The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1915-02-25
An Economical
Deficit.


The current Saturday Evening Post
carries an interesting account Of "A
Nation on The Water Wagon. "a
story OF the Russian nation which, in
4 day. wiped out the sale OF vodka, the
national drink. aud destroyed rev
enue Of thousand millions rubles.
Tho writer In the Saturday Evening
Post. who visited the Russian prime
minister and the Minister Of Finance
in order to find out how this great de-
fIcit would be made up. tells an inter-
esting story, from which this excerpt
was taken:
wen, Is the nation troubled at all
essayed again, "as to what Is going
to become of it financially"
mot at ALL" he answered; mot at
an. ii isn't as though IL had to raise
more money than II was Obliged to
have before. We need only the same
sum. and',--he was about to administer
the body blow to infemperancewe
find that we have It In the renewed
vigor and resourcefuIness and work =
ing capacity OF our people. Before.
when we derived our revenue FROM
vodka, It was as though we were for
ever drawing out, drawing eut"-he
made q geEture as though milking q
cow ~thc vitality OF the Russian
people. Now. at the end Of two
montha OF temperance. we seem to be
taking merely the interest on their
stored-up strength and resourceful-
ness.
He became more specific:
When we sold vodka the people were
roor. They stimulated themselves
with an artificial strength to work for
a FEW kopeclxs with which they bought
more III the fuel for renewing the ar
tiflcial strength. The fuel, of course,
was vodka. Though the money for
me -a<lnk. went into the treasury, the
human machine which made that
money becama weaker and weaker So
the nation was really cutting OFF its
revenue at the source.
In coal regionA we have sent thirty
pcr cent OF the male inhabitants to
the war, and yet the output Of work Is
NOT what II was before. but greater
by thirty per cent. because everybody
~ sober. have received delegations
OF former drinkers. and their wives and
families. thanking the government for
the new conditions and asking that
they continue. Heads OF large concerns
employing labor have said they would
pay In cold cash the sums that were
necessary to cover the deficit in -ev-
enue. and could afford the money easily
from the larger incomes they derived
xtA la os.. re 49,, uxfl n No t.{fxy
OF their employees.
Delegations have come from em y
iloyers ali over Russia asking that we
never again sell vodka Shops that
formerly shut down on Mondays be-
cause none OF the hands were sober
enough to be present are now putting
out more work than before the war de-
cimated their staffs The question
of the thousand million rubles win
take care OF itself naturally"
whenever the question OF nation
wide prohibition has come before any
feople heretofore, the cry has gone up
that the loss OF the enormous revenue
from the sale OF intoxicants would ruin
the country Yet Russia's chief gov
ernmental revenue was vodka, and It
was taken away in time OF war.a
time when. as never before, nation
needs protection financially. Yet no
less a person than the Minister OF FL
nance says:
1T is the Cars wish and command
that his people shall not drin.-. now
ar in the future We have seen the
results OF this beneficent order in two
or three months. but we have not yet
finished with the enemy"-he caught
himself--"I mean with our real enemy"
He smiled and showed no trace OF
contemptuousness 1T is not the Ger
mans; they are nothing beside our big
foe, which has been alcohol"