Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1882-05-07

/
Dos ask you every one to keep Wild
aNake and hear me through. l shall
indulge no epithets and harsh iudc
ments. nor make use of what gonna a.
Pleased to call the cheap logic of th,
domestic and moral desolation of tb,
liquor habit. Though this manifold
desolation il the worst feature by far
yet now have nothing to saw of the be
sotment, the tears, the heart breaking
the rags and hunger and cold and sick
ness and death-God knows all the ter
rlble reality and bitterness of it; but o.
that l am silent jus. now; though. il VI
Keep silent too long, the dumb earth. thu
floods, the seasons. and the distsmperee
SKY will cry out and rebuke the pitiloss
inlquity with whitening Judgments.
Bot the quest we are on now is to se<
now the liquor habit swallows down the
money of the nation. Hon. David A
Wells, at that time Commissioner of thu
United States Treasury, is authority fol-
the statement that 81 ,4S3, 49l ,St5 went
for liquors in 1867. IL any among YOU
are not familiar with these figures
pray you to commit them to memory
In the year 1861 liquor cost US nearly y
billion or Leo million dollars. thai
was III 81. In '70-three years later
| the entire income of the country wds a
Little over 900 million dollars. With
| these amounts given we can do a very
simple example in arithmetic: what
part OF 7,Cc1 million ia 1,5OO million?-
ID is contained in 10, or or l so in 7.OC1
~ times-it lacks of FIVE times.
That is: more than one-fifth of the an
nual income of the whole United States
from all agriculture, all manufactures,
all fisheries, all mines of gold, silver,
lead, copper, iron, coal, marble. stone
and petroleum, all the earnings of all the
railroads, Is drunk up every year -
Over 81 out of every IS went the way
OF a totally useless indulgence, of de-
grading and impoverishing vice.
This Yves in ~. 1t was going on be-
fore that. But for that year ] have re-
cited the official statistics. And what
was true of 81 continued to be true of
succeeding years. And with tho vast
ngures before US it ceases to be a Won
der that the whirlwind of panic blew Us
ashore upon hard times as early as '73.
And only tho newness, tho roOminess
and the resources of our country saved
as from the friGhtful want and WOO
which such waste will speedily bring
upon us when the nation is older and its
population denser.
Cast q single glance across tho eastern
ocean to ruined, wrctchcd, riOtous Ire
land. We know something of her dis
content and chaotic turmoil. There is
some truth in what is said against the
land system--that is wrong. There is
less truth in what is said Of the Cypress
iveness Of English law-that is not op-
pressive. YOu hear no special COM
plant from Scotland and the north of
Ireland. English Law and administra-
ton are not to blame for Ireland's dis
tress. And the iniquitous land system
itself is far more a pretext for than the
real cause of her rage and agony. Ire
lands real curse is priestcraft and
liquor. Again l shall have to play
schoolmaster and confront you with
long rows of figures.
For the 10 years previous to 1880 Ire
lands annual rental was 81 million dol
lars. During those same years her
yearly liquor bill was So million dollars.
Now, If abe rents are extOrtionate what
shall we say of the extortion of alcohol?
81 from 81 leaves II; alcohol collects
IL million dollars more than all the
landlords of Ireland! And then to cap
the absurdity America contributes tens
of thousands of dollars to relieve the
unhappy lands distress, which sooner
or later whisky and the priests divide
between them; and the miserable peO-
pie are set to gnashing upon Protestant
England for their misery. But as you
hear and read of their misery and recall
the fact that while for 10 years they paid
annually 81 million dollars rental they
went ON paying the yearly sum of s.
million dollars for liquor. Let us men,
OriZe the fact that ruined, riotous Ire
land pays u million dollars moro a wear
for liquor than for rent.
But here we will resume our study of
United States statistics. In 20 our
property valuation was $1,000 million
dollars and our income from all sources
1000 million. In 81 our liquor outlay
vas LOO million dollars-more than
0nc-fifth of our income in 20. In '73
canss the panic and we wrestled on with
hard times till 'S0and 81. Now, in all
fairness. candor, charity and sobriety
Of Judgment is there any color of fanat-
icism in attxibuting the panic and hard
times almost wholly to the enormous
liquor waste?
Dur clothing bill did not mako us
poor. For $39S. 264 ,1i8 paid that for the
year 1870; 1854 million dollars for all
kinds of wearing apparel for the whole
nation to 1900 million dollars for liquor
81 for clothing to 81 for liquor! Our
grocer bills did not make us poor. For
our 40 millions of people were fully fed
for the year at cost of 5000, 365, 57l-
COO million dollars and a little over for;
food to 1,5W million dollars for liquor
81 for food and nearly $3.50 for liquor!
Are these dry figures? Surely some
thing has been dry, but it cannot be the
figures that bring to view such liquid
ocean as this.
But again. our schools did not impov-
erish us. For all schools, public and
private, cost So, 402, 726-951S million
dollars for education to 1,JOO million
dollars for liquor, a proportion of less
than 81 to SIS. Our libraries did not
bring on the panic. For all libraries in
the land, both public and private, were
estimated to contain about 45x million
volumes, which at an average valuo of
81 per volume would be worth a little
more than 81 million dollars-91 million
dollars for books to l,5OO million dollars
for liquor, proprtion as before Of less
than 81 to SIS!
Perhaps the churches are responsible
for some of our trouble. The total val
uation of church property in the United
States was calculated at q little less
than 354IS million dollars. Mr.. Inger-
coll feels badly about that. Still it is
only I4h million dollars of church
property (which mostly remains from
year to year, to 15C0 million dollars for
liquor. Burn up all tho church proper
~ and the money spent for liquor would
replace it and more.
This nation drinks up the cost Of its
schools and tho value of its books in
less than three months! See how it il;
here in Seattle are three bookstores and
SO many liquor stores that We cannot
keep count of them. The bookstores
cloee up at night and over Sunday, tho
others never-ike smelling furnaces tho
blast il ever ON. You may have feel
inQ that this ID exaggerated. that these
Astounding figures arc temperance man
ufacture. Then $50 for yourselves and
BE- satisfied. Here arc three bO0kstores
70 near three score liquor bars; while
up and down the Sound many points
have liquor stores with NO sign Of a
bookstore.
In fast, name any branch Of business
h~L>~;.o Urr,s>ariAa vnAaf mAYkofa