"'Go ahead,' I said.
"'How, then, Mr. Speaker, do you explain the unequal distribution of wealth?' was his question.
"When I answered him with, 'In the same way that I explain the unequal distribution of whiskers,' bedlam broke loose.
"As soon as I could get quiet restored, I said: 'Now don't think I returned the answer I did to make fun of your whiskers. You will observe that I have no whiskers, as I dissipate them by shaving them off. Nature gives me abundance of whiskers, and, if I conserved them as you do, I also should be abundantly supplied. Now, it is the same way with money. The man who conserves his money has more than his share, as with whiskers; while the man who dissipates his money is without his allotment.'"
Exercise 190—The Semicolon (;)
The semicolon is used between the propositions of a compound sentence when no coördinate conjunction is used. (See [Exercise 176], 2.)
It is not work that kills men; it is worry.
It is important not to overdo this use of the semicolon. Do not use it unless the two principal clauses of the sentence taken together easily form one idea.
Especial care must be taken not to confuse coördinate conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs. The following are conjunctive adverbs: then, therefore, consequently, moreover, however, so, also, besides, thus, still, otherwise, accordingly. When they are used to join principal clauses, they should be preceded by a coördinate conjunction or a semicolon; as,
Fruit was plentiful, and therefore the price was low.
Fruit was plentiful; therefore the price was low.