Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1870-02-11
THE ExPENsE on TIPPLING.

Ho'o Much Il Costs jo1 the Daily Snifsr of
The Topper
Why Is it that 20 many of the
families Of the laboring men in our towns
and cities live in such poor, beggarly way,
in SO many damp, dark easements, and up
in such close, confined, rickety old attics ?
Many of the heads Of these families receive
good wages, and get their pay every week
or month regularly. But where, in many
cases, do their wages go? Not to the bank
er, the grocer, the butcher, the merchant.
they 90 for strong drink, and beer which DO
not strengthen the physical man. Franklin
taught the printers Of London that cold
water was better than ale; and cold water
has lost none Of its virtues in 40 years.
The cost Of tipping Is in the aggregate
enormous. The inquiry Is often made, how
are 50 many drinking houses sustained
Let US see. Twenty men, at 30cents a day,
will pay one Of the tipping shops" $2,l9O
a gear. A man who pays 80 cents a day for
drinks pays $l09 so year. This is the
interest on s1,564 at seven per cent, at
simple interest This sum, so cents day.
amounts in ten years to Sl,l7l q5' All this
Is wasted, paid out for an enemy that
steals away man brains, and robs him
and bis family Of every comfort. Intoxica-
ting liquors give neither strength to the
body, vigor to the mind, resolution to the
win, elevation to morals, nor dignity TO
character. Strong drink drags man down
from bis high estate, depraves all his ap-
petites, and leaves him in want and misery,
the mere wreck and semblauce Of man.
: The constant use Of intoxicating liquors
makes hard times for many a man; thus. a
family Of FIVE persons will consume four
barrels Of -four a year, or 1856 pounds Of
bread. This Is nearly three pounds day
Good -four can be bought now at s. barrel;
four times seven makes $2s; and thirty
cents day for drinks is $l09 50, or $SI so
more per year than the bread for family Ct
Eve persons costs. But, says \, 4 only
take two drinks day. Very well, you pay
then for your drinks S73 year. only $45
more than you pay for the bread consumed
By your whole family, if it contains five per-
sons. This sum would provide tea and
coffee for them.
Here, then, We see that the man who
pays twenty cents day for liquor spends a
sum sufficient to supply his family With
bread, tea and coffee for the year. Is il
strange that times are hard, aud men com
plain of the government, an3 charge that it
oppresses them with onerous taxes? The
above figures show how men tax themselves,
and hos they tax property. too.
In 1868, the Inebriats Asylum cost the
taxpayers of this city sl+4,472 20. While
the amount of money paid by the city for
four for all its hospitals, asylums, and for
the relief of the poor, was only Sl02, 573 IS.
The outdoor poor cost the city, in 1868,
sI2a, ,a39 ca How much Of this could he
charged to intemperance?
The number of persons committed to the
workhouse in this city, in 1865, was Is, 7SS.
The Commissioners say, "a considerable
proportion of the committals is for intoxica-
tion. The police stations, the prisons,
tie aims houses. the penitentiaTy, the
miserable homes, all tell Of the work Of IN
temperance. 1t is the great curse of the
laud-it feeds upon the wages Of labor, and
ike the horse leeeh S daughter, 1T cries
give, give, until all is gone Of health, char
acter, liie-Neso Io,k Epeatng Post.