The Portland daily press., 1870-12-01
DAILY PRESS.
NE.
Thursday Morning, D cembsr I. 1870


AAuIsuay morning, u cemhsf !, 1871
Prshibislsu.
wish to show before conclude these ar
ticles, that Prohibition Of the liquor traffic is
in the highest interest Of the trade, business,
prosperity and accumulating wealth of the
country as it is in that Of its peace, and the
the comfort and happiness OF the people.
Every branch OF legitimate trade has d.
rect pecuniary interest in. the absolute sup
preston of the rum tradic. There IS no In
dustry whatever in the country, whether Of
head or hand, that does not suffer pecuniarily
from that business. The money that goes in
to the till of the grog shop ought to 60 into
the pocket Of the butcher, baker, halter, tai
lor, shoemaker, grocer or some other of the
numerous tradesmen whose business is ben
eft to society; into the pockets of all the
men whose trades supply the necessaries,
comforts and luxuries Of life, and it would do
so If the rum trade were suppressed.
There are some men SO rich that their liq-
uor bills do not interfere at all with their abil-
ity 10 supply the real or imaginary wants of
themselves and families, but their numbers
are not considerable. The great mas of the
liquors sold in this country goes to persons
who expend for it the monay that ought to
go TO supply necessalies aud comforts to their
families, and would do this, but for the irrc-
sistib'e temptation Of the rum shop. The
shops are the active rivals in business of every
other trade; and more than this, they are hos
tile to every legitimate business, because they
not only attract to themselves the money that
ought 10 go to other shops, but their certain
effect is TO sap and undermine tho indus trial
habits of their customers and in that way in
capacitate them for earning more. So true is
this that it has long been an axiom among
men who have made the Investigation of the
liquor trade speciality, that for every dollar
spent at the grog shops, another dollar and
more is lost to the country by lost time, mis-
directed industry, and the thousand ways in
which damage ard loss come to property,
health and life through the effect of that
trade. ---
The truth Of this position was singularly
illustrated in Ireland, during the amazing
progress of the temperance cause there, un-
der the muistrations OF Father Matthew
The people came together to meet him, from
long distances and in great numbers; and
kneeling down in the fields and often In the
market places and streets Of village, town and
city, they called God to witness their vows,
nevermore TO take intoxicating drink. Scme-
times these crowds contained as many as fifty
thousand people, and they considered the
pledge solemn obligation to God, their
church and themselves under sacred
religious sanctions.
The effect Of this was SO great all over Ire
land, that bre 6eries and distilleries ceased to
run, because there was no olonger sale for their
wares. Those establishments were worthless; !;
doors and windows fell off their hinges, and
roofs decayed and fell in; everywhere in the
country their condition was such as to cheer
the heart of every philanthropist, patriot and
christian. Ireland was redeemed from the
curse of the liquor traffic, and pauperism and
crime almost entirely disappeared from the
country. English statesmen were alarmed
lest the revenue should fall of to such an ex-
tent as to be embarrassing. The excise tax
on whiskey was ten shillings gsllon-two
dollars fifty cents in gold-and the amount re-
ceiyed into the treasury from that source was
twenty-five millions of pounds, equal TO one
hundred and ten millions of dollars in gold
The cost Of whiskey without the tax, was one
and sixpence gallon, the duty being nearly
seven hundred per cent. on thai sum. But it
was found by the experiences Of few months,
that the gross receipts OF the Yevenae from
Ireland, did not fall off but on the contrary,
there was considerable increa.e though the
income from the whskey and beer tax, was
almost nothing. The greatly increased con.
sumption of coffee, tea, sugar cocoa and other
dutiab!e articles that enter into family con-
sumption, more than compensated the reve-
nue. for the loss In the whiskey and beer tax.
Now this fact demonstrated that the money
which formerly went into the tills of the
rumsellers was now going into other channels
the legitimate trade Of the country; and
that other sums larger than that, were taking
the same direction. The duties on sugar, tea
&C., &C., were very much smaller than those
on whskey and beer, therefore to keep up the
revenue TO its former point, very much larger
sums must be spent in these articles than In
whiskey and beer, which came from the in
creased industry and thrift Of the people, in
consequence of their emancipation from the
influence OF the liquor traffic; and the indus
try and trade Of the country and the peace
and happiness of people were wonderfully i'm
proved. ND.