The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-12-21
BETTER CITY # ORYS
WIN, WADE SAYS
CONTINUED From Page One.)

that one of their breweries is TO be-
come a wooden factory.
IF eight laboring men spend eight
hundred dollars for furniture, hard
ware, clothing, cotton, worsted and
wooden goods, they contribute one hun
| dred and forty-seven dollars and forty
three cents to labor and at the same
time they bring valuable supplies to
their families, they stimulate business
and add to the demand for labor.
| IF the eight hundred dollars are
spent in the saloon, only nine dollars
and eighty-four cents goes for labor
the families are made wretched, and
the men themselves are made worse
| physically, financially and morally,
their jobs are imperiled, and they have
wasted their money. Liquor is labor's
worst enemy. 1t is also the worst
enemy of legitimate business.
| Are not these convincing argu-
ments for all who engage in CONNER
cial life? To suppress the saloon
would mean such a business revival as
the country would feel from east to
west And this is not the whole truth
about the good which would follow
abolition Of the drink traffic.
Here is the testimony of dry town
of Indiana OF some three thousand peo-
plea factory city, whose principal in
dustry is capitalized at 1915. 900. en-
ploying about three hundred hands.
| fo
helped in several of their remonstrance
fights under the old law. The letter
which bears testimony to the tremen-
dous benefits of a dry town. is from
Nappanee, dated Dec. ID, 1908, and
signed by a prominent citizen, secreta-
ry of the Commercial club and manu-
facturer and runs as follows: You are
in for a lively time for sixty days. |
inclose clipping from The NEWS.
Fred Hoffman is the man who laid our
new pavement. He is no avowed tenn
perance man either, so his expression
is worth 100 cents on the dollar.
1.-The law seems to require a mar
| shall, but our town board, seeing none
was needed, combined the marshal and
| street commissioner in one person al
lowing his pay as commissioner $50,
as marshal $50 per month-making it
| $45 per month, just what the commits
sioner is worth. He has made no ar
rest for nearly two years. You never
| hear any yelling or noise day or night
any more. You know how it used to
be. We have had no saloon for near
ly four years now.
| Financially, the town is we'll off,
too. We completed within the past
six months two miles Of the best of
brick paving, (more than Richmond
has altogether) at a cost of $4,000, of
which amount the town assumed 10
per cent. or $4,000. 1t paid this off
in cash. borrowing $1,000 on short
time, and owes besides this $4,000 of
the old water works bonds, not due for
| two years. Our total debt is thus
$4,000, but we own the electric light
and water works plants which invoice
$4,000, and now pays the total corpo-
ration running expenses besides its
own. The rate of taxation is not
higher than the average towns about
us and has not been advanced in the
past five years, though we lost two
saloons and a bowling alley in that
time.
"'While the saloons were here we
had day marshal on duty every day,
and a night policeman every night.
Now we have neither, though the mer-
chants hire night Waterman to watch
for fires and l guess the only weapon
he carries is a 'watchman's clock"
for which the merchants have keys all
around and make him walk his beats
about six miles or more a night
Unless we do more paving the
| corporation taxes can be cut clear out
In a couple of years. You may remem-
| Der the old cry-"the town would die
| etc, etc. if the saloons are driven
OUT The fact is. every house stays
| rented all the time and the hents are
high. Every business room stayed
| filled all the time, and this year three
new two story brick buildings % 132
| feet, were built and are rented, besides
the three old buildings went little to
| one side and are also rented. A new
bank started and is completing fine
| two story brick structure and bank de-.
posits have about doubled in three
years.
sHartman's, Che largest store say
| they find it very much easier than for
merly to collect on Saturday evenings,
and the meat dealers sell at least 90
per cent more meat than when the sa-
looms were here.
Finally, you can not find single
fair minded person here, but will say
all conditions are better in every way