Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-02-14
POWER OF NATION
GREATLY AIDED BY PROHIBITION
Babson Notes Marked Cut i'm Manufacturing Costs
and Urges Business Men 10 Be More Active in Keep
ing Facts Before Rising Generation.
BY ROGER w. BABSON.

By ROGER w. BABSON.
BABSON PARK, Fla, February 10.
Both friends and enemies of prohibi-
ton must agree that the increased pur-
chasing power of the masses, which
has been so general since the war. is
largely due to prohibition. Increased
wages are not responsible for this in
creased purchasing power, because
higher wages mean higher prices and
do not materially affect the volume Of
goods purchased. When, however,
man takes money formerly thrown
away on harmful drink and uses it for
buying home, an automobile or any
other merchandise, he is greatly aiding
all legitimate industry. This means
that at least a billion dollars formerly
spent in saloons each year. and from
which only the brewers benefited, have
gone into new buildings, automobiles
and the hundreds of other lines which
have expanded so rapidly since pro
hibftion went into effect.
Lower Costs Benefit All.
If whisky and beer did no harm they
might be claSSed by economists with
other luxuries such as fur coats and
radio sets. An impartial examination
of the situation, however. shows there
TO be q great ence-economically
as well as morally-between a luxury
like radio set, that does no real
| harm. and n luxury like beer. which
has ruined SO many. Intemperance
| has not only raised havoc with mil
| lions of individuals, but every manu-
! facturer knows what II has cost gen
| eral industry. Although drinking may
/ have increased among students and
! the Wouldbe smart set, il has cea Sed
to be harmful factor in the manufac-
turing and business world. Blue Mon
| days no longer exist in our mills and
factories and liquor Is tabooed at all
| respectable business mems gatherings.
| The saloon has given way to the chain
| grocery store. Hence. prohibition has
not only increased purchasing power
but 1t has reduced manufacturing and
distributing costs, from which every
one is greatly beneflting today.
Great Business Stimulant.
Even enemies of law enforcement
| admit that prohibition was perhaps
the greatest factor in causing the
great upward movement in the nor
NAL business line as indicated by The
Babson chart. They claim, however
that 1t was simply a stimulant oil
| something which could be used only
once, and that prohibition has Nc
statistics would show such conclu
sions to be absolutely wrong. The eff
feet of prohibition on stimulating
business is as great today as ever
and Furthermore is cumulative in its
effects. ] say this because a large pro
portion of the money heretofore ex
pended for drink is not now going into
things which can be classed as luxur
les, but rather, into homes, life inSur
inp h1 MI r1fG
other forms of investment.
Such money is productive and is
doubling every Il to 10 years. There
is probably no one factor which would
more quickly bring about a business
panic and period of unemployment
as n notification by legislation o.
prohibition and a return TO the saloOr
with its accompanying poverty anC
disease.
Issue Bigger Than Business.
Yet. it must be recognized tina
prohibition of itself is of no account
Maine had prohibition according tC
law about % years ago, when | was
young man and used to travel the
State of Maine selling bonds. Al
though there We're no open saloons II
Maine in those days, drunkenness was
quite prevalent. Prohibition without
less and law enforcement without
public sentiment to back it up is i'm
possible. Hence, the problem toda!
is to create i public sentiment as e
the dangers of drinking and the i'm
portance of temperance Only as mel
+, and women and boys ana girls fee
this in their hearts can an effective
public sentiment for law enforcement
, be developed. SO long as respectable
| a
gatherings. they automatically be
come aligned with the bootlegger
and against those who are workin:
for the best interests of the com
munity On the other hand, thu
hearts of people cannot be won o
changed by talking merely of th'
! good economic effects of prohibition
and its relations TO prosperity. TIL.
moral issue at stake must be empha
sized; in fact, if a deep moral question
were not involved, there would be NJ
justification for adding the prohibition
amendment to the Constitution. Ger
tainly, l never would have voted fol
this amendment merely TO make bust
ness good.
Greater Interest Urged.
4 In view of the above statement
) bankers, business men and investors
J must be interested in studying the
} difficulties of the present situation
} and the real solution to the problem
AS a statistician views 1t. today's diff
} Guilty is that temperance workers
churches, school teachers and parents
thought that by getting the Consti
tuition amended their troubles anC
need of training the young people
} would be over-that is, they saw {
chance to turn their own jobs, which
had required a lot of time, care ane
nervous energy, over to the Govern
, ment. These people had become tired
of the constant fight necessary t.
THE YEAR 1926 TO
INCTON STO(