Rocky Ford enterprise. (Rocky Ford, Colo.) 1887-1950, 1911-03-10
w. c. Il. u.
C OIL U Nj n
THE PRIZE-WINNING ESSAY.
Why Business Men Demand Total
Abstinence On the Part of Their

First let us ask what qualities busi-
ness men demand in the men whom
they employ? And the answer might
be strong brain, strong muscle and
strong heart
Now let us ask if the drinking man
measures up to this ideal? Every in
telligent person is now willing to
admit what has been proven by scien-
lists and physicians that the use of
alcohol retards digestion. arrests
growth. lessons muscular force. de-
crcascs mental activities, blunts the
moral senses. and shortcns life. These
conditions fall far short of those for
our ideal working men.
One hundred years ago it was
doubted whether men could endure
the work without the strength liquor
would give them. Science has since
proven that the abstainer can do bet
ter work and more accurate work
than the drinking man. Men now
have to keer pace with steam and
electricity and to work with iron ma
chinery that makes no allowance for
bcfuddlcd brain.
Modern industrial life has no place
for the drinker of alcoholic liquors.
Therefore. rcckoncd on the basis of
dollars and cents. the business man
does not intend to be the loser by
employing men of inferior mental and
physical capacity.
Some years ago the Department OF
Labor made inquiry of thirty-hvc
thousand employers. including fore
men. manufacturers. and those cngag-
ed in mining. trade and transporta
ton. and employing nearly two mil
lion people. and found that hve-sixths
of these employers investigated. the
drinking habits of all men desiring
work. In some establishments no
one using Intoxicating liquors could
find employment.
There seem to be few general
rules in operation in all branches of
business: First. to give the prefer
cncc to the total abstainer over even
the place of the drinking man with
the non drinker: third. never to pro-
mote drinkcr.
The U. s. Government requires to-
tai abstinence of rural mail carriers.
railway mail agents and al men work
inp in navy yards. This rule is re-
quircd by one of the largest ship
building concerns in the world. by
the largest capital bank note company
in the world. And by the largest en-
plovmcnt agencies and business
houses.
The railroads prohibit the use of in
toxicants purely as a business propo-
sition to insure large earnings, small
expenses and few accidents. Steam
ship lines follow the example OF the
railroads.
The influence of the trades union is
.f. L.. T.. Il ,rl
ing man chcapcns the labor of every
other man.
1t would be an interesting study to
follow the changes in the rules of in
surancc companies. In 1870 a man
had to ~av an extra premium for be-
ing a total abstaincr. Now this same
man would be better risk morally.
physically and financially than the
drinking man.
The fratcrnal orders have placed a
ban on intcmpcrancc. Some rules
provide for the withdrawal of bene-
fits in case of death or sickness re-
,ulting from alcoholic excess.
The demand for abstinence on the
part of the employed is not confined
to our own country. A great inter
national movement is directing well
aimed blows at intcmpcrance. All
nations from FINLAND ana Ianada tnc
most nearly alcohol free of all ma
tions to Denmark and France. Where
consumption of liquor is the highest
in the world have joined in this cru
SADIE AGAINST think.
We have tried to answer the qucs-
ton, "Why business men demand alb
stinencc on the part of their employ
es" and We will sum it up in these
few words: The business man de-
mands self control a high standard
of truth the ability to distinguish be-
tween right and wrong as well or a
clear brain and firm uncrring hand
alcohol has been proven the deadly
foe to all these requirements. hence
the wisdom and necessity of the de-
mand for abstinence on the part OF
the employc.
VIDh MARGARET KELLOGG.