Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1903-12-05

Desire Tor drink might cause a gre.
deal of unrest. or even physical sui
| fering. but if IL is controlled firmly the
purse will not suffer All know tia
| physical appetite clamors for recO
| nition-the desire for drink most
ously. perhaps, OF all. Whether one
can or cannot keep from drinking has
no special bearing here, for the tact is
that the drunkard does not control
| himself. and if he cannot, he is a pit
| liable sight His will has been forced
to abdicate it's throne and destructive
appetite has been crowned with his
! own consent. Since his will has be-
come measurably powerless, to that de-
gree he has been made more like the
| machine, or the animal.
2. The oppressor. Left to themselves
few men would go to the gutter. They
| are imposed upon by others. The op--
pressor may be an open foe. A man
| that is in the employ of the devil I'M
derstands how to secure the downfall
! of his enemy. If a noble youth or a
| reformed drunkard can be made to
stumble by sinister methods, the result
is gained-and results favorable to
| themselves are all that whisky men
desire. Frequently the oppressor is
pretended friend. 1t is common
sight to see one man coaxing another
| to go into a saloon and have a social
glass. That costs the man thus in
vited nothing, but treat is expected,
which is a double pull on his purse.
All saloons are fitted up to make their
| customers enjoy themselves. One can
find almost anything there, to tempt
\ men to enter and remain. All this is
| done under the guise of friendship
| III the customer had no purse, and the
keeper had no Golfer, or if the till OF
| the latter could not be filled from the
| pockets of the former there would be
no music or work of art. 1t seems that
] If no other cause would drive a man
| to be temperate, the idea of being
| cheated out of money. under the pre-
tense of friendship would be effective
| in turning one the other way.
I 3. Drink itself. Drink itself is one OF
the most powerful agencies for pro-
ducing poverty. To procure it re-
| quires money. 1t is true that much is
given away among companions, but
what is so received is in the end the
most costly of all. Breweries and dis
tilleries intend that every swallow
shall be paid for, and the final cost
| falls upon those who drink. When we
| learn that the sale of malt liquors in
New York city averages more than a
| barrel for every man, woman 'and
| child; Chicago and Philadelphia near
| ly two barrels for each inhabitant; in
Boston more than two barrels; in ST
l Louis and Cincinnati more than three
barrels; in Newark, N. j., nearly five
| barrels, and in Milwaukee seven bar
rels, do we doubt that strong drink
| requires money? The above ngures
do not include distilled liquors and
| wines. The use of liquor begets q
| desire to squander money. Drink
makes most people liberal. Money is
| free as long as it lasts. Common la
borers often come out of a three days
| spree SIS to $50 poorer than before
| Ones own appetite requires a larger
| expenditure, and the circle of friends
| increases to whom he feels under OBJ
| legations by the unwritten code of in
( temperance. Gambling is inseparahle
| from drinking in this age. and fur
| nishes a new channel for the outflow
/ of money.
Drink also destroys the ability to
earn money. The capital melts away,
] and the debt accumulates, if the man
| can find credit. Business expediency
| should put stop to drinking, if no
| higher motive can appeal to a man 1t
\ is becoming harder and harder for an
Incorporate man to secure a good job
on the railroad. Some roads will en-
ploy no man who goes into a saloon,
| and will discharge an employe for the
| first offense. Others that are less
rigid will give the sober man prefer
| ence over another applicant for 20
siuon who INDUCES in drink occa-
| sionally. If one of two men is to be
| discharged, the temperate is retained
| and the Incorporate dismissed, If other
things are equal. The ability for
| drunkard to earn money is growing
less and less every year. Much OF
! equally true of other lines of bust
| ness.
One might reply that the circulation
. of money is essential to business pros
| perity. That is true, but there is no
! circulation about the drunkard's
| money. To circulate means to go
round and round. permitting the same
man to buy with it and sell for it,
That would be more like busi-
ness, but money spent for liquor does
not circulate-it moves forward, but
does not return. 1t ends in the pock-
ct of the brewer and distiller, and the
great majority of it stays there. The
ragged, red-nosed, blear-eyed drinller
! sees 1t no more. He sells the little cot
| tage that his wife's money helped to
! buy, and rents a home little later
| he moves into poorer house that ne
I can get for less rent, and then he
| moves every month or two to dodge
the angry landlord. But the manufac-
/ turer OF his destruction stops renting
and buys home on a good street.
Later he builds a beautiful residence