Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-07-11

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/ chosen.
woeful extravaganza It is possible. in
! Petrograd and Moscow, for instance,
where the ban, even on wines, is
strict, to purchase wines in certain
hotels, but they may be served only in
private dining rooms, and the privi-
/ leges enjoyed by these institutions are
frequently interrupted by the police
for some infraction of the restrictive
rules.
One of the most noticeable results
Of the almost complete suppression of
vodka naturally is the disappearance
from the streets and other public
places of intoxicated persons They
have become so rare as to be more or
less novelty. People observe such in
a spirit of curious surprise doubtless
the impulse among the majority being
to wonder how he managed it. This
state of affairs offers a remarkable
contrast to the ante-bellum condition
when drunkenness among the lower
classes Of society presented a most
serious problem. 1t is a well-estab-
lished fact that each one of the sixty
odd holidays, irrespective of Sundays,
when business houses and factories
close their doors, used to mean a Grip
ping of business activity on the fol-
lowing day and often for two succeed
ing days because Of the sprees which
attend the holiday celebrations. It is
said that the saving to the working
men in this respect alone runs into
prOdigiOus figures. In one factory in
the TuIa government employing 1000
men, there were 600 lost working days
in three months during 1914. For the
same months in 1916 these were re-
duced to AZ.
The earning capacity of the people
appears to have OUtStripped the ad-
vance in the cost of living with the
result that savings deposits have
mounted up to an almost unbelievable
extent. The peasant is living better
than he ever did before and he is ac-
quiring a self-respect which he never
possessed in the Id days Of vodka
domination.
Among the benefits observed by an
independent investigator, A l. FaresOv,
who recently travelled through a num-
Der of the central gOvernm ents, are:
a noteworthy falling off in the num-
Der of domestic rows; d lighter and
more hopeful spirit among the people;
a decrease in arrears of taxes; fields
better titled and a growing demand for
agricultural machinery; a decrease in
in the charity hospitals and |
other Institutions; and a decrease in
crimes and in the number Of beggars. |
to this investigator, the
peasant, instead of feeling that he has
suffered an injury by the abolition of
vodka, is grateful for having had a
removed which he knew he /
himself was pOweTless to resist. The i
emperor is reverently referred to as
Nicholas the Temperate" a peasant /
is quoted as saying: We have now !
one common enemy-the Germans; |
formerly every man was his own (
enemy" A director of a glass factory /
in Moscow said that so years more of I
would have lost to the /
Russian people all capacity for resist /
ance and the nation would have fallen .
an easy prey to Germany.
A typical example of the reconstruc-
ton in progress is to be found among
the Ostyaks, a large population in /
eastern Siberia in the governments /
Of Tomsk and ToboIsk, whose chief
is rapping and fishing For
nerly they fell easy prey to traders
who filled them with vodka and
irove sharp bargains for their pro
iucts. Many branches of this people
we're gradually becoming extinct from
excessive use Of alcohol. Today they
ire said to be completely revolution
zed Instead of easy victims, they
ire becoming clever bargainers them
selves who know how to get full value
or their furs and fish
That drunkenness still exists and
hat many substitutes for vodka are
cannot be denied By com
,arison however, the evasions of the
decree are negligible
,Olognes, cosmetics and even varnish-
s are submitted to processes whereby
he alcohol in their composition is
attracted for consumption; but the
xtent of this practice is barely com
'arabIe with the blind pig" and drug
tore abuses pTaCticed in American
Prohibition communities Illicit manu-
acturers are constantly bounded by
he police so that the practice has fail
d to assume proportions.
The vacuum left in the lives Of
ormer vodka consumers is gradually
eing filled through the establishment
4 towns and rural districts Of ma
ondy doms" peoples houses) where
and moving picture pro
uctions are becoming popular forms
amusement Lecturers are also be
lg sent out by associations which
re working for the betterment of the
eople The Duma has voted 900 900
ubles $500. 000) TO promote temper
nee work by city councils, the church
nd other organizations. Card play
IL is reported to be on the increase.
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