Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-10-17

E 49,.
ren,a;ns settled and uniform, all the
conditions and interests Of society Pc
come adjusted and "geared' TO thae
policy. so that finally the combined
whole is a crystallized and harmonious
force,
So with prohibition on the one sue
and Incense on the other. Either policy
if permanent will compel the aa'usl-
mer,t to its own standard OF all eco
n5nic conditions
IL drinking means waste ana loss
the license states will show 1t. II So
briefly means thrift, then the STATE y
lMalno, for instance, the prohipltloi'
state Of longest experience, it would
be fair to assume will show it.
Name. with Its so years record OF
prohibition, will therefore be taken as
o. eefrite unit Of representation OF ina.
policy, and the other states----the license
states--may DO compared with the re-
cord which Maine presents. OF course
r rect gnize that there have been at
times treachery and evasion In the way
of failure to enforce the law in that
state. But I find that these evaslons
have almost exclusively had cities OF
over 5000 for their field, and in Maine
these are few and contain less than
one. fourth the people. The great mass
of both territory and population mas
been practically without the liquor
traffic for half century. We accept
Maine for. purposes Of this comparison.
states differ in natural conditions ana
resources, in soil, climate, mineral pos
sessions, location as to commerce ana
50 on. But in the long run, one stale
can with Justice be compared With an
other state in proportion to the ac-
ouuulated per capita wealth of the
people.
A like fair comparison may be MADE
Of tie business interests Which Maine
SUPPORTS the mechanics and WORKING
lner, as well as the stores, banks anu
SO on, which he maintains, with Ike re-
CORDS of other states.
III comparing Maine with Mnssacntl-
sets, for Instance, Maine had IN l9oV q
per capita wealth OF $aS2, whlle MAS.
sstcl,isetts had 81, 553. 1t is evident tlat
greater wealth has proportionaiiSs ie ~
9; purchasing power, has greater apli-
ity To natrorlize stores and employ
v,orllingInen The ratio is as Sl.5S 10
LOO. ,.r,
TO complete the comparison, wo WI,
bear in mind that while Maine nav
694,466 population, Massachusetts mas
2,S05,346.
has 404 times as many people whose
needs had to be met, and on the olhei
hand. 404 times as many peopie@
with means to supply those needs
while, as above seen, each person tiao a
purchasing power Of i. rs as compared
With Names 100.
nv multiplying these two factors. We.
have 6. 3S as the ratio" which Massa-;
chusetts bore to Maine in the census
year, 1900, the date of the latest hg-
ures available for our use. rms Illus,
trates how the ratio" for each state
is ascertained from data furnished by
the census.
The United states census names yo-
| cations OF more than so kinds, divided
into state totals. It tells how many
| carpenters there were in 1900 in each
| state how many Inasons how many
banks, how many groceries, and so on.
| 1t is of great value to us at this point.
| One item not given there is Business
|
! stract and furnished the government
| by Dun & Company
Maine had S,627 merchants and deal
| ers Except wholesale). Massachusetts
| should have had 6.3S times as many,
| or 5000; but she only had 4O994, a
| shortage of 1906, or nearly rs per cent.
Maino's citizens thus spend their
| money so wisely, and with such thrift
| that they support retail merchants to
a much greater extent proportionally
| than does Massachusetts. The latter
| state falls nearly &c per cent short OF
| Names standard.
| The Prohibition state supports retail
trade far better than does this license
| state. The same holds good in com
| pairing Maine with many other states.
License Ohio has 90, 426 less merchants
than prohibition ratio entities her.
| Ohio had Sl207 per capita wealth. and
4.l5T545 population. Her ratio to Maine
| is 7.36.
Maine had 1861 business concerns in
1900; Ohio S4.47S. Ohio should have
had 1904. shortage OF 23,426, or near
iy % per cent.
| Let US see for moment what this
| meant to the business inter-
ests of the state of Ohio:
| If Ohio had measured UP to the
| standard of Maine, 1t would have meant
| approximately $4,000 stores, warerooms,
| iatiolicS dilI olliCtS rented OF DullL,
many thousands of clerks, statesmen
| and saleswomen. stenographers, type
writers, mechanics. workingmen, SUI
perintendents, managers, commercial
travellers, etc, emnloyed; enormous
amounts used for freight, carriage, rail-
road fares, raw material and partly
finished material; homes needed for all
these thousands of employees; their de-
posted savings In banks. trust COM
panies, building loan associations and
other purchases OF real estate, provi-
sions, shoes, clothing, etc. car fare to
and from business, more support for.
sehccla and churches, and general
stimulus to trade of every description.
When Ohio gets ready for whole
hearted prohibition. here will be a
part of the benefits to her business
men. Can they ignore such results?
Pennsylvania's ratio Is 1856.
Maine had s,93s carpenters. Penn
sylvania employed $4,000 when she
should have employed 1901, short
age, 65,771.
In single state therefore. here
We're carpenters starved out Of en-