One Law, Two Results

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 30, 1908

One Law, Two Results

THE affinity between tobacco and liquor is being well illustrated in Georgia at the present time. A traveling salesman for a large tobacco firm, who is also a tobacco dealer in Augusta, Ga., states that “since the State prohibition law has gone into effect, the jobbing sale of cigars has decreased forty per cent. When asked for the reason for the falling off in cigar sales, he said:—

The closing of the bar-rooms caused a tremendous decrease, since many a man who smoked when he went into a saloon would not otherwise do so. You see it is this way: When there were saloons, men would congregate in them in groups, and enjoy a few drinks; then all would light up their cigars. Then they would probably fill up their pockets for sociability’s sake. Cigar drummers have stopped coming to Georgia, and until there is a change in the present conditions, there will be still fewer cigars sold.

Thus, while prohibiting the sale of liquor, the law acts also as a real deterrent to the wasting of money for tobacco; and further, it is a recognized fact that a decrease in the use of tobacco will cause a corresponding decrease in the thirst for liquor. Thus two good results are accomplished by one good law.