The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1884-02-08

drunkards grave this year. And as the pro-
cession stands let US go up and down these
ranks of rum-cursed men and women, and lol
do we not find among them some of our own
klnsmen, friends more or less remote, and,
perchance, loved one of our own home cir
Gle? And let us think that all these 60, 900
lost souls were once in their innocency nrrsed
with tenderest care upon some loving
mothers breast. And many among them
were once fathers and mothers who cared for
their own precious children with parents
faithfulness. And what a tale of tears and
broken hearts, of anguish and sunken hopes
do these wretched ranks unfold And as the
procession moves on-for it is too late to save
them now = while we look on the ruin
wrought by rum, let us look the evil in the
face and say, O., rum, thou fend, thou de-
stroyer of the souls of men, thou shalt no
longer have license to work thine own das-
tardly will. The days of thy power are
numbered. The chains of the law shall fetter
thy blood-stained hands. With the bride of
justice thou shalt be led to the guillotine of
constitutional prohibition and there thy head
shall fall. And wo to the man who has COM
passion on the criminal
But you say we have our almshouses, our
insane asylums, our jails and penitentiaries
already built, and if we prohibit strong drink
they will stand comparatively empty That
is true But if we do not have prohibition
We must soon have more asylums and jails.
1t is an undisputed fact that rum makes more
paupers, more idiots and insane, and more
criminals, than all other things combined. A
late governor of Ohio is quoted as saying !:
" 1t cost the state SO, 000,0 600 year to sup
port its poor, and that So, 100000 are di-
rectly chargeable to the liquor traffic. That
the entire saloon interest in the state pays
less than $500, 900 in taxes, leaving the rest
of the taxpayers to pay the balance of the
cost of free trade in intoxicants In other
words, the law-abiding citizens have to pay
81, 200, 900 every year in the form of taxes to
support the miserable victims of the rum
traffic" Similar statements could be made
of other states. In speech before congress
in 1876, in giving statistics relative to the
rum trade, the speaker said that not less than
1870, 900 widows and orphans are left such in
our country annually by liquor drinkers !;
and from two-thirds to three-fourths of the
inmates of our poorhouses are sent there by
drink. Judge Allison said in Philadelphia
some years since: 'In our criminal courts
we can trace four-ffths of the crimes that
are committed to the influence of rum. There
is not one case in twenty where man is
tried for his life in which rum is not the di-
rect or indirect cause of the murder" Look
at the following statistics of 1870 for Penn
sylvania, one of the most honored and
worthy states in the Union: Schools and col
leges of all kinds, in round numbers, 10000;
drinking places, $4,000; professors and
teachers, $4,000; persons employed in liquor
stores, $4,000; students in regular attend
ance, $4,000; tipplers and drunkards, SO2,-
900; money spent for education, So, 600 900;
direct cost of liquors, $50, 900, 0O0."
See this condensed statement from the
Congressional Record "Take now the mod
crate estimate of 5000, 900, 900 annually, and
relying on the official records of the country,
in sixteen years we have destroyed in drink
SO, 600, 100000 more than four times the
whole cost of the war of the rebellion to all
sections of the country, while the loss in life,
health, spiritual force and moral power to the
people is beyond comparison greater. The
lowest estimate have seen of the annual loss
of life directly from the use of intoxicating
liquor is $1,000, or 5000 during sixteen
years. More than three times the whole loss
of the north by battle and disease in the war,
as shown by the official returns The as
sessed value of all the real estate in the
United States is, in round numbers, SIS, 0OO,-
600, 600 of personal property $4, DOC, O00,O 900.
And at the above rate in twenty-five years we
drink ourselves out OF the value OF our coun-
try, personal property and ALL" The revenue
to the government is but as feather in the
scales.
Now, my countrymen, shall we endure and
submit to this rum policy any longer? Or
shall we rise in the dignity and power of a
free and civilized people and strangle the
monstrous vampire to death? From Maine
to Texas and from Oregon to Florida the
death knell of the whole business is being
rung, and throughout the land liquor dealers
associations are alarmed and are charging us
with fanaticism. They are everywhere grid
ing themselves for the battle and terrifying
themselves in their strongholds, and prepar-
ing to make the war, on their part, not only
defensive, but offensive, and We, christians
and patriots are compelled to choose our side
in the conflict Who is on the Lord side ?"
Of the work of the present session of the
legislature the True american says: First
and foremost an avalanche of constitutional
amendments is threatened The Prohibition
lists propose to come forward with their
amendment of last year. A portion of the
bar want an amendment recognizing radi-
cally the entire judicial system. An amend
ment is projected to enable change in the