The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-07-21
Go ask your jug!
Boycott Strong Drink!

Labor to boycott strong drink" could
be at once heard and needed by every
working man and woman, in all depart
ments of industry throughout the coun-
try, a great step forward would be taken
toward a practical solution of the other
wise difficult and confessedly dangerous
labor problem. Mr.. Powderly affirmed
fundam ,ntal truth when he declared: !:
1.-THE frmest link in the chain of op-
preston is the one forge when I drown
manhood and reason in drink" Other
wrongs there are to be righted undoubt-
edly, but the oppression which strong
drink begets in wasting the substance
and therefore increasing the helplessness
and dependence of the wages portion of
society is greatcr than that of any and
oil other monopolies combined. There
is no waste at all comparable with the
drink waste in the nation.
The costly saloon system of the coun-
try draws the life-blood very largely
from workingmen. Of the 1SO, 900 retail
liquor-dealers and saloon-keepers work
i,gmen chiefly are the supporters. 1t
would problbly be below their actual re-
ceipts to estimate the annual income of
these 49,, 900 saloon-keepers at an aver
age of 1000 each. This would give the
enormous aggregate ofs9Oo, 900, ,oOOa year
paid to retail liquor only. Among
the very wealthy patrons of "wine and
LIQUOR merchants" the trade in stocking
wine-cellars and providing other costly
liquor supplies is presumably largely
with the wholesale dealers, who are not
included in the above account. Among
the wealthy monopolists' and "b,oated
bond holders" of the period are notably
members of the "whisky ring" AID the
millionaire brewers" Where do these
colossal fortunes come from2 A careful
analysis would show that to a very large
extent they have been contributed from
the earnings of workingmen, unwisely
expended in the $50, 900, more or less,
drinking saloons, of which they have
been the especial patrons.
Of course, no one can eat his cake and
have it too. Workingmen cannot pay
drink ard tobacco bills aggregating hun
dreds of millions of dollars and, upon
eight or ten hours day wages even at
what would be considered advanced
rates, have much money left to buy and
furnish homes, to clothe their families,
and educate their children. In his
"Worse than Wasted" based upon the
official census reports of 1880, and pub
lished by the National Temperance So
ciety, DR.. Hargreaves shows that the
wages paid in 1880 for all mechanical
and manufacturing industries was $947,-
953,79 He estimates that during the
same period $733, SIG, ,495 were spent for
strong drink. This value of some of the
manufactures for 1880 is given as fol-
lows: Textiles, s4S7, 500, 300; articles
of wear, s4s2, O47, 461; boots, s196, ,Os0,-
4s1; cotton goods, s21O, $50, 1888; wooden,
$16O,6O6, 721. 1t will be seen that the
aggregate value of all the boots and
shoes and cotton and woolen goods COM
bined was nearly $4,000, 1000 less than
the drink bill for that year. The value
of the food and food preparations for
1880 was about 1864, 335, 900; not much
more than, if as much as, the cost, direct
and indirect, of strong drink to the
nation.
Could the worse than wasted millions
be saved to workingmen and their fami-
lies-and total abstinence would do it
it does not require an expert in political
economy to see that Legitimate business
in other branches of manufactures and
trade would inevitably be greatly bcne-
flied thereby. In the proportion that the
drink traffic fourishes general business
prosperity must suffer. Not only is the
money spent for drink worse than wasted; ;
the skill and efficiency of workingmen
depreciate under the influence of tho
drink, till finally thousands and tens o.
thousands become worthless, helpless,
dependent, and n tax upon the public treas
ury. BY all means let the labor watch
word and rallying-cry henceforth be
"BoYcorr STRONG DRINK"-Nationat
Temperance Adg0cate.
Chicago papers are cipl'crlng out the
cost of supporting their $500 liquor
saloons. The city license is $500 each,
or 81, 10000 Government tax s25
each, or ss7, 800; rent at 5000 each, or
81, 100, 900; support of five persons, each
s4OO, or $7,OOO,oOO; sundrics at 5000
each, or s7OO,OO0; first cost Of liquor
$11, ,637, 500, making an annual total CT
1928, ,275, 900. Who pays the bill2
The sixteenth annual convention of the
Catholic Total-Abstinence Union of
America will be held in the University Of
Notre Dame, Indiana, on Wednesday and
Thursday, August 4 and . next.