The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1886-07-15
Intemperance in Relation to the Labor
0uestloD.

Intemperanoe In Relation to the Labor
Question.
George Frederic Parsons in the
July Atlantic gives a very satisfac-
tory explanation of the so-called
labor troubles that are prevalent
throughout the country. He says:
The most urgent want of labor
to-day is self control. In this free
country no man endowed with aver
age abilities need remain all his life
poor. Ii he has thrift, self-re-
straint, perseverance, he will pass
from the ranks of labor to the ranks
of capital. 1t is the saving man
who becomes the capitalists-the
man who has force to deny himself
indulgences. What a lesson lies in
the drink bill of the American
workingmen.f for instancel At a mod
crate estimate it amounts to between
$4,5OO,000 and $5,0Q0,000 a
year. While labor is throwing away
that enormous sum annually, with
what show Of consistency can it la
ment it's condition? One years re
mission Of that destructive self-in-
diligence would solve every labor
problem extant; would provide
fund for the establishment of CO.
operative works, for the sustenance
of the sick and aged, for the main
tenance and education of orphans,
for libraries and scientific schools,
| for all manner of helps.
At present the workiDgman can
hardly make both ends meet. Is it
not because he insists on creating
capitalists out of the saloon keep
ers, and, not content with that, on
submitting all his rights of citizen
ship to the same objects of worship?
The saloon in politics is the most
hideous abuse of the day, but where
would it be if the workingmen with
drew their support from it. 1t keeps
them poor. 1t keeps our politics
corrupt. 1t supplies constant
stream of base Adventures, who
disgrace the American name at
home aud abroad. 1t makes the
terms public office and "publlc
plumber" synonymous. 1t stiles
prog ress, fosters pauperism, brutal
ICES husbands and fathers, breaks
women's hearts, puts rags on the
workingman's back, disease in his
body and shame and despair in his
heart Yet when labor is most dis
turbed, when the demand for adj
vanced wages is loudest, when
strikes are most frequent, when
/ hunger and misery are most rife in
the homes of the poor, the saloon
| aOurishes still. There may be no
bread at home but there is always
beer and whisky at the bar and the
men who consider themselves the
victims of circumstances or the
''thralls" of capital squander their
earnings, spend their savings, in
these dens. Can there be a serious
labor question while this state of
things continue? Can workingmen
talk gravely of their wrongs while
it is plain TO all the world that if
they only saved the capital they
earn they would be comfortable.
This aspect of the case has not
been sufficiently examined, and for
reasons which will probably occur
readily to the reader. But it is
really the key to the situation.
When we see on the one side =
yearly waste of between $4,000,000
and 100000, and on the other
side a body of men, the squander-
ers of this vast fund, complaining
that they have not sufficient Oppor-
tunities, we cannot long be at loss
to comprehend the true nature of
the existing dissatisfaction. 1t is
clear that labor has been melted to
seek from without the relief which
ought to be sought from within.
The socialist theory of paternal
state system which provides every
body with work and wages is
mischievous fallacy. It simply
encourages Incidence and depend
ence. The first duty of labor is to
demonstrate its capacity for self
government. At this moment its
drink bill is an impeachment ofthat
capacity. No man who spends half
his earnings at saloon can get on
in the world or has the least right
TO expect to get on. Nor can any
body of men follow the same course
with better results. Prosperity is
the reward of perseYering, temper
ate, ungrudging work. In these
days there is, however, a great wind
of new doctrine. We are asked to
believe that it is possible to sue
coed in very different way: that the
less a man works, for example, the
more he ought to receive; that ma
tional prosperity can be advanced
by diminishing production, and
many other equally hard sayings.
But it may be confidently affirmed
that these new theories are destin-
ed to be short-lived and that the
world will have TO be managed
eventually upon pretty much the
old lines.