El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-05-22
PROHIBITION 4
UNION MENACE
Bartenders' President Tells
Unions to Fight "Pro-
hibition Germ"

That the germ Of prohibition" was
rapidly spreading and that organized
labor should assist in stemming the tide
so that members Of the Bartenders' Al
lance and the Hotel and Restaurant
Employees union would not be thrown
out of work. was the declaration of
Edward Flore, president of the two
international unions, in the course al
an address Friday night at Union Labor
hail. Mr. FlOre arrived here Thursday
and left late Friday night to attend a
convention at San Francisco.
FL PasO is a wonderful city" said
Mr. Flore. I, too, live on the border
the Canadian border. I am pleased TO
say that we up there can cross the line
with a great deal more comfort and
1eellng OF safety than you here can And
realize. in this connection. that the
competition Of that class Of persons
has undoubtedly retarded the progress
of union labor in FL PGso.
Fight Prohibition.
While other unions have to combat
trusts and huge combinations, We OF the
bartenders' union and the Hotel and
Restaurant Employees union have an
equally hard fight in combating prOhf-
Dltion- We must confess that the spread
OF the prohibition movement in the Ia st
few years has driven many Of our
members out Of work But il has not
only affected our unions; directly or in
directly it has affected every labor or
ganization. This brings about the re-
suit that all are interested in the fu-
ture Of the liquor industry.
Magnitude OF Movement.
There are many who do not yet re-
alize the magnitude of the prohibition
movement, and still feel that, il they
are allowed to handle beverages. that
everything is all right. But the prohi-
bition germ is spreading and I want to
impress upon you that there is no part
of this country that is immune from it,.
Texas is still fortunate enough to be
in the wet column. but in few
months the same bitter fight VIII come
Up again. We want our organization to
be so perfected that il can 90 TO the
workers and ask them for their sup
port OF our business.
Campaign Of Education.
There are now IS states that are in
the dry column or have voted to 90 dry
This may appear to some as an incident
Of the prohibition craze but, instead OF
receding. the movement is spreading
What is needed is campaign of edu-
cation so that the people can be told
Of the hypocrisy Of the prohibition
movement, else more states viii go in
the dry column. II prohibition pro-
hibited, then I would say that prOhi-
bitionists were at least consistent in
their views, but such is not the case
Des MOines Incident.
Il had the sad misfortune to be in
Les 14QAltS WnEn the saloons were
closed The saloons were Of the finest,
perfectly equipped The conditions in
the trade were ideal: the bar boys were
drawing down minimum Of $3.50 a
week and everyone Of them were gen
tlemen- In four days every saloon was
closed The large hotels closed their
grill rooms and cut down their staffs.
More than 500 workers were thrown
out Of employment
Z earnestly hope that the workers
here v i'll work in harmony and allow
Texas and the city Of FL Paso to remain
in the wet column for a long time to
come"