The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1888-06-22
Written Tor the MONITOR.
rs 1T AN ECONOMIC QUESTION?
by MRs. FANNIE II. GAZE.

ny MRS. FANNIE II. CARR.
A common objection with adherents of
the dominant psrtieg-aspecially the e. o..
p.-coneerning the making of temperance
| a political issue, is that it is not an economic
question. The changes have been rung so
ineessan,ly npon the mueh-mooted and IN
certain problem of the tariff that when
| one reads or hears some blatant political
demagogue airing his knowledge Tor ignor-
ance, more frequently Of this apparently
uncertain factor, he feels that the cry
(more striking than c~lassic) of "chestnuts"
wouid be quite in order. 1t is surprising
to fnd otherwjs sc Intelligent people betray-
ing their ignorance OF the ~'.facts' in the
premises by reiterating that temperance is
solely a moral question, hence should be
~reiegated to moral methods and measures
for a satisfactory solution. Can such
wonld.be reformers have considered, ever
so specifically, the tremendous statement
that more than $3.50, 900, 900 arc the annual
liquor bill of the United States alone, and
that of this enormous sum over $3.50, 600,
900 come ont of The pocket Of the wage
worker. It may he that because the writer
belongs TO the sex whose political status
being that Of idiots, panpcIs and crimi-
nails" and hence not mneh could be rea-
sonably expected of her, and that in such
case it is arrogant presumption for her to
set up her opinion against that Of aspiring
p~olitieia rs and wonld-be statesmen, but,
call the same" she sees without the aid
OF q magrifying glass that IL the $3.50, 000,-
900 now worse than wasted went to buy
hats, she IS, dry goods, furniture, hard
ware, ctc., what n wonderful boom trade
would receive. 1t does not need The mag
nation of a romaneist to see the factories
now idle alive with the brsy hrm of III
dustrv; the army Of unemployed men and
women in all our large cities busy
'from early mo A to dewy eve in supply
ing the ~rnusual demand: in brief, she sees
how all and sundry of the industries of
the country won'd receive such an impetus
as wonId make The cry of "hard times en-
tirely a thing of the past. Ia referring to
the economic character of The temperance
reform we must not forget TO mention the
great cost to the tax payers of the MAN.
tainance Of pau,ar and criminal institu-
tions, about 90 per cent. OF whose inmates
come iherc, either directly or indirectly,
through yum. u considering the economic
bearings ot the question we must not only
appreeiste what wonld be addea TO the
commonwealth of the community if tho
money that now finds its way into the till
of the saloon keeper went into the legiii-
mate channels of trade, but also what is
subfrdoted from the working force of the
nation, from the fact that hosts of her
most skilled workmen constantly augment
the army Of rnm's victims, thus i~llnstra-
ting that n sum in subtraction as we'll as
addition enters into the solution Of what
we deem e%minently an economic problem.
To hear men talk so biatau!ly OF the gross
injury 10 American industry from allow
ing the product Of foreign looms tn come
in unprotected by tariff, to hear sneh ora
w. VIA ti''itt's'h W Nst''hE t't -
certain foreigners, whose arrival upon our
shores will lend to cheaper labor, and then
listen in vain for one single word OF denun-
citation conce rning an evil which high au-
thor ' assures us is more disastrous to q
nation than "war, pestilence and famine
combined" it wonld scarcely need the
brain of a philosopher 10 see that il the
above saying be true then the temperance
question is pre- eminenily an economic
question. To read labor notes, to listen to
the deliveranccs of trade nnions and see
what slight reference is made to the ap-
palling fact that $3.50, 600, 900 go down the
Threats of the working men annually, one
would naturally infer that this fearful
waste is considered of slight importance in
the discussion OF tho vexed problem aud
that in their eager pursuit OF some other
point they deem essential they lose sight
of the practical wisdom embodied in the
advice of Grand Workman Powderly,
'sBoys, boycott The saloon.'