The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-05-03
National Drink Bills.

Few people can have a realizing idea
OF the enormous consumption of hq-
uors and of their cost to consumers I'M
til the figures are placed before them.
| This the Christian Union has been do
ing, and it finds the entire bill for drink
in this country to be 5000, 900, 600 in
round numbers. The Union bases its
estimates on the last census and other
official authorities. and it arrives at its
estimates in the following manner:
THE internal revenue on distilled spirits in
1883 was $14,36S, I75; the rate is 80 cents Il gall
/ lon, and the quantity of liquor taxed is there
| lore S2,63l,912 gallons. A certain part of this
( was used for mechanical and scientific pur-
I poses, but most of it was drank as ii beverage.
Sold by the glass it would cost the consumer
about 50 a gallon. The whole amount at this
/ rate would aggregate S495, 79l, S3?. The tax on
termented liquors in the same year amounted
/ to Si6,9O06l5, which, at 81 per barrel. repre-
/ sents an equal number of barrels containing at
! thirty-one gallons to the barrel 523.9l9 0jj gal
! Ions. At five cents glass and twelve glasses
/ TO the gallon this costs the consumer $3l4,-
/ "5l.439. The imported liquors estimated on a
similar basis cost the consumer at least $780,
O0OOOJ, which brings the total cost up to more
/ than $500, 100000. No account is taken of ma
! tive wines, nor of liquor, crooked whisky
and other which escapes taxation; and the
/ cost of these may be taken as n fair Offset to
/ the distilled liquor employed for mechanical
ana scientific purposes"
A recent statement in the London
Times enables us to compare the drink
/ bill of Great Britain with our own. In
1888 there were &c, 949, 1885 gallons of
intoxicating liquors consumed, and
800, 1872, 423 gallons of wine and beer, or
u total of ] ,O02, 141, 1913 gallons, as COM
| pared with COG, SOL .037 gallons in this
country, representing an expenditure Of
/ 1927, 1856, 375, as against $500, GOO. 600 ~
| 10 ott.x- 20 eha Eot
liquors are considerable cheaper in
Great Britain than here, and adultera-
ton much more frequent here than
there. Estimating the amount con-
sumed per capita, as represented by
these totals, the results are quite as
founding. While the sixty millions of
people in the United States consume
about nine gallons of beer and wine and
one and third gallons of liquor per
capita, the thirty-six millions in Great
Britain consume at the rate of about
one gallon of intoxicating liquors per
capita and about twenty-seven gallons
of beer and wine. There is one feature
of the drink bill, however, upon which
Great Britain can plume itself. While
the expenditure in this country is in
creasing year by year it is diminishing
in Great Britain. In 1860 the drink bill
bill was S426, 1884, $50. Year by year
the expenditure rose, until 1876, when
it reached S736, 443, 795. In those six
teen years the population had grown 10
per cent. and the drink bill y per cent.
Since 1876, however, it has steadily de-
clined, and is now S627, 1856, 375, fall
ing off of So, $40, APO as compared with
1882. While portion of this was ow-
ing to depression in trade, it was main
ly due to the vigorous efforts of Tenn
perance reformers.
The enormous amount of money spent
for liquor in the United States may be
more clearly realized when compared
with other expenditures which are es-
timated by the Union, such as $505,
100000 for bread, and S303, 100000 for
meat, showing that more ispaid out for
liquor than for bread and meat togeth-
er; 1920, 100000 for iron and steel
S237 100000 for wooden goods. $685.
600, 900 for sawed lumber, S210, 100000
for cotton goods, 1896, 600, 900 for boots
and shoes, S155, 100000 for sugar and
molasses, S85, 900, 900 for public educa-
ton, and $4,000 for missions. This
expenditure is only the direct cost. It
does not represent the cost of pauper-
ism, idiocy, insanity and crime which
are entailed upon the country by liquor.
Chicago Tribune.
The following diagram is a compar-
lson OF the annual expenditures in the
United States for intoxicating liquors
with various other of the largest
M items of expenditure. It is based
on the census of 1880 aud other re-
Nv liable authorities. Scale: Each
M three-fourths of an inch represents
an expenditure of 800, O00,0 900. We
are indebted to the Christian Union
@ for the measurements and statistics.
M The liquor bill represents the cash
9 paid for it by consumers, and is,
II in our opinion, not an exaggera-
% ton of the facts. We consider
A it just about the actual amount.
81 Comments upon showing SO ap-
IN palling would only weaken the