The Brookhaven leader., 1886-05-06
LABOR AND LIQUOR.
The Temperance Movement Among the
knigl,ts of Labor.


knights of Labor.
The movements attong Knights of
Labor to prohibit the use Of intoXicants
bv the members is in the right dlree-
ton.
No one ought to doubt that strong
drink is the gi'catc7t foe Of the laboring
classes. Granting that We have real
grievances against capital, their wrongs
from this source are yet small in COM
parison with the injury inflicted upon
themselves by intcmperance. Those
who have not given special. attention
to the subject have but faint con
ception of the extent OF 'he
evil One witness before the Senate
committee testified that drinking work
men keep down wages to the rate they
themselves can command. "Ihey are
obliged to sell their half-drunken labor
at the lowest figure; and when pres
sure comes they have no reserves, and
so must 90 into the market for what
they can obtain. Those who buy labor
will, of course, buy as cheaply As they
can" When paid on Saturday, drink
crs carouso on Sunday, Monday. and
often Tuesday. thus losing from one
to two days work each week.
Wages sufficient to keep their lam
lilies in comparative comfort are thus
squandered, and want, If not misery.
results. One witness declared that
fullv one-tanth of all wages is paid for
drink; and this estimate is confirmed
by liquor-revenue and labor statistics.
A low estimate fixes the drink bill of
the Nation at $500 600, 900. From cal
culations by Edward Atkinson, based
upon the last census, we learn that 2O'=
100000 of population of the United
States are engaged in productive OPP
erations. This estimate includes, be-
sides wage-wOrkers, employers, pro-
fessional men, teachers and all who de-
rive income from labor of whatever
kind. Mr.. Atkinson shows that the
average earnings of these 100000
are S45O per annum; so that it requires
all the earnings of 2,000,0 900 of people
to pay the National drink bill, or of
one man out of every ten. An aver
age of $40 each is paid yearly for drink
by those engaged in gainful opera
tons, or one-tcnth of their average
earnings. This is enough to absorb a
large part of the workman's daily
wages, and 'enough to insure poverty
and misery to hundreds of thousands
of humble homes that otherwise might
be thrifty and happy" as working
men witnesses testify.
The Temperance movement of the
Knights of Labor is surely most timely.
Their rules exclude rumsellerS from
membership. They ought also to eX-
clude those who drink, or drink to
excess. and by rash acts and insubor-
dinatlon render impossible the disci-
pline necessary to accomplish the or
der's noble aims and deprive it of pub
lie confidence and sympathy. There
are said to be from 100000 to 7OO, 900
Knights in the United States and Can
ada. 1t is impossible to overestimate
the good to themselves and to society
that would result if all were temperate
men. They would seldom, if ever,
have occasion for strikes, and when
compelled to revolt, would generally
gain their point. The same may be
said of the "amalgamated iron-work-
ers,'' and of all labor organizations.
Their usefulness and, indeed, their per-
petuity depend upon their chosen tenn
perate, conservative, law-abiding lead
ers.-N W. Christian Adcocate.
NR. POwDERLY, ,Master-Workman OF
the Knights of Labor, says that he has
been importuned hundreds of times
during the last year to N part from
their rule excluding liquor-dealers from
that organization. He says that strong
drink is the greatest enemy that the
laboring man has; that the saloon and
not capital has crushed every labor
organization that has gone down here
tofore; and that there is no hope fol
the laboring man. who persists in fire.