Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-11-11
THE REAL PROHIBITION FANATICS"
Matt Hughes. the Famous Preacher, Has a Sur
prise for Those Interested in Any Phase of
the Liquor Question

dustrial corporations who are large
| employers Of labor. These fanatics
are fairly running amuck. The opera
tors of many of the great industrial
plants are so narrow and bigoted that
they will not allow their working men
! to drink Intoxicating liquors on or Off
| duty. For example, the Cambria Steel
Company and the Hershey Chocolate
| Company have recently gone extra dry
and decreed absolute prohibition for
their employees. The outrages inflict-
| ed by these fanatics are of the most
! fragrant character. In February. 1914,
the following notice was posted in the
Berwick (Pa.) plant of the American
Car and Foundry Company: 'Workmen
frequenting drinking places coming to
or going from their work will be re-
placed by non drinking men as rapidly
as possible" Another blow to liberty!
The Philadelphia Quartz Company
has served notice that total abstainers
will receive ten per cent more wages
| than those who continue to exercise
their personal liberty in patronizing
the rum shop.
The frenzied utterances against
licensed and lawful business from
IRENE to all sane and conservative
minds. The general superintendent of
the Berwick plant. w. S. Johnson,
said. I'VE did not realize until the
last three months that the drink habit
was responsible for lot of our acct
dents" A car manufactures said.
1--WE know now that the most Of our
accidents are due to whiskey." The
same man, in one of his widest mo-
ments, declared. Take it from me,
booze has got to go. We are not much
interested in the moral side of the mat
ter as such. 1t is purely matter of
dollars and cents. They say corpora
tons have no souls From this time
forth corporations are going to show
mighty little soul toward the man
who drinks" Think of such intoler-
ance of spirit in America of the twen
tieth century.
The devilish ingenuity of these cor
poration fanatics in piling up what
they call evidence against the traffic
is enough to make the angels watching
over the saloon dissolve in tears. They
solelnnly declare that Monday follow
ing the weekly day of rest, with its
usual indulgence in liquor, is the dread
ed day of disaster in the mills They
have gotten out charts showing the
curve of accidents for every day. The
peak" shows that 10 o'clock in the
forenoon and in the afternoon, just
long enough for drink to produce it's
effects after the morning and noon
drains, are the dangerous hours for
men and machines. Further they
claim that rigid investigation by
unbiased experts as to the cause of
accidents in scientifically managed
plants, have unfailingly traced the
blame to operators visiting nearby
saloons during the lunch hour, or slip
ping out across sthe alley during an
idle moment. What great industry,
necessary to the prosperity of the
country, will be able to withstand the
suspicion and antagonism generated
by such statements from such sources?
European War increases Prohibition.
This contagion of fanaticism has
broken out across the seas. AS every
one knows, much of the sweetness and
light of Russian peasant life has been
due to vodka, the national drink. AT
the beginning of hostilities the Govern
ment. prohibited it's sale as a war
measure. Now, claiming a marvellous
ly improved condition since the order
went into effect, the announcement is
made that the tyrannous edict will be
continued indefinitely after the end of
the war. 1t is declared that the start
ling regeneration Of the peasantry Is
likely to have an important effect on
the social and economic conditions in
Russia. We have heard much of the
horrors of war, but who would have
imagined that it would bring anything
like this?
The great leaders in the continental
struggle all seem possessed of certain
fanaticism in this matter. The Car
has earnestly warned his soldiers
against the use Of liquor. The German
Kaiser has issued drastic orders against
excessive drinking among his men.
Lord Kitchener sent his British troops
oversee with an earnest warning
against the dangers of drink. In many
of the English towns they are closing
the public houses, thus depriving the
soldiers of source of courage and the
bereaved of source of comfort. OF
course, we cannot throw stones. Just
as soon as crisis occurs here such as
disaster in San Francisco, strike
in Colorado, flood in the Mississippi
some fanatic with a little brief author-
ity closes the saloons by force. 1t is
little wonder if the people at large
come to the belief that what may be
done in times of danger may also be
advantageous in times Of peace and
prosperity.
Prohibition in the Realm of Athletics.
Philadelphia is the headquarters of
one of the most dangerous prohibition
fanatics. He is known all over the
country as Connie Mack, the manager
of the Athletic baseball team of the