The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1884-12-19
THE BUSINESS END OF 1T.


thing singular. 1t is to be expected that
a family whose SONS have been drawn into
the Rum whirlpool would be active in
their efforts to save their other children,
and it is reasonable to expect Philanthop-
lists and lovers of humanity to 90 what
they can toward killing the one overshad-
owing vice Of the time. but the business
man has a direct pocket interest in destroy
/ ing the Rum traffic which no one else has.
The establishment Of grog shop in any
community means the taking from dry
goods man, the grocer, baker and butcher
just the amount taken in daily for whiskey
/ Every five cent piece passed across the
counter for mtoxicants is just that much
taken from the business of those who deal
| in the necessities Of life.
The Brewers and Distillers build mag
nificent palaces in which to live and do
business, but how is it with their victims9
Do the drinkers of the hell-broth they
manufacture build either for themselves or
any one else? Do their victims build cot
tages in which to shelter themselves. or
(
the money which flows through the till of
| the Blliskey-seller do anything toward up
building the community in which it is sold ?
Does the dry-goods man. the grocer, the
hardware merchant the bookseller and
newspaper get any patronage from this
class of people? Is not every man who is
made drunkard just one taken from the
class that support by their patronage every
decent business?
The moment a man gets the appetite
fixed upon him that moment he ceases to
be producer and begins to be a consumer
only. Not only the luxuries every family
should enjoy but the necessities of life are
sacrificed to this one appetite. He is ofuse
to the Rum-seller, and an incubus upon
everybody else. The men following re-
spectacle occupations lose him entirely and
what he earns begs, or steals goes to the
support of the one business that made him
what he Is Every drunkard is a loss to
the community not only by what he would
earn were lie not a drunkard, but the cost
OF his maintenance
And yet the men whose business it is to
debaueh humanity. to thus pile burdens
upon burdens upon the general public,
claim that they have right to follow this
business. to go on and on, to the end of the
chapter, in this horrible traffic, They claim
that their trade. destructive as it is of every
thing that is good III man and valuable in
communities, shall prosecuted unrestrain-
ed by law, and uncontrolled by the public.
Down III Maine, where they have given
prohibition 50 years trial, they know all
about this, and the business men, as a rule,
all voted TO incorporate prohibition into the
constitution of the stale. The retailers of
the villages do not want Rum to come in
and take from them their best trade They
do not want a restoration of the old times
when the farmers crops went into the Rum
mills, and the mechanics wages were alb
sorbed by the groggeries, Those who did
business 80 years ago, know the difference
III the volume of trade, and the difference
in collections. The money Of the working
men Of Maine now goes to the purchase of
the necessities and luxuries of life. The
windows of the farm-houses have now
glass in all Of them, the fences are in order,
and there is always cash with which to
purchase necessaries. The retailer may
give credit with certainty of getting his
money, albeit there is but very little credit
asked, for the people, not spending their
substance i'll the rum shops, have asa rule,
money to pay for what they want.
In Portland the largest city in the state.
the houses formerly occupied as rum shops,
are now devoted to legitimate business, and
there are twice as many laborers owning
their own homes as before. There are
trades followed III Portland which cannot
be found in other cities Of the same class,
because this eternal and Internal sucking
away of the resources of the city in Rum
has been destroyed. Men have money to
dress their wives and children properly, and
moreover they can save money, now, with
which TO buy homes for themselves.
The city of Toledo with a population of
$4,000, has 500 whiskey and beershops, to
support which the people pay, annually,
something over THREE MILLIONS OF
DOLLARS! Can you comprehend these
figures. Three Millions of Dollars taken
from the merchants and mechanics of the
city and sluiced through these helI-hoIes.
Three millions Of dollars,
But this sum. enormous as it is, does not
represent the loss to the city occasioned by
this traffic. Add to this the amount Of
time wasted by the drunkards, add to this
the cost Of the police force, Of the courts,
of charitable Institutions, You can keep
on adding figures to this enormous sum,
till paper fails you.
All this is taken directly from legitimate
trade. Every cent Of this would, were it
not for this traffic, be used in the purchase
Of other goods in a legitimate way The
merchants would sell more goods, and get
their money for them, houses would be Of a
better class and rents would be paid promp-
tly, school children would he more comfort
ably clothed, half the police force could be
discharged immediately, the Infirmaries
..5,,,lJ Ia 81 afa1al t5., ars,,i,,al