The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1891-07-17
TEMPERANCE NOTES.
DRINK AND WORKMANSHIP.
Damaging Influence of the Saloon In
Inh

InHuence OF the saloon In
Labor Strikes.
An eastern prohibition paper has
been Investigating the effect of the
drinking habit on workmen and wages.
1t has put the question to a number of
firms which are large employers of
labor, ami some of the replies are ex-
sremely interesting. Here is one from
The firm of Samuel C. Tatum & Co.,
who have large foundry and machine
shops in Cincinnati, o., and who are
yery widely known all over the state.
The reply in full is as follows:
a drinking man will turn out ten to twenty
per cent. less work than non -drinker, and in
addition 1t is apt to be defective and require
,verhauling. This is especially true Of heavy
peer drinkers. A workingman may tamper
with whisky to very considerable extent and
still be capable of a bright idea or suggestion;
put not so with beer drinkers; they become
neavy, sodden, lack ambition and seldom vary
lhe mode of doing their work.
When one workman drinks too much IL az
lects the work Of others, on the principle that
a little leaven leavens the whole lump" The
workmen OF a shop are parts OF great ma.
chine and the inability OF part to perform its
functions will derange the whole. The amount
Of this arrangement will be in exact proper
Zion to the number OF parts affected.
The employer pays for what he gets. If drink
decreases a mans output ten to twenty per
cent. he will receive that much less, or the en-
ployer 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 il 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 eX-
actly in line with the above. That the
habit of steady drinking impairs the
quality of workmanship wherever
skilled handiwork is involved is too
patent to question. The rembling
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 accurate judgment;
the unsteady eye does not remain the
safe, sure guide it can become by train
ing, when in its normal condition.
Not only is the quality of the work
impaired, but its quantity is decreased,
If the worliingman is paid by the piece,
Or the quantity, this does not directly
act unfavorably on the employer S
pocket; but it does indirectly, by re-
quirlng more men to do a 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.
Another point made by Messrs. Tatum
& Co., which is SO true and so impor-
tant that it should meet with attention
from every labor union or other asso-
citation of workingmcn, is that a drink
ing man has generally bad effect on
the whole csta blishment in which he is
employed. AS the above letter truly
great machine, and the inability of any
part to discharge its functions accurate
ly and promptly deranges the whole.
The closing point of the letter is an
other that needs the earnest attention
of every worlingman and friend of la
Dor. Long strikes would be unheard
of if saloons were closed" say Tatum
& Co.. and all the trouble we ever had
with our hands could be traced directly
IL
that can proftably engage the atten-
ton of every labor organization. Too
often the latter are mere associations
devoted really to getting as much pay
for as few hours of labor as possible.
We have no fault to find with an hon
est, fair, straightforward effort to get
proper pay and to reduce the hours of
labor to the eight-hour standard; we
favor both. But has not labor a recip-
rocal duty?
If labor union practically prevents
an employer in one line of industry
from employing single workman who
IS not member of that union, is it not
just and right and proper that it should
furnish him frst-claSS workmen-not
drunken sots whose evenings and holi-
days are spent in saloons, guzzling beer
and destroying their ability for work
of the best sort both as to quality and
quantity?
If 1.-THE professional labor agitators who
talk magniloquently about the rights
of labor and the aggressions of capital,
really desire to harmonize the two,
tn ey cannot do better nor more useful
work than, while insisting on labor
having its rights, to also insist that the
employer shall be treated with fair
ness. Let labor unions draw the line
on drinking men, exclude from their
mem bcrship all such, and they will
have done more by that one act, to dig
nifty and enuoble labor, and to put it in
its true place, than by a century of en-
deavor in any other line of action which
does not involve this.-Toledo Blade.
AGAIMSr ,crIAnIn AMrc