The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1882-08-03
rCincinnati Gazette.l

| Inc Beer frame ana lCS consequences,
There is divorce case pending in
one Of our courts which brought out
some testimony worthy Of public at.
tention, as it shows how women and
children are robbed by beer drinking
husbands and fathers. In this case
the husband failed to provide for his
wife and children, and, after many
efforts to reform him, she applied for
divorce. A witness for the defense
testified that he drank beer with the
defendant three or four evenings a
week, on which occasions they con-
sumed between them an average of
twenty glasses. That would amount
to 81 night or 81 a week. He drank
on other occasions of course, and it is
within bounds to say that his drinks
cost him 81 day. Meantime his wife
worked for $3.50 week to support
herself and children. This is sample
case. There are thousands like it in
Cincinnati. Beer drinkers on an av-
erage spend more for drinks than for
bread and clothes for their families.
The retail cost of the beer consumed
annually within the wagon delivery
of the Cincinnati breweries is Seuen
Million Dollars, as shown by official
statistics. Reduced to glasses the
number drank is 14O,0OO,O0O. This is
equivalent to- 467 glasses for every
man, woman, and child in Hamilton
County. Four-fifths of this. is con-
sumed by working classes-men who
have nothing to depend upon for sup
port but their daily earnings. This
enormous expenditure is not all there
is Of it. Men who drink from ten to
twenty glasses Of beer daily are not
fit for work. They become stupid and
their systems diseased. Old men are
scarce among beer drinkers, and ac-
cording to tables arranged by life in
surance companies the maximum life
of settled beer drinker is forty years.
It is well known that some of the best
life insurance companies do not seek
business from this class, and will not
insure regular beer drinkers at all.
Then in cases of epidemics or even
excessively hot weather, beer drinkers
fall like the leaves Of autumn. This
is owing in part, no doubt, to the fact
that nearly all the beer manufactured
in this country is adulterated. There
are few brewers who would open their
books to the inspection of the public
for the purpose of showing the ingre-
dients used in the manufacture of
beer. In Germany the manufacture
of beer is carefully and scrupulously
guarded, and there pure malt liquor is
obtainable. The fact is. it can not be
otherwise than pure. Hence it is that
many of the best informed Germans
in this city use imported beer exclu-
sively, although it costs 100 per cent.
more than the home made article. A
brewer in Germany undertaking to do
what most Of the brewers in the Uni
ted States do would be thrown into
prison and have his property conis-
Gated. But this is not all Look at
the criminal statistics. Seventy-five
per cent. of the crime is caused by the
Incorporate use Of beer. The divorce
statistics of this city make another
dark chapter in the catalogue of mis-
cries resulting from the use of beer,
If family troubles could be fully and
impartially traced in city like Gin
cinnati, the result would startle any
civilized community.
There is another far reaching re-
suit. Healthy children are not begot-
ten by unhealthy men, and fathers
who impair their system by the exces-
sive use of adulterated beer transmit
their troubles to their children. This
is physical fact. Hence the fright
full mortality among the children Of
physical and mental degeneracy of
that class Of people. This is so plain
upon its face that it needs only to be
stated.
In view of all these deplorable facts,
is it any wonder that the State should
undertake to restrain the evils result
ing from the traffic in liquors? Much
is said about impure milk. There is
not too much said, either, nor is there
near enough done to suppress the evil;
yet it is trifing matter compared
with the destructive influence of the
excessive use of so called malt liquors,
whisky, and of the various concoc-
tions of which the latter is the basis.
1t is natural that the great agent of
crime to which we refer should seek
to exercise power in political affairs.
1t assumes, in fact, to control politics,
and to very large extent it succeeds.
Politicians are more afraid of the beer
aristocracy than Of any other class
The conduct of the juries who have
heard cases in the Police Court under
which men were arraigned for violat-
ing the Sunday closing law shows the
extent to which this demoralizing in
1uence has been carried. The German
press asserts that the perjury on the
part of iuries and this defiance Of Law
on the part of drink sellers is the re-
, suit of public opinion. Does any sane
man suppose that the City Council, a.
; a body, which packed the juries in th'
t interest of disorder, represents th'
: public sentiment Of Cincinnati? Doe
!; anybody pretend that the scums VIII
}. are placed in the jury box, who hav
: no more regard for an oath than
:. hog has for virtue, or the drink seller
who defy the law, are fair representa-
e tives of public sentiment? II thl
: were true then Cincinnati would be
!. city to avoid. But it is not true
IT These things shock respectable sOclet