The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-06-03
TEMPERANCE NOTES.
WHERE LABOR ERRS.
millions Spent for Drink Which Might Re-
Spent for Homes

Spent for Homes.
The Chicago Tribune. in discussinc
the May-day harangues to the thronrs
OF worklngmen at the great meeting ON
tne lake front in that city, raises a
point which the Blade has FREQUENTLY
dlscussed-that the drink habit is the
worst injury to the workingman. The
Tribune says:
while many of the speakers were profuse IN
their denunciations of the alleged injuries in
nicted on labor by capital they had not word
70 say about the wrongs inflicted on labor by
itself.
Not one OF them delicately limited to his hear.
ers mat II they were to cut down the amount
spent by them yearly for liquor their expenses
would not be so great and their ability TO earn
would be increased. fanny one of these orators
mad put side by side the total amount of addi-
tional yearly wages which the workingmen of
chicago would like to get, and the total amount
of their yearly drink bill, there would not have
been very much difference in size between the
two items.
II labor leader were to talk prohibition Of
course no one would listen to him, but IL he
were to point out to his people what they would
gam by substituting moderate for immoderate
drinking they might heed him. II the lake front
speakers had seen At they might have told their
audiences that many Of them had impaired the
value OF the labor commodity they have for sale
oy too much drinking, thus lowering their wages
themselves and that they had suffered more at
their own hands and those Of the saoonkeeper
than those OF the capitalist
II the orators had chosen they might have
said that the working classes had spent great
many millions for drink, while If they had used
half that amountto buy land instead OF LIQUOR
II would have been much better No one ven
tured to dwell on this subject from fear that it
would not be popular. The labor agitator
knows mankind, and is well aware that people
do not like to have their own faults pointed out
and prefer to be RECALLED with accounts of the
misdeeds of others. Some English labor lead
ers have spoken out boldly; those ofcthis coun-
try appear TO be afraid TO do So
The statements above are so mani
testify true that no one will have the
hardihood to controvert them. Is it not
just and reasonable that men, seeking
to obtain better wages or shorter hours
of labor-which is the same thing in
another form-should endeavor to rem
der their labor actually worth more? A
sober, steady man, not unnerved by al
coholic or any other excuses, can do
more work in given time, and do it
better, than a drinking man. Is it not
fair that the labor unions should con-
oidCi thCthouS VI lHCIcdSluS Une
cheney of their members, and rigidly
exclude from their ranks those who are
habitual drinkers? The Tribune's ar
ticle says:
when one Of the speakers said addressing
his foreign-born hearers that their children
should learn English, he had in view their in.
creased efficiency if they knew the language OF
the country. 1t is pity that he did not go
step farther and ask each man present to count
up on his fingers the number of persons he
knew who had made their labor inefficient and
almost destitute OF value through excessive
drinking. That would be practical talk. much
superior to these hackneyed harangues about
the 'capitalistic press the 'capitalistic police
and the approaching day when the world will be
turned upside down"
AS we have often said, there are
certain lines of occupation from which
drinking men are excluded. Many of
the leading railways hold an engineer,
conductor, or anyone connected with
the movement of trains, including
switchmen, bridge tenders, etc, liable
to instant discharge if he INDUCES in
drinking; and it is proper and reason
able precaution for the safety of life
and property. 1t would be just and
reasonable for any labor union to make
expulsion from its ranks the penalty
for drunkenness. There is no handi-
craft in which habitual drinker can
do as good work or as much work as a
man who does not drink
Probably the orators who attempt to
advise the workingmen on May day and
similar occasions are cunning enough to
know that fattery is always more ac-
ceptable than the cold truth, and act
upon the theory that the workingmen
prefer to be humbugged by being told
they are the victims of oppression at
the hands of capital" But there is
no intelligent and candid person but
will agree that when labor union as
sumes the authority to say who may or
who may not be employed in any occu-
patton, and to dictate the hours of la Dor
and the wage rate, that it should be
able also to certify to the employer that
the men who may be employed are
capable and intelligent, and that their
work, in both quantity and quality, will
be of the best; and no drinking man
can do first-class work, nor as much as
if he did not drink. When organized
labor takes hold of this matter, it will
give most powerful impulse to the ef-
fort to pulverize the rum power.-Tole-
do Blade.