Brown Corpus
« »  
During the brief Mexican venture Fosdick's report to the Secretary recommended a definite stand by the War Department against the saloon and the excesses of prostitution.
The problem involved military necessity as much as morality, for in pre-penicillin days venereal disease was a crippling disability.
Fosdick insisted that a strong word was needed from Washington, and it was immediately forthcoming.
Baker put the `` cribs '' and the saloons out of bounds, ordered the co-operation of military officers with local law authorities, and told communities that the troops would be moved unless wholesome conditions were restored.
Both Baker and Fosdick knew that a substitute was necessary, that a verboten approach was not the real answer.
They were aware that soldiers went to town, in more ways than one, because of the monotony of camp life, to find the only release available in the absence of movies, reading rooms, and playing fields with adequate athletic equipment.
Both knew that when trains stopped at Texan crossroads bored soldiers would sometimes enter to ask the passengers if they had any reading material to spare, even a newspaper.
There was no time in the short Mexican encounter to evolve a solution but the area provided a proving ground for new departures in the near future.

1.834 seconds.