The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1909-09-16
Iowa Not Alone in Putting
"Coffin Nails" Out Of
Business.

Mems weaknesses. like men hem
selves. seem sometimes to have the
most to fear in the homes of their
friends.
One Of mans Weaknesses. for in
stance, is to show too great a tendency
to train on alcohol for his heavy work.
The South, in particular, is Il drinking
section. New England is not so much
SO. Yet it was not New England, but
the South, that crumpled up II liquor
program. And it is the West that
is outlawing the ,igaret. says the Phil
adelphia Public Ledger.
Eight states, speaking through their
said he cigaret must go. In Tacoma
they are even %arresting smokershon the
streets. Nobody has been able to buy
a cigaret in Minnesota since midnight
a week ago. More thar LOCO. O00, 900
We're sold in Minneapolis alone the day
before the law went into effect. Then
the statute came down with a crash.
These facts mean something. Pri-
marily they mean that the best re-
former is not a. reformer. Business
does infinitely more. The South heard
John B. Cough and a thousand others,
but tuck to the jug. But the SouSh
listened to business. Business requires
efficiency. 1t cannot get along without
efficiency. Competition annot succeed
where efficiency is not. The man who
hasn't efficiency in his organization will
lose his business to one who has. And
alcohol does not make for efficiency.
When competition became fierce
enough the South found this out. That
settled it. The jug was plugged;
with expediency. Drinking didn't pay.
Sobriety did pay. Hurrah for sobriety.
Smoking Worked Mischief.
This seems like a pretty pulseless
sort of morality and high-mindedness.
Maybe 1t is. Blu it works where the
real thing didn't work. And the effect
upon the individual who is prevented
from drinking is precisely as it would
have been if a noble ideal had whitfield
the plug tor the jug. He works better.
lie feels better. He is better.
So it is with cigarets. The West has
long dotted on them. The cowboy got
them from the Maxicans. and thought
they We're good. He passed he word
along to the other fellow. The other
fellow got the habit. Soon everybody
had yellow fingers.
Then h rcformcr came along. Ec
saw the truth. Cigarets hurt health.
Therefore the cigaret tuust go. He Or
ganized Il league to make it go. He
gave the word for it to go. But it did
not go. On the contrary. those who
were in the business of making cigar
cts perfected their machinery and en-
largcd their plants. And tho plants,
year by year became too small The
habit had stuck.
But business had not beer heard
from. Pretty oon business was heard
FROM. Not emphatically.mildly. "A few
firms began to discriminate against
cigaret smokers. Railroads in partic-
ular, objected. Men who hit the cigaret
couldn't hit the job. They were not eff
ficient. They could not be trusted.
Maybe they would take the message to
No. 2 telling her to go on the sidetrack
and wait for Nc. 6 to pass. and maybe
they wouldn't. 1t was all a gamble.
The lines kept Tightening. Business
didn't %preach--it practiccd. 1t didn't
say: For the sake of your immortal
soul. out the SMOKE" 1t said: IF you
smoke, skiddo-no Job for you" And
man. requiring food. raiment and an &C.
casional plug of tobacco, will listen to
the voice of his job When his soul seems
to have difficulty i'll getting in a WORD
between the puffs.
The Voice Of the People.
Eventually the voice of the coEln.un-
ICY became :aw. That's the way with.
law. After the wisest ones have thought