Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1894-07-10
SOUND SOLID SENSE.
UTTERED BY EX-GOVERNOR ST. JOHN
OF KANSAS.

The Magnitude of the Prohibition Question
From a Financial Standpoint-Pass 1t
Along to Your Neighbor to Read and Di-
gest.
[From Recent Address of Ex-Governor J. p.
st. John.l
Over the counters of these 240, ,706
Democratic and Republican liquor houses
was expended in 1891 the sum of 81 ,507,-
100000.
Did you ever think of what that means?
Let us put this enormous waste over
the liquor counters into silver dollars,
each one having inscribed upon 1T "In
God we trust" Load 1000 pounds into
a wagon here and start it westward, and
when it has gone 100 feet load up an
other wagon with 1000 pounds and keep
the procession moving, each wagon occu-
pying hundred feet, and when we have
loaded the last 9, 900 pounds of these sill
yer dollars spent over the liquor coun-
ters of this nation in 1891 we will have a
procession $50 miles long.
Imagine the Democrats on one side Of
the highway and the Republicans on the
other, and the procession exemplifying
Democratic and Republican statesman
ship, passing by wagon load after wagon
load of "In God we trust"
"In God we trustr'
All wasted over the liquor counters in
single year.
What legacy to leave to an enlight-
ened and civilized people!
And yet in the face of this outrageous
system these two old parties have the
cheek to ask a Christian man for his bal
lot.
This expenditure over the liquor coun-
ters would more than pay off the national
debt in a single year.
1t is equal to the assessed valuation of
all the taxable wealth of five states like
Kansas.
1t would build 1,5O7, 900 comfortable
homes for the many homeless families.
What would that mean?
More axes for our men to go out in
the timber and cut down the trees, more
crosscut saws, more men to handle
them and saw these trees up into saw
logs, more oxen, more log wagons, more
log chains, more OK drivers, more OK
whips to haul these logs to mill, and
more sawnills and more men to run
them, more teamsters to haul this lum-
ber after it is cut up for building pur-
poses, more railways to carry it into the
different sections of the country, more
carpenters and more brick and stone
masons, more lathmakers, more shingle
makers, more painters, more paper
hangers.
This one evil blotted out and the mon
ey passed over its counters turned into
legitimate channels would set the ham,
mer and saw going in every town and
hamlet in this land, thus doing more
than any other one thing to settle the
labor question.
Today we find two men hunting one
job. That is what makes wages low.
Blot out the liquor traffic, and there
will be two jobs hunting for one man,
and that is what makes wages high.
Citizens, if a business that sends broad
cast misery, poverty, crime and heart
ache and corrupts the people, destroys
100000 lives annually and wastes 81, ,507,-
100000 every year is a "side issue"
please tell me what the main issue is?
If was member of party that had
for generation perpetuated such trade
and could not tell of single blessing
that ever came from that business, and
that party would not put forth every
effort in its power to suppress it, I would
get out of party of that kind and join
a party that would do it.