Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1916-02-25
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Concrete Results of Pro-

hiDition IN RuSSi c
Although Alexander II of Russia is
known as the Liberator Car because
he brought about the emancipation OF
serfs, in a far deeper and broader
sense the title belongs to Nicholas
II. for he has accomplished the free
dom of a whole nation from it's great
est foe, vodka, which was proving
disastrous to Russian character anC
the foundations of Russian govern
ment. The changes wrought by the
prohibition of vodka affect every de
partment of the life Of the citizenry
Among other benefits are the follow
ing given by Professor j. Y. Simp
son in the British Weekly:
Fires Statistics of the Zemstvc
County CounciD Insurance Bureaux
go to show that for all the govern
ments of Russia there was during the
first three months of the war a
diminution of AZ per cent in the
number of fires, and of Sc per cent
in the amount of damage done.
"Crime-In all Russia crime dimin-
ished during the first three months
of the war by twenty-five per cent.
In certain areas the percentage was
much higher Thus, during the
first four months of the war in GER
o. Iict1.iatc Of rnU
ment correction cases showed a
diminution of twenty-nine per cent
and for disorders or more serious
crimes the reduction varied from
fifty-one to seventy-six per cent.
'Insanity-Court physician reports
that cases of insanity have markedly
diminished during the war, and that
amongst the troops there is only OF
OPS per thousand. During the Jap
anese war the rate was very high.
"Accidents-In the largest hospi-
tai in Petrograd the diminution in
traumatic cases after prohibition may
be seen from the following figures:
August 1912, 1871 cases; August, 1914
80 cases.
'This type of result may be sup
plemented by many others, showing
the enhanced Well-being that has
followed in the wake of the Danish
ment of vodka The price of labor
has gone up in a very remarkable
manner. Before the war the pay Of
an unskilled laborer was 80 kopecks
a day in Petrograd; now it is l
rouble 65 kopecks. The skilled ar
tisan gets 81a roubles as against
about 8 Several causes have, Of
course, combined to produce this re-
suit, but the principal cause is the
simple fact that the laboring classes
are all richer as the result of the
vodka prohibition They don't need
money SO much, and it takes greater
inducements to make them work.
Previously, what little they got was
spent, at once on vodka, and they
had to work on any terms for more.
I'm turn, throughout the different
governments, the peasant banks are
full of money, loans have been paid
off, and agricultural implements pur-
chased on the installment plan have
been bought outright. Having sup
piled themselves with gramophones
and watches and new clothes, the
peasants now employ their money
more productivity, in buying land
and even securities, or starting little
businesses. One hundred million
roubles per month used to be spent
on vodka; today it remains in the
economy of peasant life. On all
hands, the people demand that it
shall be banished forever. The last
speech l heard in the Duma was that
of peasant delegate insisting that
the permanent prohibition Of vodka
be embodied in legal enactment