The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1890-07-24
WHAT CAUSES POVERTY.

WHAT CAUSES POVERTY.
When Man Drinks His Family h %
the Road to Destitution.
Edward Atkinson, the political econo.
mist on being asked by the New York
World on the causes OF poverty said,
ooncisely: Ignorance and incapacity."
Chauncey Depew replied IS follows:
There are good many causes Of
poverty, +" he said, after rejecting mo-
meut, and they are by no means per-
fectly clear. There are hundreds Of
men whom have helped, and am help
Ing continually. They seem to be ut
'terly unable to earn living for them
selves. never could discover why.
They have had the same advantages
and opportunities as have had.
Lack of self-confidenee is often the
cause of failure. Many men seem to
have no faith in themselves. conse-
quently no assertiveness, no independ.
ence, no pluck and no push. They seem
TO he afraid to stand up and speak for
themselves, and prefer to lean OH
others. Poverty in such cases is in
evitable.
Another cause Of poverty very prev
a1ent In this country to-day is that
many young men are wanting in decis-
Ion and fixity Of purpose. II they get
into good place at the start they
should stick to it, knowing that by per
severance, industry and ability they
win promotion in due course as vacan-
cies occur. But they see or hear Of some
one making fortune in Wall street or
In ranching or mining, and away they
90 to try their luck. When they lose,
as they do in ninety-nine cases out of a
hundred, that is the end OF them; they
can never settle down to ordinary ways
Of earning living after that and their
descent is rapid. - -
Rum is the greater cause of poverty;
1t is the cause Of more poverty than all
the other causes put together. When a
man drinks to excess he lets 60 of
every thing. He loses his position and
is unable to secure other employment
A drunkard can not be trusted with
work or responsibility. He and those
dependent upon him, if he has family,
become paupers. They have to be
helped, first by the neighbors and then
by the town. In my own personal ex-
perience ] have known about fifty thou
sand men who have been ruined by rum.
These causes account for the failure of
men who are willing to work. but are
unable to secure and keep regular en-
ployment. There is vast amount OF
poverty caused by men who would rath-
er loaf than work. When a man finds
his mission in the world he should re-
main constant to it and not leave one
trade or business to engage in another
for which he may be untitled. Poverty
often results from such aimlessness
But the lazy man is always poor man. :"
A USELESS SUBSTANCE.
Let the Fall.cy as to the Necessity Of
Moderate Drinking he Removed.
II had once no thought of alcohol ex-
cept as food. thought it warmed u.s..
1 thought it gave US strength. thought
it enabled us to endure mental and bodi-
ly fatigue. I thought it cheered the
heart, and lifted up the mind into
greater activity. But it so happened
that was asked to study the action OF
alcohol along with whole series OF
chemical bodies, and to investigate
their bearing in relation to each other.
And so took alcohol from my shelf in
the laboratory, as 1 might any other
drug or chemical, and asked it in the
course OF experiments extending over a
heightened period: What do you do?:
l asked it: DO you warm the ANNA!
body when you are taken into it?' The
reply came invariabl7: Il do not, except
in mere surface EXCITEMENT Then ]
turn around to it in another direction
and ask it: DO you give muscular
strength?' l test it by the most rigid
analysis and experiment l can adopt,
and its reply is: i give no muscular
strengt tn. turn to its effect on the organs
| OF the body and find, that while it expe-
dites the hearts action, it reduces to.
nicity; and, in the nervous system, ]
find the same reply, that is to say,
find the nervous system more quickly
worn out under the influence of this
dScuG GUdu IL uOu0 were Gdhou dC all
ask it: Can you build up any of the It's
sues of the body?' The answer is again
in the negative: Il build nothing. If l
do any thing, add fatty matter to the
body, but that is destructive agent,
piercing the tissues, destroying their
powers and making them less active fol
their work. Next turn around to the
facts of experience. I think: Well, as
have come to the above conclusion, l
will experiment on myself do so.
gave up that which thought warmed
and helped, and declare after consider.
ing the whole period in which 1 have
subjected myself to this ordeal, never
did more work; never did more varied
work; l never did work with equal
faculty--with so much facility; l never
did work with such complete sense OF
freedom from anxiety and worry, as
have done during the period that
have abstained altogether. Lot this
fallacy, then, as to the necessity OF
moderate drinking be removed."-B
w. Richardson, NJ. D., in Temperance.
DOcTORING LIQUORS.
Confession of . Dealer In Fusol OIL and
Other Adulterants.
The American Analyst reports deal.