The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1890-01-22
A COMMON ENEMY.

Jne rum franc the businebs Ndhb rVo
An Argument from the Dollar-and-
Cent Standpoint.
There is business side to the liquor
question as we'll as a moral side; and
though rum-selling is not legitimate
business, it has an important bearing
upon all kinds Of retail trade-a bearing
too often overlooked by the very men
who are themselves the most interested.
1t is an important matter to them, be-
cause it affects their pockets-and we all
know that the pocket-nerve is very
sensitive one. 1t is touched constantly
by the rum traffic; for it is perfectly
safe to say that every cent spent in in
toxicants is taken from the retail deal
srs of the city; and it is worse than
wasted, because it does the purchaser
harm instead of good. 1t is not only a
dead waste of the money spent, but it
incapacitates the user from earning
more. No con firmed drunkard is good
or reliable workman. He can not do as
much work as temperate man, nor is
its quality as good, if his line of labor
lies in any occupation in which the quail
ity of the product is taken into consid-
Grafton.
Look about you and you will note
that the regular drunkard never lives in
good house; that he never owns his
residence, nor pays rent promptly for
the rented tenement he occupies. What
stands in the way of his either owning
his own, or of his paying rent promptly
for a decent residence? Ask him and
he will reply that he is too poor" But
his poverty is the result of his drinking
habits; hence the real reason that he is
living in hired howell is rum-nothing
else. The saloon, mercenary to the last
degree, absorbsf the money that would
buy him a comfortable cottage, or pay
the rent for decent tenement for the
occupancy of himself and his family.
The lumber-dealer, the hardware man,
the carpenters, masons, painters, plas
terers-in fact, all who are engaged in
the building trades-are thus robbed by
the saloon.
Did any one ever see confirmed
drunkard's family properly and health
fully fed? Never. The wife and chill
dren do not have food Of the proper
quality, nor enough of it, such as it is
Helpless dependents upon drunken
husband and father, they are compelled
to live upon just enough to sustain life
and that of the coarsest and cheapest
They do not live, they merely exist. 1
is not because they wish to have scant,
fare and poor food, but because they Cal
get no better. The saloon robs them O.
what should enable them to do it; ant
it robs the butcher, the baker, tn,
groceryman, the gardener and al
others who make the purveying of foot
their occupation, of the money tina
should buy proper food. The drunkar,
is their customer only for the cheapes
and poorest of their stock. The saloor
gets the bulk of his money.
Did you ever see drunkard who wor
decent clothes, or one whose famil,
were comfortably, neatly and warml
clad? Never. They usually are dresse,
in airy rags in the warmer portion o
the year, and during the winter shive
through the cold weather in garment
utterly inadequate for their comfort
The children go in summer with bar,
feet, and in winter wear the cast-oi
foot-gear of happier and more fortunate
ones. The drunkard is too poor" t,
buy proper clothing. The money h
should spend for such articles goes int
the till of the saloon. That institution
robs his family of the price of the gar
ments necessary for their comfort, tn al
responsibility in appearance: it robs tn
dry-goods merchant the clothing man
the dealers in boots and shoes If i
were not for the saloon the money tina
is now wasted in rum would be spent il
part with them, for the proper dressin,
of the drinker and his family.
Shelter, food and clothing are neces
sites of life. The drunkard himsel
buys the poorest and cheapest of thes
things in order that he may have TIL
more money to waste for rum. As TO
the comforts of life-articles not abso
lutely required to sustain existence. bu
which stand next to them-such a
books, carpets, pictures, periodicals
musical instruments and the thousant
md one things that fill the happ