The Brookhaven leader., 1886-03-04
THE RUM POWER,
The WOrking-MaD's Most Inveterate Foe
"A Few Pertinent Questions.

The Working Mans Most Inveterate Foe
"A Few Pertinent Questions.
Look about you; did you ever see a
rolling-mill, large manufacturing es-
tablishment of any kind erected on
vacant ground in the thinly-settled
suburbs of one of our citiesP And did
you note that before that structure
was completed, before a wheel was
ready to turn, that the ever vigilant
rum power established saloon in
close proximity thereto? And did YOU
realize the additional fact that on the
street or streets leading to it saloon
after saloon sprang up, until there
was no road an operative could travel
in going to and from his daily labors
that he would not pass a rum-hole?
There Is not in the whole United
States one manufacturing establish
ment of any kind that employs a score
OF wOrkmen. that a saloon is not in
close proximity to it, Let a new fac
tory be built in spot half-mile dis
tant from a rum-hole, and new one
opens its doors near by. The working
man has before him, day and night, the
constant temptation to drink. And
those already victims of the drink
habit-those in whom indulgence has
fixed that awful thirst whose torment,
when unSatisfed, is the only earthly
thing which can give man a faint
idea of the pains of hell-are active
missionaries in the rum devils work.
His slaves themselves, they act as
agents to bring their fellow-operative
under the yoke of the demon.
If the working-men of this Nation
were free from the appetite for rum,
thrcc-f0urths of the saloons would have
to close up for want of patronage.
Every man who takes the pains to in
vestigatc can find out the fact that the
saloon-keeperS live principally off the
hard-earned wages of laboring men.
When payday arrives in any large
manufacturing town, the groggeries do
their most rushing business. The mon
ey that the mechanic or laborer should
spend on his family is squandered on
drink, and goes to fit up costly bar,
to dress the saloon-keeper' wife in
silks and satins, to furnish his table
with rich farc-while the working
mans wife dresses in calico, his chill
dren in shrcds and patches, and their
fare is of the poorest. Heaven alone
knows the misery suffered in that home
which has drunken father or a drunk
en- son.
What is the reason that the honest,
sOber element in the various trades
unions do not direct their energies to
the determination of this ruinous traffic,
which draws the bulk of its sustenance
from the very men they were organized
to benefit? Why is not the united pow
er of these unions directed to the loos-
ening of the rum-power's hold upon
their members, to saving the young
men in their ranks from falling into
the clutches of this demon? Why do
they not unite against this monster evil
of our land, which is the greatest enemy
of the working classes?
Who are these saloon-keepers, that
they should grow wealthy off the earn
ings of hard-handed labor-that into
their Golfers should flow the golden
stream that would bring comfort, and i
joy, and happiness, into the houses of |
the laboring men? What claim have
they that they should be preferred to |
wife and children, or mother and |
father?
"Oh, they are good fellows!' Yes,
on the outside. They are polite, and
agreeable, because it is to their inter- |
est to be so; they are Jolly company"
because it attracts custom. 1t is a mat |
ter of money to them, not of kindly |
heart or hospitable nature. Once let |
the -besotted. victim spend his last |
cent, and they have no more use for
him. They are an utterly selfish class,
in whose eyes gold weighs far more
than the souls of men.
One fact proves this-that as a class |
(there may be a few exceptions) they |
viii furnish rum to drunkard, so
long as he can pay for it, despite the
prayers of the drunkard's wife, despite |
the tears and walls of his children.
The money they will have, and they |
will furnish rum as long as it is forth |
coming Toledo Blade.