The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-05-02
TEMPERANCE
DRINKERS NOT WANTED.

Il is practical temperance work that the
railroads are doing, and tremendously effec'
tive. Most OF the great railway lines OF the
eastern halt OF the United States enforce a
practical exclusion Of drinking men fTom
their employ, Their officers take the conn
mon sense view that where the safety OF Iie
and property depends upon employees, II ls
necessary that the latter shall at all times, oe
in full possession of oil their faculties. Ihey
need tho clear brain, the sure eye, the GER
tain hand. He whose brain Is befogged by
liquor has none Of these.
II Is not alone the railroads which are thus
discriminating against drinking men. ID our
cities, the rule OF employing only men OF so.
briefly Is increasingly followed. NO wise
business man will employ q drinking man IN
any position OF trust, particularly any one
which involves the handling OF money. Note
the records of thefts, embezzlements and de-
falcations by trusted employees, and you will
find that the origin OF the trouble was the
habit of drink. Men are learning that they
must have non-drinking employees II they
expect their business enterprises to prosper.
It was not many years ago that drunkenness
was tolerated in an empIoye If he were in
dustrious and faithful now It Is not 80.
man may possess list OF virtues as long as
the moral law, but If he possesses not the one
of sobriety, the list counts as nothing. Ex-
perience has taught business men that they
cannot rely upon drinking men. and that to
employ them leads to loss, to error. to Texa.
tions, delays and worries. Hence they will
have none Of them. They want sober men,
Or none.
This business discrimination against the
liquor habit is bound to 60 on increasingly.
AS it is to-day, all the better class OF posi-
tions can only be held by men of known So
briefly. Hence it follows that the best prep
aration O man can make for his life work,
if he expects to ever be more than day
laborer, is to have the reputation Of perfect
sobriety, and to live up to that reputation.
Total abstinence Is the best policy for any
man who has to depend upon employment
herring strictly to it than by any other posi-
BILE course. He may think that an occasional
glass is not hurtful, but II the knowledge Of
that kind OF indulgence reaches his employ
er's ears, he will have lost more than he can
hope to regain in years. The employer him
self may not be temperance man but If he
is a sbrewd, sharp business man, he will not
allow drinking man in his employ.
Young men, and men in the employ OF
others, should realize that. in the fullest
sense, 1t pays to be entirely sober; yes, and
to shun even the appearance Of indulgence,
or of close intercourse with those who are
addicted to the habir. 1t pays to be total
abstainer: and this argument grows more
and more forcible every year.
1t is this practical kind OF temperance en-
forcement which is one Of the educational
agencies to accomplish the work which must
be done in order to crush out the saloon. No
one-not even drinker-tlnds fault with 4
railway official who discharges or refuses to
employ drinking men. Every one knows
that they are not reliable. The officials are
not called "cranks." nor Missionaries" nor
Temperance fanatics" Everybody realizes
that it is strict matter of business, involv-
ing dollars and cents.
Let the fact be once we'll drilled into the
masses that, no matter how excellent in
every other respect man may be, If he
drinks lie cannot have any employment
above the grade of a common day-laborer,
and self-interest will lead men to wipe out
the saloon and pulyerize the rum power.