Arizona republican., 1914-09-22
BOOZE AND BUSINESS

The evidence against the saloon has been gathering fast. Of the 2,00O000 injuries and 35,000 deaths occurring annually in mills in Amer ica large proportion can be laid to liquor. The tests of the new psy chology establish beyond dispute that industrial efficiency decreases with indulgence in alcohol and is increased by abstinence from it. A poisonous d:'aught befuddles the brain, affects the hearing, the sight and the judg ment; even small doses have this eff feet. Employers and liability insur- ance agencies have an impressive ar ray of instances of the responsibility of the nearby saloon for the killing and maiming of men in factories.
 Monday following the weekly holi day, with it's usual indulgence in liquor, is the dreaded day of disasters in the mills The curve of acci dents for every day has been chart ed and the peak shows that at 10 o'clock in the forenoon and in the afternoon, just long enough for al coho to produce it's effects after the morning and noon drams, are the dangerous hours for men and ma chimes. And on top of it all, unb ased experts have made rigid inves tigations as to the cause of accidents in scientifically managed plants, and unfailingly have traced the blame to operators visiting nearby saloons during the lunch hour. or slipping out across the alley during an idle mo- ment or two. Telltale snapshots re- veal employees stealing out to the sa
 loon. There is only one sure safe guard-a law permitting no saloon 1 to be located so near a factory that
 workmen can reach it unnoticed by
 gatemen or watchmen This calls for
 a 800 O. 1OOO-foot limit. and this is
 the distance that is being advocated
 by experienced employers who have
 made a study of the question.
 Time was when it was cheaper to
 grind up human beings than to in
 stall safety devices. But that day is
 past, thanks to damages assessed in 1 the courts for deaths and injuries in | .ndutry. And now that workmans S
 compensation law provides auto matically for fixed payments in set tlement for death or disablement,
 sweeping aside all legal procedure
 owners and manufacturers will see to | it with a soicitude that will brook no opposition that sober men with clear heads and steady hands are on | their payroll, and that nothing that shall endanger the safety or eff : ciency of their plants shall be per mitted unmolested near the mills
 Surely the insanity of the situation is apparent: On the one. hand, granting indemnity by law for acci-
 dents sustained in the mills. and at
 the same time permitting at the gates
 of the factories the operation of sa :
 looms which are directly responsible
 for the accidents. There can be only
 one logical end to such a condition. Efficiency will demand it. economy
 will demand it, competition will de- mand it.
 The Philadelphia Quartz company
 located at Quartz. Pa announced last February that it would increase by 10 per cent the wages of all it's em- pi'ycS WHO WOulu SlSn the temper ance pledge. There was no compul- sion about it. but all the 300 men and boys signed up. The manager of the plant says that it is only com = . mon sense to state that a strictly sober man is worth more to his company. and that the firm expects to be more than repaid bv the i'm
 movement in the service it will get
 from sober workmen.
 Another firm. one of several which
 might be cited, the United State. steel mills. covering the entire Ma
 honing valley. in March last issued sweeping order to the effect tha , all promotions hereafter of whatever character will be made only iron the ranks of those who do not in
 dulge in the use of intoxicatins drinks. In the same month of MarcI
 the Great Northern railroad notified
 the town of Garretson, S. D., tha
 unless it voted out the saloons anC I