Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1894-06-05
THE MONEY QUESTION
THE REAL CAUSE OF THE PRESENT
HARD TIMES.

Let Us Face the Facts squareIy and Not BE
Blinded by the Dust of Party Prejudice
Kicked Up by the Politicians and Party
Press.
The average wages earned in this
country are about $3.50 year.
The cost of the liquor traffic is over
500 year to each and every family.
That tells the story!
Think of it'll This nation wastes every
year sum equal to per cent of its en-
tire wealth.
The drink bill is over $1,000, 600, 900
a year, and it costs over $500, 900, 900
to take care of the crimes caused by it,
and the sickness, the insanity, the pau
pers and the industrial disorders.
Thirteen hundred millions divided
among $4,000, 900 families is 500 for
every family.
1t hits the sober man as well as the
hard drinker
Don't fool yourself by thinking you
don't pay any of that money because
you don't drink.
Who pays the taxes? The drunkards
don't.
Who loses when business is bad and
times are hard? Not the drunkard.
Are you a grocer? How much more
would you sell if there were no saloons
in the neighborhood?
Are you butcher? How much more
meat would your customers buy if the
saloons didn't take their cash?
Are you shoemaker? How many
more shoes would be sold if the saloons
were shut?
Are you a baker? How many more
loaves would you sell if liquor WASH t
sold?
Are you merchant? How much bet
ter would your business be if the money
spent for liquor were spent hereafter for
furniture, for carpets, for clothing, for
houses, for flour, for provisions, for
coal, for books, for hats, for shoes, etc.
Are you a wage Garner? Then listen
to this, for it is the frozen truth: If the
saloons were shut up tomorrow, there
would be within one month call for
1000, 900 workmen more than are EN-
ployed today. The call would come from
all lines of industry.
Here's the reason why:
Take single case. Here's family
that spend $40 year on shoes. They
don't spend more because the head of
the family is trying to support saloon
as well as his home. Shut up the saloons,
and that family will buy $25 worth of
shoes every year.
That me"us $15 more than now for
shoes for one family. Multiply that by
5000, 900, the number of drunkards i'll
the land, and it would make S45, 900,
900 worth more of shoes to be sold.
The retail shoe merchants would have
to increase their orders OH the wholesale
houses.
The wholesaler would have to increase
his orders on the manufacturer of shoes.
The manufacturer would have to in
crease his orders OH the leather dealers.
The leather dealer would have to or
der more cowskins and calfskins from
the farmers.
The railroads would have to put OH
more cars to carry the goods
And all along the line there would
be calls for more men to do the work.
The same sort of thing would happen
along other lines of business, and 2, 900,
900 men now out of employment would
find it, and wages would go up, because
there would be more calls for men than
there are men to respond.
It is as plain as A B G.
Where one man now employed i'll the
liquor business would be thrown out of
employment by closing the saloons, five
men would be called for in other lines
because of the boom in all other forms
of business.
If you want the liquor business to
continue to absorb 500 a year from
each family in the nation, just keep on
voting for one of the old parties, either
one.
But if you want to see hard times van
ish like mist, and if you want to hear
that call for 2,OOO, 900 more men, vote
into power the party that stands out
against the saloons, against the waste OF
81, 800, 900, 900 a year on the drink
curse, against saloon politics and saloon
corruption and saloon deviltry.
That is the Prohibition party.