Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1892-01-28
THE GREATEST MONOPOLY AND TIE
GREATEST CURSE.
j. b. GAMBRELL.

rights to all,special privileges to none,"
is the very essence of Democracy. 1t
is the very essence of good government
too. 1t underlies the tariff question
1.-The robber tariff" Why should cot
ton raiser in Mississippi pay 40 to 60
per cent. more for his wooden goods
than the cost Of production in order
that a factory girl in New England
should make $50 a month and the fac
tory boss accumulate millions, while
the cotton raiser makes $3.50 month
and lives in poverty? Paternalism
and favoritism have always gone to-
gether. All monopolies are repugnant
to the spirit of the Constitution.
At last the current of thought and
action has set against the vicious leg
islation which favored combines and
monopolies. The Constitutional Con
vention did some excellent work along
the line of preventing future favorit-
ism. The public mind is becoming en-
lightened as to the dangers of these
great monopolies. 1t is more than
question of justice; practically it is
matter of self preservation. The ''in-
FAINT industries" have grown till they
have become our masters, and at last,
it begins to dawn on us that the mass
es are in danger of being perpetually
enslaved by the monopolies created
and fostered in unthinking hours. 1t
is this view of the case which is to stir
Americans to the depths before our
lost liberties are regained.
Happily, Southern people are united
fairly we'll on the principle of equality
in trade as our constitution shows with
respect to Mississippi In Louisiana,
however, one striking exception APP
pears. For supposed advantage lit is
deceitful supposition) the people are
willing to recharter that giant monopo-
ly, the Louisiana State Lottery. AL
ready the lottery has become supreme
in our sister state and is winning its
way to another lease of life for %
years. The spectacle is revolving to
every good citizen. It is intolerable
but the greatest aud every way worst
monopoly in the country is the icens-
ed liquor traffic. This business repre-
senting a billion of dollars in yearly
sales with profit to the dealer of not
less than 400 per cent. ON all retail sales
is concentrated in the hands of 100000
persons. They have legal monopoly
of this enormous trade. Legislation
has not been intended by legislators to
create this monopoly; but the liquor
people, who are for license and gener-
ally for high license, have all along
worked with this in view. Just as the
Louisiana Lottery keeps before the
people the 81, $50, 900 bribe,so the liquor
people constantly talk of the revenues
of license In neither case do the peo-
pie and the monopolists aim at the
same. The first look to state revenue
and tightening of taxes. The second
look to the centering of an enormously
profitable business in the hands of a
few, themselves being the few.
Auxiliary to the revenue argument
are two great decisions whereby the
people have been beguiled into tolerat
ing, after creating this giant monopoly.
l. The restrictive fallacy. The liquor
business is obviously and confessedly
tremendous evil. Nobody can or
does deny it now. The light has been
turned on and the verdict is we'll nigh
unanimous, ''the liquor traffic is the
matchless evil of the age" Saloon
keepers and preachers have come at
last to a tolerable agreement on the
evils of whisky drinking. 1t is now a
question simply and only of how to
mitigate the evils of the business.
Here Prohibitionists and ants agree.
In dealing with any evil total annihila-
ton is not reckoned upon.
Restriction, high license, with safe
guards, is preached as the feasible way
of lessening the traffic and its evils. 1t
is delusion and snare. 1t neither
lessons the use of liquor nor elevates
the business. It's effect is just the OPP
posite as figures show. / give the fig
ures. From 1860 to 1890 is the period
of taxation and so-called restriction.
Before go there was free whiskey.
From 1860 to 1870 the per capita an
nual consumption of liquor in the
United States was 6.43 gallons. From
1870 to 1880 it was 100 gallons per
caput. The next decade witnessed the
beginning of the high license era and
the increase was from 7.69 gallons per
caput to 1908 gallons. A very rapid
RISE The last decade has been the
special time of high license and social
ed restriction, and while license has
gone up enormously, the consumption
of liquor has risen from 1908 gallons
per caput to 1857 gallons, an incsease
of more than 80 per cent. in ten years
OF restriction, so-called.
2 The other delusion is in the sup
posed elevation of the business. As
the consumption has gone up along
with license, the business, in moral
tone, has gone down. The saloons are