Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1878-12-20


Sheriff and Clerk Fees for Grand jury. g g
Petit Jury Fees. ...-----.--.--.-... o00 y.
Witnesses before Petit Jury...-.----..-.. sSS 6
Sheriff and Clerk Fees. ........-.-.-... 100 0l
Making for one term of Court ..S2,5I IS
Multiply this by three, we have 81, ,540.- :
IL. To this add for Prosecuting Attor-
ney fees and paid attorneys for defend
ing, 81, 600, and we have $8,540.1 II.
seventy per cent. of this is s., ,978. II.
To this should be added the costs be-
fore Justices Of the Peace and expense
of boarding prisoners and some other
small items which have been unable
TO obtain.
1 charge seventy per cent. of our
criminal and pauper expense to liquor
on the authority of DR.. Byers, the Sec
retary of the State Board of Charities.
He was also Chaplain of the Ohio Pen
itentiary for six years. He was in our
county few weeks ago to visit our in
firmary and jail. In conversation with
me be said ''Most men put the per cent.
of crime and pauperism chargeable to
liquor higher than [ do, but it is bad
enough when put at the lowest figures.
and from personal conservation with
2,130 men during the six years that 1
was Chaplain of the Penitentiary, and
from my observation during the time I
have occupied my present position,
cannot place it lower than from
sixty-eight to seventy-twO per cent"
1t is now an established and con-
ceded fact the lives of the hab-
ituaI drinker are from five to ten
years shorter than the lives of total ab-
stainers. How many of these habitual
drinkers there are in the county, I
have no means of ascertaining, but we
lose at least five years of active life on
all of these and if those lives ere worth to
the industry of the county $500 per year
you will readily see that this is an item
of no small importance. If we allow
that the beer and all sold in the coun-
ty is sold at an average of sixty cents
per gallon we find that there is con-
sumed annually 61,296 gallons or six
and dthree-fourths gallons for every voter;
calling the strongest drinks five dollars
per gallon we find an annual consump-
tion of 1855 gallons.
We may safely say that there is lost
to the material industry and wealth of
this county from $3.50, 900 to $500, 900
every year, through the drink traffic and
drinking customs of society or in other
words that the saloons and drug stores
costs the county that amount annually.
1t may be said that have made no
allowance for the amount used for me-
chanical and medical purposes.
In my judgment very little is neces-
sarily used for these purposes, at any
rate believe my estimate is as much
below the actual amount consumed as
is used for these purposes.
As to the influence of this business l
have very little to say, you can all
moralize on that branch of my subject as
well as l. DR.. Newman Hall says that
the churches of England lose on an
average one member each, every year,
through Intoxicating liquors. The loss
is prOpably equally as great in this
country-we may say in this county.
l have no doubt that if the business
men of the country would look over
their ledger and trace out their bad
debts, they would find large number
of them are bad for the reason that the
parties owing them spend their money
for liquor. / will give one illustration
which speaks more on the influence of
liquor than all 1 can say. | met one
of the little boys of Jefferson
on the street a few days ago,
and by the way he is one of the bright
est of the many bright little boys of our
village. I heard his teacher about
year ago eomplimenting him in the high
est terms. 1 said TO him: ''Do you not
go to school nowP He replied, " No"
I inquired, whyP His answer was, "My
clothes are not fit, and father says he
cannot get books for me-" His father
could earn a good living and properly
clothe his child and furnish him with
necessary books did he not spend his
money for drink and his time in ca
rousals. The probability is that that
bright, brilliant little boy, who if
properly trained would make a man
that any community might be proud
of, will, running in the street and
hanging around groceries and saloons
as he does, grow up criminal, and in
few years you and l, should we own
property, may have to pay taxes to
supply the money to pay for prosecut-
ing him for some offense committed
against the laws of our land.
Let me close this by propounding
question which you can discuss at this
or some other meeting of your County
Temperance Union, and that question
is. "Of what use or benefit to the indi-
vidual citizen, to society in general, or
the State, is saloon?"
A general discussion followed by
many members of the association, af-
ter which a motion was carried to have
the addresses of the day and evening
published in supplementary form and
circulated in the papers of Ashtabula
County. In about five minutes time
over fifty dollars were raised for that
purpose. The officers were instructed
to attend to the publishing of the ad-