Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1875-12-10
The Cost OF the liquor Tramc.

lie welfare" by Homer G. Hitchcock,
NJ. d., President Of the State Board of
Health, Kalamazoo, Mich, was read. 1t
gave a statistical account OF the manulac-
ture of distilled and brewed liquors in The
United States the hundreds Of millions of
gallons annually consumed; and the num-
Der of insane, Of idiots, and OF criminals,
made so by the use Of alcoholic drinks.
We copy portion Of this paper, relating
10 the economies of the question, the facts
and figures of which are sufficiently start
ling:
What do The 49, 900 deaths annually caused
by alcohol cost Tie nation? The average
cost of burial cannot be less than $40 per
capita, giving the sum Of $4,000. These
$4,000 persons should each have bad, ac-
cording TO Il table Of working years (calcu-
lated fl om life tables by DR.. Edward Jar
Wis, and published in the fifth annual re-
port of the Massach uselts Stale Board Of
Health), 37.46 years Of effective life. From
the best data obtainable we have been led
TO conclude that alcohol shortens the lives
of those who use it habtually or excessive
ly, twenty eight per cent. As this per-
centage pertains to the whole life, inciud-
ing both The developing and the effective
periods, ii follows that these $4,000 persons
have each lost TO the nation twenty eight
per cent of 37.46 years, or l6.0S years of ef
fective life,' giving total OF 7S4, 900 years.
These figures are much below the actual
loss according 10 the expectancies of in.
temperate persons given above; for, ac-
cording TO The whole expectancies, the av-
erage loss If effective life is twenty-three
years, within a small fraction. On this
basis the annual loss Of the nation of effec-
tive life from alcohol is l ,l27 200 years. If
each effective year Of life is valued at $780,
the nation loses on the first calculation
Sl17,600,000, and on the second Sl69, ,050, 900.
English actuaries, from careful observa-
tion and calculations, estimate that for ev-
cry death there are two persons constantly
sick. We may therefore calculate that for
these $4,000 deaths from alcohol there are
5000 constantly sick from The same cause.
| Thus, in a single year, $4,000 years of eff
fective life are lost TO the State, which, val
ued at $3.50 per year, gives a loss of SI4, 200,
900. The cost Of this sickness, at the very
lowest estimate, cannot be less than $3.50
What 10 the insane caused By alcohol act
Udlig cost The nation each year? We have
already seen that in a very moderate est-
male twenty-five per cent OF the insane
are made 50 by alcohol. Thus, 9,35S of the
| 81, ,432 insane persons enumerated in the
census tables are thus caused. These rep
resent in each year loss of effective life
| n w ~
yeai, gives loss 10 the nation Of 81 ,4OS,-
700. The average cost of maintaining and
caring for these people cannot be less than
S4 per week for each, which is the average
cost in three Slate asylums of Massachu-
sets. This will present loss 10 the state
OF Sl,965, $50. But, according to a table
constructed by Mr.. John l.. Copeland, and
also 10 the English Life Tables Quoted by
DR.. Ddward Jarvis, page 1888 of The Finh
Annual Report of Massachusetts State
Board Of healthy, the average loss OF effect
i've life by their premature deaths is 6.3
years each. Moreover, as those made insane
by alcohol are generally made so at or be-
lore forty years of age, the loss ofefective life
Of tue insane should be based upon the
loss in The three first decades, viz, from
twenty to forty inclusive, which is an av-
erage for each person, male and female, Of
1915 years. This gives a total loss of effect
i've life for 9,35S insane of 0S,259 years,
which at value of $3.50 per year, gives a
loss 10 the nation Of Sl4,73s,S50 If, now,
we adopt Lord Shaftsbury's estimate of The
percentage of insanity caused by alcohol,
these figures should all he increased by
of effective life 235,S2l years, with an esti-
mate value of S35, ,373, ,l5O. The annual
cost of supporting the insane, rendered so
by alcohol, would then he raised 10 S4,7IG,
432.
What does the nation lose by her idiots,
made so by alcohol? The whole number
of idiotic persons reported in the census
tables is "A, ,527, of which, on The basis OF
DIR. Howe's statistics, 1858 are caused by
alcohol-the degenerate offspring of drunk
ards. If we correct these tables according
TO the views of +. b. Santorn, we have as
the probable whole number of idiot per-
sons 35,0i0 and The number traceable TO al
cohol or its efiects 1850. The average
cost for the care and support of these un-
fortunates must be at least $3.50 per year
making loss TO the nation of 80, ,562, ,0O0
Allowing that one half of these persons, il
they were not imbecile, would die before
maturity, and thus would have no effective
life, there remains for the others q loss tc
the nation of all The effective life TO which
they might have been entitled, or 37.4(
years each, giving total loss of 319, ,9Ot
years, with an estimate value of S47, 1886, 200
As crime may properly be considered il
one sense but form or symptom of dis
ease, and as it has been, and perhaps fair
ly, shown that at least three-fourths of thC
crimes committed in this nation may bt
traced more or less directly TO the inhu
ence Of alcohol, in our estimate Of the loss
es Of the nation from alcohol, the cost o
the crimes committed annually in thu
country, and traceable 10 the influence o
alcohol, should be included. Also thei
cost in the destruction of property, the los
of effective life by murder and the punish
ment of criminals, aud the cost of defect
, ing, arresting, convicling, and Furnishing
, the criminals. Greatlyto my regret hav'
at hand no reliable data from which an ap
proximate estimate of these immense loss
; es TO the nation may be computed. 1 thinl
it is plain, however, that they must b.
counted by the hundreds of millions. Tn
loss, too, from accidents by sea and liant
annually caused by alcohol, including los
of property destroyed, and effective lif
lost by premature death of those killed
would foot up TO millions. Also, if pau
persm he not disease it certainly has
! very close relation to the diseases and dis
: eased condition OF the system caused b.
5 alcohol, and the losses of the nation 70