Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-02-18
TEMPERANCE COLUMN.
CONTRIBUTED BY The WonEy's TEnPEKAscxu l 81.

lcosrRIBUrrD BY THE wonES's 'sTExPEKAscx UNION.
ALCOHOL IN ITS RELATIONS TO ECONOMY.
To our extracts from the article on " AL
cohol, taken from the Edinburgh Rerielc
we will add the following
" There is, however, yet another point
OF view in which the very general employ
ment Of alcohol as a beverage by man has
to be looked at. In his Cantor lectures
DR.. Richardson drew attention to the start
ling fact that the capital which is inyeste d
IN the production of alcohol in the British
Isles is not less than ELI .OOO, 600. But the
enormous addition which would have to be
made to this vast sum it. in the same way,
the argument we're enlarged, and the value
were given of the capital employed in the
production of wine In the wide stretch of
the grape yielding countries, it is quite
impossible to conceive. In the financial
year ending in 1874. the duties paid within
the British Isles for the various forms of
fermented drink were-for foreign spirits.
$3.50 $50; foreign wine II ,959 .s55; home
made spirits I II ,639, 562 and for malt 10
be converted into beer, II 753 ,6l7. 1t to
these various sums there be added the fur
ther amount which represents the brewers
license taking the place of the hop duty.
and the duty on sugar consumed in brew
ing. 1t at once appears that at the present
time the public revenue derives yearly
clear E30. 900 900 sterling from direct taxes
levied on alcoholic drink and it will be
! further observed that of this great s1m very
nearly two-thirds relate TO the eOneentra-
ted form in which the powerful agent Is
procured by the employment Of the still
/ kQr ktrf kn lt..f
art to strengthen the spirit beyond the
point to which it can possibly be raised by
natural fermentation and very nearly one
half refers TO the cheaper form of this con-
centrated product which is prepared in the
home manufacture, and which, therefore
1t is to be presumed, expresses approx
mately the consumption by the less wealthy
portion OF the community. The exact num-
Der Of the millions OF pounds sterling that
are swallowed in the form OF strong drink
in our own islands alone can scarcely be
ascertained. on account of the diversity Of
form in which tine product Is presented for
consumption, and ON account Oi the COM
plex relations which connect duty and
quantity in the different forms. The amount
can only be guessed at under the guidance
of such figures "a have been named. II,
however, one penny in the pound on taxa
bic incomes be taken to represent, as 1t i
stated it will shortly do. sum of two mil
lion of pounds, then the $50 900 900 paid
yearly to the revenue by alcohol Is tanta-
mount to an income tax of fifteen pence III
the pound upon such incomes, and 10 an
assessment of E3l a year upon an lndlvld-
ual income of $500 per annum. The fact
which Is involved in the figures OF these
several statements would assuredly be
~ ha ia-
of money were expended In an article Of
unproductiye but harmless luxury. As DR..
Richardson suggested in his lectures, very
strong impression would be made upon the
public mind if, after some long period in
which the boilers Of steam engines had
been fed with mixture of spirit and wa
ter, It was suddenly discovered that the en-
gines would work quite as well with the
water without the spirit, and that the Mill
lions Of pounds that had been devoted to
the production OF the spirit had al! been 50
much unnecessary waste. But the argu-
ment goes very much beyond this in the
case OF the millions Of engines called men,
if 1t can be shown that there Is hurtfal as
well as wasteiul expenditure, and that in a
very large proportion Of instances the en-
gines would have worked even better with
out the costly addition of the spirit In
these days OF scientific applications Ot the
doctrines Of economy it certainly must re-
main matter of some surprise ~ thought
ful men, that, in a land OF advanced euitl-
vatiOn and intelligence, 20 many mliIlons
of good money are continuously apphed to
the production OF a commodity which, IN
the existing habits OF society, may reasOna-
bly, be held to be perniciOus alike to the
pockets. to the health and to the morals Ot
81. II. urf.--uuafzIr hannPn-
that the question of the influence OF al
cohol Is difficult one to deal with, on ac-
count of the subtle effects and the compll-
Gated instrumentalities which have 10 be
encountered and unrayelled at every turn
but II Is for that very reason question
that imperaiiyely demands more search
ing inquiry, and more concentrated at
tentiOn. than 1t mas vet received at the
hands of the general community !; ana
there are some broad facts in connection
with it, such as some of those which have
been especially dwelt upon the course OF
this article, that are already beyond the
pale of uncertainty or doubt, and that
therefore deserve, even now, to be made the
base OF an improved practice and new
faith
We are not prepared at present to follow
up the above statements with similar sta
tisties in relation to our own country, but
hope to be able to do 50 soon. Meantime
the experience of Others Is full oi ihstrue-
ton for US. 1t is said that this whole sub
ject Is attracting more attention among
the governments of northern Europe than
ever before. And well it may ; for the
evil is one that, if let alone. spreads at an
enormous rate, at the present day In
Sweden, for example, where, owing to the
excessive production of brandy, the price OF
it at one time i" fell SO low that the neral
and economical existence of the nation be-
gan to be endangered" check was put
upon its manufacture in 1854. BY the inter
ference of the government. Of late, how
ever" the trade has displayed fresh symp-
toms of activity. In 1865 the revenue from
this particular item amounted to 81 ,l5o,-
200 in 1872 the figures rose to Sl2 2.sio,-
900. Yet in 1871 the excise duty was In
mensely increased" 1t Is noteworthy that
the whole revenue of the Swedish govern
ment in 1861, is placed at S5,69l $50. Inc
ancient Swedes defined the vice OF drunken
ness as ''the disgrace of man and the moth
er of misery" and their children have
abundantly proved the truth OF their say
ing.
The interest in the subject of tsmper-
ance newly awakened among the higher
classes in England is an augury OF good
The result is likely to be more thorough
and omen discussion of the subject than 1t
has hitherto had, by men accustomed TO
scientific and unprejudiced investigation.
There is reason to hope that this may be
carried far enough to open the eyes OF
great number of people to the vast import
ance iof the questions involved, IN every
possible point of view that relates to the
happiness and well being of men. Much
of the indifference that prevails in regard
to this matter can be owing to no other
cause than involuntary Ignorance, or else
that habit Of passive acquiescence IN the
existing state of things, which i hardly
less dangerous to the continued existence OF
what is good, than 1t IL favorable to the
propagation and growth OF what Is evil.
ever the ranker and more lux1riant pro-
duct. By thorough and careful discussion.
and the general diffusion of the intorma-
tion thus elected. both of these causes OF
indifference and insction will be likely to be
broken up and removed.
WHY ARE THE TINES HARD.
" What we desire to show is that, with
an annual expenditure of $500 600 900 for
liquors in the United States-and all the
figures we give are based upon Official sta
tistics-it is not be wondered at that the
times are hard and people poor. Not only
this vast sum is wasted not only the capi-
tai invested is divorced from good uses, and
all the industry involved in production taken
from beneficent pursuits; but health moral
In roanncta hilitu industry and life are de-