The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-02-28

for the money? Surprising you tooh I
the s120 and bought furniture with II
4 You would give more work to men In
making the furniture than II you had
spent the money for booze, wouldnl
your"
Sam--"Yes. | suppose that In true"
I John Surprising after you had the
furniture paid for you took 1t out IN
the back lot and burned it up. You
! would have just as much left as after
you paid your bar bill, wouldn't you7'
Sam--"Well, yes. / suppose
would"
John-"But you have employed
labor. haven't your
Sam-"Yes."
John--"Weli, then wouldn't II be q
good thing to buy furniture and after
you get 1t paid for burn 1t up and
buy another set in order to employ
labor?"
Sam-"Weil, that Is true. 1t would
employ labor. but why not keep the
furniture and buy something else In
order to employ labor?"
John-"Exactly. When you buy $40
worth of furniture you have not only
employed more labor than In making
$3.50 worth of booze. but you have
added $3.50 worth of property for
yourself, and the next year yau can
buy piano and employ more labor
and at the same time at the end OF the
year you will be richer by the worth
OF the piano and year by year you will
90 on employing. labor on the one
hand and accommodating property on
the other hand. You win do labor
more good by buying the real property
and at the same time you will grad
ually become better off yourself"
! Sam--"Yes, that is SO. While IL !
] buy booze 1 am growing poorer all the
| time myself"
| John-"Exactly. The brewer Ia liv-
ing on the fat OF the land and we are
| paying his bills. He has not given III
a thing of any value"
Sam-''That is so. 1t would really
! be better IL we took around our
money every month and paid him
enough to support him and did not
take any of the stuff he has to sell.
SO he is really vampire sucking up
our money and giving absolutely moth
ing OF value In return for 1t. Why.
II happen to think, l saw Brown rid
Ing by the other day with his wife
and children in a big automobile and
/ I have been a big enaugh fool to give
/ him my money to spend on luxurtes.
! am not going to do 1t any longer. !
was twisted little bit by that whiskey
/ orators statement about men being
| thrown out Of Jobs, but see the whole
thing now--they would get better
(, job and not only that--there would
be more work and better wages for.
everybody. But here, hold on, there
! Ia another point. What about my
! personal liberty to drink? Prohibition
will take away my personal liberty.
| John--"See here. Sam, you are too
sensible man to be caught by any
such appeal to your preJudices; that is
q scarescrow put out by the wet ora
tors to bolster up the liquor business.
What they want is personal liberty to
sell booze-they care nothing about
your nor my personal liberty Men
living together in thickly settled
communities have to give up many OF
their personal liberties in order to
maintain civil liberty under which
there Is real liberty and without which
there Ia no liberty. We can both think
of many thing we have to give up In
this community for the benefit OF
j everybody In IL, including ourselves"
| Sam-"Do you mean / should give
up drinking because some fellows
make fools OF themselves? II you and
| I sit down and have quiet drink
and then go about our business. whose
/ affair Is it?''
John--"It Is not on account OF the
fellows who make fools OF themselves
that have concluded TO give up drink.
but Il is on account of their families
and on account Of the young boys
coming along that the saloon deceivee
and that are led away by tt. DID you
ever stop to think, Sam, that in order
to accommodate you and me with n
occasional drink we permit the whole
liquor traffic to go on and while we are
havingour. quiet drink, the saloon -
doing a great deal OF DAMAGE ! for
o.-e would rather give up the pleasure
get out of my occasional drink
than to see even one women and her
little children suffe.' needlessly and u
is not only one but tens of thousands
OF them. Drink doesn't taste good
enough to me for that and am going
to give II MP not necessarily because
of the fellows that cannot control
themselves, but because of the suffer-
ing OF the innocent and helpless: be-
cause OF the drinkers lack OF con-
troll. and. too, as / said because OF
the boys that are coming after US
SAINT believe you are right. IL
would be a mighty selfish fellow that
would continue to drink and keep the
whole liquor traffic going Which, there
In SO much suffering caused by II.
After all. the personal liberty plea -
only bait to catch suckers for the benz
EFT of the liquor traffic."
John--'Let's agree to spend our
money where our wives and kids en-
iov II. too. Let's be good fellows with
our kin instead of our friends. Treat
the wife instead of the barkeeper
Sam-"rm with you. John. Here
goes my vote for prohibition"