The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1877-03-08

If the 500, 600. 900 were properl,
expended We would have in our coun
try 50, orc more factories than 1t pres
ent, 271, GAP more persons would fiuc
employment, their wages woulC
amount to S91, al, $50, these factorie,
would cause a demaad for S4O6 365.
rs worth of additional raw materials,
and there would be $104, III, 767 fol-
expenses and profits after leaving the
factories.
2. 10 causes pduperis11.
1t not only prevents production, but
it inpoverishes the country. 1t ha:
thrown upon the country ZIG. 1O2 pau
pers. who have found Judgment in the
poorhouscs, and then 70 these add all
the tramps, and We have an army
2OO. 900 strong, which are SUPPORTED
say at a cost of $50 to the person.
and we have the SUN of $50, coo, 600.
Four-fifths of this pauperism is due tc
whisky.
3. 1t produces crime.
According 10 the reports of the
chiefs of police in some of our large
cities, ninety per cent. of all the crimes
committed in the country Is due to
whisky. 1t costs the United States
$40, 600, 900 to punish crime. Texas
has 1000 convicts; it costs $500, &C.
cording to the estimate of an ex-attor.
ney general of Texas, to put man in
the penuentiary; we have for Texas
81, 800, 600 as the amount thus paid by
her for this traffic. Travis county
pays for board alone of her criminals
$4,000 per annum, and in the past year
there has been some twelve or fifteen
murders committed in the county,
which have cost some $4,000 more, and
the lesser felonies WILL run up the
cost to az many more thousands.
We would abolish 1t because Of ats terri.
big injurious influence upon the habits
and morals Of tile people.
1t makes men eXtravagant in their
expenditures and careless about their
debts. 1t makes men indolent in their
business, neglectful of their homes,
and careless about the education of
their children. 1t is prolific source of
vice in all protean forms. 1t is the
parent Of sensuality, falsehOod and
hlCduAOS5s ~ SduSCS "
themselves, dishonor their families,
deny their God aud destroy their souls.
We could abolish it because 1t is so de.
structiUe Of human life.
Sixty thousand human souls are sent
annually by this traffic to hell. Six
hundred thousand are, through its in
fluenco, Keeling down to drunkard' s
grave. Weeping over the graves of
these slain are one hundred and thirty
thousand widows and orphans, made
so by this traffic.
We aoOuld abolish 1T because 1T cannot
90 on 1oithcut the consent Of a majority Of
the citizens Of this county.
The Legislature and the courts for
merly had to decide this question.
Now you have to give the answer to
the grogscller's request for license.
Can you, in view of. the. facts just re-
cited, say to these grogsellers: 81 am
willing that you should continue to
make sots; you have permission to dis
ease mems bodies, to destroy the peace
of their families. put my vote on
record for S0hisky." We believe you
cannot so vote.
Can prohibition cure these evils9
1t can come as near doing it as the law
against murder prevents that crime as
the law against arson prevents the burn
ing of houses.
Maine, for twenty-five years, has
had strict prohibitory law, and to-
day there is, by thousand per cent,
less drunkenness in Maine than in
other States. 1t has been the law in
Vineland, New Jersey, for years, and
her paupors cost $400 per year, and
her police sometimes as low as $25.
Although Austin is no larger than
Vineland, she pays her police alone
some $1,000, and her paupers thousand.
more. Why's Austin has more than
fifty grogshops; Ylneland has none.
In Hopkinsville, bayfield,, Clinton. and
III many other towns and counties in
Kentucky, it has been tried, and the
law has, wherever enforced, been pro
ductive of the greatest good.
Mark, the law does not prohibit the
drinking of social glass. You can
use it at you tables, and in social inter.
course, for the law simply prohibits
The giving of 1t away, so rs to evade
the law. For instance; 1t will not let o
man sell you a cigar for quarter of q
dollar, and then give you drink in
the bargain, but if you have friend
with whom you wish to take q social
drink, there is nothing in the law
which prohibits it. Its language is,
section 2, after the election las been
held, and the traffic has been prohib,
tied, it goes on to say: "Any person
or persons who shall thereafter within
the bounds of prohibition sell, ex'
change or give away, with the purpose
of evading the provisions of this act,
any intoxicating liquors whatsoever, OF
in any way violate any of the provis
ions of this act, shall be subject tc
prosecution by Information or indiet.
ment, and shall be fined" etc. 1,
does not disturb our hospitality. Ii
only says we shall not sell or give away
liquor for the purpose of evading the
law.
What say you, friends and fell
low-citizensl Shall this hydra headed
monster, which is impoverishing the
land, producing misery, disease and
death, be further cherished by you, OF
will you aid US in crushing it out2 II
is for you to say. ColiMITTEE.
The earliest mode of writing was or