, 1886-06-20
REV. T. DE WITT TALMAGE
"sTRoNG DRINK THE WORST FOE
OF LABOR"

Tho Rev. Doctor Prociaims = Strike
Against Intoxicants-SIoney Spent For
Rum Would Soon Make Capitalists of
the workingman.
BROOKLYN, June 13.-Rev. T. Dewitt
Talmage, d. D., preached to-day in the
Brooklyn Tabernacle. the fifth OF his So
ries OF sermons on The Labor Question. "
His subject was: Strong Drink tho Worst
Foe of Labor" The opening hymn was:
So let our lips and lives express
The Holy Gospel we profess;
so let our works and virtues shine.
To prove the doctrine all divine.
After explaining appropriate passages of
Scripture. DIR. Talmage took his text from
Haggai, (, 6: He that earneth wages earn
eth wages TO put it into a bag with holes"
DR.. Talmage said: In Persia under the reign
of Darius Hystaspes the people did not pros
per. They made money but did not kesp it.
They were like people who have a sack In
which they ut money, not knowing that
the sack is torn or eaten OF moths or in some
way made incapable of holding valuables. As
fast as the coin was put in one end Of the
sack ii dropped out OF the other. 1t made no
dfercnce how much wages they got, for
they lost them. "Hs that enrneth wages
earneth wages to put it into . bag with
holes
What has become of the billions and bill
lions Of dollars in this country paid to the
working classesi some OF these moneys
have gone for house rent or the purchase OF
homesteads, or wardrobe, or family ex-
penses, or tho necessities OF life, or to pro-
vide comforts in old age. What has be-
come OF other billionsf Wasted in foolish
outlay. Wasted at the gaming table. Wasted
in intoxicants. Put into a bag with a hun
dred HOES.
Gather up the money that the working
classes have spent for rum during the
last thirty years. and / will build for
every workingman n house. and lay out
for him a garden, and clothe his sons in
broadcloth and his daughters in silks, and
stand ut his front door a prancing span of
sorrels or bays, and secure him a policy of
life Insurance so that the present home may
be maintained after no is deal. The most
persistent, the most o~verpowering enemy of
the working classes is intoxicating liquor.
1t is the anarchist of the centuries, and has
boycotted and is now boycotting the body and
mind and soul of American labor. 1t Is to it a
worse foe than monopoly and worse than as
ISOLATED capital. 1t annually windles in
dustry out of n large percentage of its earn
ings 1t holds out its blasting solicitations
to the mechanic or operative on his way to
work, and at the noon-spell, and on
his way lone at eventide, or Saturday,
when the wages are paid, it snatches a large
part of tho money that might como to the
family and sacrifices it among the saloon
keepers Within 800 yards of Sands Street
Methodist church, Brooklyn, it has fifty-four
saloons and is plotting now for another.
Stand the saloons OF this country side by
side and it is carefully estimated they would
reach from New York to Chicago. For
ward, march, says the rum power, and take
possession of the American nation.
The rum business is pouring its v~itriolic
and damnnb'e liquids down the throats of
hundreds tf thou ,ands Of laborers, and while
the ordinary strikes are ruinous both to en-
ployers and employees, / proclaim a universal
strike against strong drink, which II kept
up will lie the relief OF the working classes
and the salvation OF the nation. l will un-
dertake o say that there is not a healthy
laborcr in the United States who, within
the next ten years, IL he will refuse
all intoxicating beverage and be saw
ing, may not become a capitalist on
a small scale. Our country in a
year spends 81, 800. $50, 600 for rum. OF
course the working classes do a great deal
OF this expenditure. Careful statistics show
ak u " ,htat
Britain expend in liquors el0o. 900. 900. or
$50 900 600 II year. Sit down and calculate,
o working mani how much you have ex-
pended In these directions Add 1t all up.
Add up what your %neighbors have ex pended
and realize that instead OF answering the
beck Of other people you might lave been
your own capitalist
When you deplete IA workingmnn's physi-
cal energy you deplete his capital The
stimulated workman gives out before the un-
stimulated workman.
My father said: ~ became a temperance
man In early life because | noticed in the
harvest field that, though l was physically
weaker than other workman, i could hold
cut longer than thev. They took stimulants,
] took none"
A lriekmaker in England gives his eIpe-
riencc in regard TO this matter among men
in his employ. He says after investigation:
"The beer drinker who made the fewest
bricks made G59. 600: the abstainer who made
the fewest bricks. 746. 600. Tho difference in
behalf Of the abstainer over the indulger,
5000
There came n very exhausting time in the
British parliament The session was pro
longed until nearly all the members got sick
or worn out Dat of Csc members only two
went through unchanged. They were tee
~totallers
When an army goes out to the battle, the
soldier who has water or coffee in his can
teen marches easier and fights better than
the soldier who has whisky in his ~cantoen.
Rum helps n man to fight when he has only
one contestant, and that at the street cor
ner. But when he goes forth 10 main
tain some great battle for God and his
country he wants no rum about him. When
the Russians 60 TO war a corporal passes
along the line and smells the breath Of every
soldic-. II there be in his breath n faint OF
intoxicating liquor the man is sent back to
the tarracks Whyi He cannot endure
fatigue. All our young men know this
When they are preparing for a regatta or
for a ball club or for an athletic wrestling
they abstain. Our working people will be
wiser after n while. and the money they
fling awny on hurtful indulgenccs they will
put into cooperative association and so be-
come capitalists. II tho workingmau put
down his wages and then take his expenses
and spread them out so they will just equal
he is not wise. | know. workingmen who
are In n perfect fidget until they get rid OF
their last dollar.
The following circumstances came under
our observation; A young man worked hard
to earn his 5000 or 800 yearly. Marriage
day came The bride had inherited $500
from her grandfather. She spent every dol
lar Of I on the wedding dress. Then they
rented two rooms in n third story. Then the
young man took extra evening employm ent
-nlmost exhausted with the days work yet
took evening employment 1t almost eI-
ungui.hel his cycsight Why did he add
evening employment to the day employment
IA- -