The Red Cloud chief., 1884-04-18
What Rum Costs Those Who DO Not
TSe It

To count the cost of rum TO the coun-
try from a dOllar-and-cent standpO MT IS
to tee the very lowest view OF the sub
ie t. . The mother of 4 ruined son
would gladly give ten times what the
ruin cost, in money. to have her son re-
stored to her. and esteem the dollar
and-tent loss as nothing. The wife
cursed with 3 drunken husband would
be willing to continue in rags n SEMI
starvation could she have her husband
restored rs he waS before he was drawn
into the fatal whirlpool and morally
! wrecked. But rum has 4 money side
rs well As q moral one. and there are
those who would consider the money
side. though they cared but little for
the other.
Rum is the heaviest burden the peO-
pie have to bear. and those who do not
Use it are compelled to bear IL with
those who do. It can be demonstrated
that rum costs the United States more
per day than did the support OF the ar
mics in the rebellion. 1t costs the coun-
try directly more than the entire school
and RELIGIOUS systems put together. The
sum total of its cost foots up more than
all other taxes combined IL is the one
great expense that outweighs everything
else.
The city of Toledo has 4 population
of Z 10000. 1t supports 500 dealers in
alcoholic stimulants. We take Toledo
rs an example. the proportion holding
good everywhere the traffic is free or
licensed.
To support these 800 places, there
must be paid out annually for liquor
not less than -. 500. 900. 60 over the
figures. Each saloon must average S1U
per day; the could not wellliye on less.
They do business every day in the year,
at least in this rum-ridden city, which
makes the grand total S2.920.U0 per
annum. 1t is perfectly safe to say that
it will not fall below s2.5Oo;ooa.
But the loss does not stop with the
mere lose of the money. Were the
money taken from the people and
dropped into the harbOr it would be bad
enough. but that would be better than
to use it as it is beng used. A power
for good. when properly used. it be-
comes n positive curse when it has to
be filtered through the gin-millS and
b~eer-shOps. 1t becomes then a positive,
aggressive evil. 1t is not only wasted.
but it become the DESTROYER of those
who waste it. 1t not only absorbs the
proceeds of labor but it destroys the
power of labor. The workin@man
whose Saturday night in a beer shop
has extended over the SUNDAY and SUN
day night. is in no condition to do work
Cf nn,- EInl ON A0,lav IL ,,Nt,
ut all it is by fOrtifyinS himself with
more rum. under which he breaks dowE
before the week is half through. No
drunkard ever does a full weeks work;
indeed the time comes rs certain as the
risin. of the sun. when work at all i
impossible. The drunkard is not law;
rum has made him incaDable' semi
starvation accompanies the half-wOrk-
ing stage, during which the family suf-
fers from insufliciency of the necessities
of life, and worse follows. In the final
stage they have nothing. and their care
is another burden upon the alrea "
rum-robbed communities that harbor
them.
Add to this already 90 long train OF
evils the cost of the police system and
the criminal courts. ninety per cent OF
which is chargeable to rum. and put on
top of that the cost of penitentiaries and
ja;ls. and some idea may be had OF
W ct rum costs the people who do not
use it.
No drinking man feeds or
clothes his family properly. or even ac-
cumulates enough to build a house. He
does not even pay REM promptly. and is
never properly housed. The neressi-
ties of life being impossible for the fam
lies of such. of course the luxuries are
rs far away as the stars. In such fam.
lilies there are never books, magazine,
or newspapers, and what is worse, ed
ucatiOn of the children is generally i'm
possible for want of decent clothing,
bringing up thousands in the ignorance
that leads to crime. The drunkard of
this generation infiiets a curse upon the
ne l..
We leave out all mention of the woes
unnumbered the poor victims of rum
have to endure We only call attention
to the loss sustained through it by those
who are not drunkards.
1t is the simplest POSSIBLE financial
proposition. Rum absOrbS the money
that should 90 to the pr vid;ng of the
necessities OF life, thus rObb'ng the
trader in those necessities. 1t DESTROYS
the ability to labor. thus robbing the
community of whatever benefit that
labor would be to it. 1t compels sober
men, who pay taxes, to support po' ice,
jails. aims houses, p~enitentiaries. courts
and the other adjuncts of " very
bad civilization. AL made necessary by
rum.-TOiedO Blade.