The American issue. [volume] (Westerville, Ohio) 1912-19??, 1920-07-30

WHICH III FORMER years 100 often dis
appeared into the stained saw-dust
behind the twin doors.
Labor Earns More
MANY will state that this saving is
due to the fact that the average man
is earning much more this year than
he did before Prohibition went into
effect. This is true, the banker ex-
planned, but pays are only OF
comparative valuc-their worth is
judged by what they arc able to pur-
chase. In relation, then, to the cost
OF living today the average pay of
today is no greater than the pay of
former years when the cost of living
was figured out in much smaller fig
ures. In former years, when prices
were low, pays were low, and saw
ings were low-where the surplus
went for the qualification of the
earner's appetite for drink. In these
days prices are high, so are wages,
and the surplus has increased cor
respondingly. But the reporter was
shown, the surplus is handled in
different way than before Prohibition
came into effect One of the chief
avenues Of escape has been COM
pletely blocked; the cornered' sur
plus partly goes out through other
gates-legitimatcly spendng--and the
rest has found new gate, the saw
ings bank
Business Depression and Empty Stores
Business depression and vacant
buildngs-this was another cry of
the alarmist during the interment of
John.
The person who can find many va
cant buildings in Streator is some
one whom many would-be renters is
trying to find. One need q " take a
trip down Main street and he will see
this so-caled avenue of vacant
stores There is not a vacant store
on Main street, unless it may be some
dilapdated place awaiting the day
when it shall be torn down to give
place TO modern structure. All the
buildings vacated by the saloons in
the business district have been taken
over by other businesses, or have been
continued as housing quarters for
soft drink parlors and lunch counters.
Swinging doors are missing; they are
needed no more. In outlying ditricts
few of the buildings are vacant,
but the most of them have been taken
over by other forms of business And
the loss in rents of those few vacant
places is practically down to the zero
mark, when compared with the in
crease in the money traffic made pos
sible through the new places.
"Over a dozen new store fronts, inn
provements on the interior, nearly
that many new stores, several new
buildings, new theatre under way,
real estate business booming, mer-
chants enjoying an unheard of busi-
ness, imports increased several hum
dred per cent, export of local articles
on a similar increase-this is the
business depression that was feared"
Business Mans Testimony
The reporter quotes a Streator
business man as follows:
Il think that / can state off-hand
that Prohibition has brought cash
sales up fifty per cent, and has estab-
iishcd credit system that is that
much more efficient In former years
often had customers come to me
who would beg off from paying
their bills, stating that they had more
urgent debts to attend to. | knew
what those urgent debts were. They
were, in many cases, saloon bills. A
man would neglect his grocery or
clothing bill to pay a saloon-keeper--
if he didn't he would be cut off They
are better dressed; they buy better
things; they are enjoying life more:
the relation between the customer and
the merchant has entered onto
basis of clearer understanding in
which the one realizes the true p,r-