The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-09-18

lpetitioned for an election Mr.. Hous-
ton was sick In bed He arose, wen.
to court. and protested and threatened
to employ a corps OF detectives 10 us
cover any of his men who ireautHteo
saloons The saloon was not lasteneu
/ on Gainesville again. Mr. Houston
was not A preacher; he was not an
/ old woman, he was not temporary
| fanatic Like you he was haru
| headed business man who had coitte "
recognize that the saloon was an ecu
monte menace in his town.
| The vice-president of one or the iats
| est iron works in Pittsburg saia .ha'
his company could have aHoraeo ~
! nav it's employees a quarter million DOL
| lars more during Billy Sundays stay
| In Pfttsburg. man said: Reilsio.,
does you some good. then no. saiu
| the iron man. 1T isn't question ~
| religion except that religion bronght
Billy Sunday to town, but during his
stay the iahoripg people got on .ne
water wagon, and their increased EN-
rsencv I'm the output of the plant in
that time was worth a quarter MIL
lion dollars"
so,ne time ago I'm n Cleveland steel
| foundry, a man was kiiieu. ai'+
Thomas West, It's manager, sain thal
| a scientist was sent for to inVesA9ate
/ the cause Of the calamity. rms is the
rule of the foundry. He went through
the works carefully, pronounced the
machinery as safe as any he had seen.
( The sunerintandents were competent.
/ Not being able to find the cause on the
inside he went on the outside ana
| found a saloon near the foandry. ne
! discovered that the man had been IN
! three times that morning de went 10
! work with his brain befuddled ms
hand unsteady, a Wild shrek. Froan
Vas heard. and they pulled him out OF
the machinery piece by piece. 80"
Mr. West wants to know II II If
/ fair thing FOR the state TO fasten this
institution on people and then demand
indemnity for accidents Is II quite
fair to license the process and then
hold the plant responsible for the
product?
The Pennsylvania railroad has 125,-
j 900 employees. They used to pay them
4 in checks, but now they pay them IN
currency. Sometimes the men had diffi-
Guilty in getting the checks cashed. ex
cent at saloon. The PENNSYLVANIA
( railroad saw that this reduced their
: efficiency They employ spoilers, and
while thousands of men are sighted,
few are found guilty of violating their
contract.
The PENNSYLVANIA railroad Is deter
syIvanfa railroad is not an old woman,
IL Is not a preacher. It Is not tenn
= uerauce fanatic It's hard~headed
business corporation. Whether corpor-
! ations have souls or not, they nave
/ heads, and they eliminate that which
Ereduces efficiency.
i Questions eighteen and nineteen of
the contract Of the Norfolk and Western
: railroad with Its employees require that
a. INT
thev shall not frequent places where
traffic Is an asset why this item? The
iouor Is sold. and that they shall
use their influence to ker others AWAY
from these places. But II the liquor
Norfolk and Western railway main
! tains Y NJ. G.. A. for it's men. II
increases their efficiency. Why not do
the same for the saloon II it's an
economic asset
4 Political Consideration.
I pemosthenes once said: 1t Is i'm
POSSIBLE for men engaged TN low and
! grovell pursuits TO entertain gem
erous sentiments Is 1t possible for
/ people in the saloon traffic to know
I anything of patriotism? Some wears
ago a circular of the Wholesale Liquor
{, Dealers association gave expression to
their political activity In Washington
and named the bills they have been able
/ l
burn Dolliver prohibition bin. The
+ McCumber substitute bill. The Pure
Food bill, with certain liquor restric-
tons Is that patriotic procedure? The
| Wine and Spirit Gazette said the liquor
| interests can make and unmake ma
! torities. That seems about true. They
/ have unlimited means. But they some
/ times fail. Yet even in such cases
they seem to be able to unmake ma
~Alr al
/ by as fair an election as was ever had
i In Virginia The judge admitted that
the number of irregular votes cast was
/! not sufficient to make 1t invalid. but
the election was set aside. Yes, l am
/ opposed to the liquor traff1c because
I IL can unmake majorities. l am OPP
/ posed to It because wherever II is
i deeply entreenched there graft and bad
government Is deeply entrenched. Elk
/! Governor Chamberlain said that the
/ average saioonkeeper has no politics
/ He will be a rampant Republican today
| and a roaring Democrat tomorrow,
1 just as may promote his interest. His
politics may be said to consist In the
! unrastrained right to sell one cents
! worth of beer for five cents. and two
/ cents worth of whiskey for ten cents
| No other question In politics interests
| them besides this,
| while living In Roanoke I asked
| Judges Woods, Harrison and Jackson
what percentage of crime was due TO
the liquor traffic? Their replies ranged
from So to 20 per cent
The prosecuting attorney OF Chicago
| testifes that three -fonrths of the crime
of Chicago is due to liquor, Mayor
| Nichols. of wiikesbarre. said, 1000
cases came before me In seven years.
/ 30 per cent due TO drink"