Passaic City record., 1891-09-12
DRUNKEN DOCTORS.

Ih5 Legislature OIL UeOrSla mas pa sSSu u
bill disqualifying incorporate physicians
from practice A method OF Indictment has
been frame1, and upon conviction the ac-
cused becomes subject to heavy fine il he
attempts to practice again. AS protective
measure the wisdom OF such law is mani
fest. Patients by families worship ''the
doctor" with blind idolatry. They prefer
him drunk TO any other sober. 1t is patri-
archal act that steps in to protect such
people from their own superstition. 1t is the
highest scientific temperance ground yet
taken by the law. We believe it will be
widely copied in other States, whenever such
a bill is offered With this legal encourage
ment the common sense of the people will
soon make total abstinence the path to pro-
fessional glory for E5cuiapius. There will
get abroad a conundrum something like this,
If abstinence from drink is essential to the
steadiHess of hand necessary to couple cars,
.down brakes" or tend a telegraph plant;
to the clear brain requisite for transmitting
messages, or taking fares on street car.
how much can man drink and have head
and hand at their best to set a bone or write
a prescriptions Enlightened society will
not "give it up" but will give up the tip
pling doctor.-Union Signal.
THE EFFECT OF DRINK ON woRKINGMEN.
:. The firm of Samuel C. Tatum & Co.. who
have large foundry and machine shops in
Cincinnati, O., and who are very widely
known all over that State, say
IA drinking man will turn out ten to
twenty per cent. less work than a non
drinker. and in addition it is apt to be defec-
tive and require overhauling. This is espe-
cially true OF heavy beer drinkers A work
ingman may tamper with whisky to very
considerable extent and still be capable of a
bright idea or suggestion; but not SO with
beer-drinkers; they become heavy. sodden.
lack ambition and seldom vary the mode of
AI..s.. lx~sxx
much it effects the work Of others, on the
principal that ''little leayen leavens the
whole lump" The workmen of a shop are
parts of great machine, and the inability of
q part to perform its functions will derange
the whole. The amount of this arrangement
will be in exact proportion to the number Of
parts affected. The employer pays for what
he gets. If drink decreases mans output
ten to twenty per cent. he will receive that
much less or the employer will retire from
business, unless he can command sufficient
sober help to make up the shortage of the
drinkers Arbitration Of labor difficulties
would be an exceedingly easy matter and
long strikes would be unheard of, if saloons
were closed. All the trouble we ever had
with our hands could be traced directly to
saloon influence"
The testimony of many others is exactly
in line with the above. That the habit Of
steady drinking impairs the quality of work.
manship wherever skilled handiwork is in
volved, is too patent toquestion. The trem
bling hands of habitual drinker cannot have
that firm, strong, yet light and sure touch
which is a sine qua non for frst-class work.
The befuddled brain loses its power of ac-
curate judgment; the unsteady eye does not
remain the safe, sure guide it can become by
training, when in its normal condition. Not
only is the quality of the work impaired, but
It's quantity is decreased. If the working
man is paid by the piece. or the quantity,
this does not directly act unfavorably on the
employers pocket; but it does indirectly, by
requiring more men to do q given amount of
work within certain time. If he works by
the day he is an expensive luxury, and will
be certain of discharge on some pretext. An
other point made by Messrs. Tatum & Co.,
which is SO true and SO important that it
should meet with attention from every labor
union or other association of workingmen,
is that q drinking man has generally bad
effect on the whole establishment in which
he is employed. As the above letter truly
saws, .'workmen are but the parts of one
great machine, and the inability of any part
to discharge its functions accurately and
properly deranges the whole. e."-Sacsed
Heart Review.