The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1908-04-23
sOsRtETYsA HusE
NESS REQUIREMENT.

From The Banner OF Gold.
Viewed from the standpoint OF ae.
conditions, the temperance PIES
ton has made giant strides during
the past few years.
There may no be 90 many temp
erance lectures; but there are more
temperance editorials. There isn't
much persuasion, but there is more
coercion. The temperance worker
these days must have plans that are
practical.
Fine theories and gruesome recit-
ais accomplish nothing. Every n
understands that whiskey is respon-
sible for a large part of the crime.
They can punish the crime, but the
important thing is to stop the drink
ing of whiskey and SO prevent crime.
BY far the greater number Of men
who drink to excess ruin their own
lives and destroy the happiness and
the prospects of their families with
out committing any act for which
the law would hold them responsible.
What is needed is some way to stop
the drinking and so prevent such con
sequences.
The methods which has proved
most effective thus far is nothing
less than a system of Compulsory
Sobriety. 1t wasn't brought about
by legislative enactments or prohfb-
itory measures. It was accomplished
by levelheaded business men-men
who are accustomed to dealing with
all questions from a practical basis.
Possibly there wasn't a temperance
worker among them. Perhaps they
were not even total abstainers. 1t
made no difference. They wanted
employees who were. There was small
gain from drunken workmen. They
were always making blunders that
took the profit out of their labor, eel
ebrating payday with a drinking
bout that carried into the next week,
and rounding up the year with a ju.s
bilation that was a blow to holiday
necessities as we'll as to it's festivi-
ties. az"
Such things were. e~xasperating. In
ia time when competition was close
they meant lack of profit. And out
side of moral considerations the ques-
ton of profit is always enough to
lead to decisive action.
yub;1o oorport norlrorc IN tho tom.
perance cause were making futile at
tempts to prohibit the SALE of IL
quor some of the rulers of h indus
trial world took measures to stop the
DRINKING OF liquor.
Railroads were among the first to
adopt a total abstinence standard
for their employees. They realized
that the slightest degree of i1toxica-
ton impaired the vision, affected the
power to distinguish colors, and in
terfered with the sense of accuracy.
One drunken employee might send
hundreds of trusting passengers to
their death and involve a company
in endless damage suits, in addition
to the property destroyed by tbs. dis
aster.
One drunken employee vas not
worth such a tremendous sacrifice,
and railroads Formulated rules pro
hibiting the use Of fntoxicants among
their employees.
When this was done the travelling
public breathed easier. There was a
sense of security that had not exist
ed before. 1t was Compulsory So
briefly. Bur it vas a step in the
right direction.
Other large corporations adopted
the same methods. The country was
full of unemployed men-many~ of
them good men, waiting for an op-
|p~ortunity to prove their mettle. Why
struggle with those who were unre-
liable when better ones wanted the
places?
Gradually the smaller companies
have fallen into line until 1t is diff
cult for the drinking man to find en-
ployment anywhere
Compulsory Sobriety is about the
only kind of sobriety that appeals
to some men. When it is a choice
between sobriety and starvation 1t
doesn't take them lo1g to make Ut
their minds.
Every day the limits of the drink
ing man are becoming more circum-
scribed. Nobody wants him. II by
Misrepresentation he secures a posi-
ton he Hoes not hold it long. A e
When a man ose his place thru
intempera1ce in these days he doesn't
get much sympathy. There Is a sort
of Itold-you-so expression in every
Nobody mats him ON the back