Narcotics 389 



ham, Alabama), on the same day in October, 1907, that the 

 height of a panic was arrived at by the suspension of a trust 

 company and the adoption of clearing house regulations restricting 

 all drawing on private accounts to $100 at any one time. This 

 is a mining and manufacturing community, and more than half 

 the blast furnaces in the district shut down, throwing thousands 

 of miners out of work. 



"The Bessemer Company had, for two or three years pre- 

 vious to the panic, been selling large numbers of lots to the 

 miners on the installment plan, payments running over ten years. 

 Notwithstanding the panic and the number of men out of em- 

 ployment, installment payments were better met under a condi- 

 tion of panic plus prohibition than they had been with high 

 wages and full work plus liquor. This showed in a remarkable way 

 the greater efficiency of sober men in the matter of wage earning. 



"A real estate firm told me that their experience in collecting 

 rents was similar : Namely, that under panic plus prohibition they 

 collected their rents vastly better than under the condition of 

 luxury plus liquor." 



Dr. Alexander Fleisher, who has made a special study of this 

 matter, says : "We have returns from the employers of 750,000 

 individuals ; this is four per cent of those engaged in trade, trans- 

 portation, and the mechanical and manufacturing industries of 

 the United States. These employers forbid alcohol in their plants ; 

 in many instances its use is considered in the promotion and 

 retention of employees; its use at any time is prohibited in such 

 industries as transportation, and this practice is being followed 

 by some industrial establishments. 



"This analysis indicates that a number of employers are mak- 

 ing up their minds on the use of alcohol by their employees. By 

 whatever reasoning they are arriving at their conclusion whether 

 they feel it is in the interest of the public, of the employee, or of 

 good business they seem to be taking a stand against the man 

 who uses alcohol. They are not considering the intricate questions 

 of the effects of alcohol on the mind and body these preliminaries 

 have been ignored ; they find the non-drinker the more satisfactory 

 employee." 



