The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1885-01-10
TEMPERANCE.
FROM A BUSINESS STANDPOINT

What the Establishment of Grog-Shop
Means, and What 1t Costs a Communl-
ty to Support It--An Appeal to the BUS
mess Mans Pocket.
The establishment Of grog-shop IN
any community means the taking IRON
the dry-goods man, the grocer baker
and butcher, just the amount taken In
daily for whisky. Every five-centpieee
passed across a counter for intoXicants
is just that much taken from the busl-
ness of those who deal in the necessa-
ries of life.
The brewers and distillers build mag
niicent palaces in which to live and do
business, but how is it with their VIC
tins? Do the drinkers of the hell-broth
they manufacture build either for them
selves or any one else? Do their VIC
tins build cottages in which to shelter
themselves, or places in which to trans
act business? Does the money which
flows through the til of the whisky
seller do anything toward up-building
the community in which it is soldP
y
the hardware merchant, the bookseller
and newspaper get any patronage from
this class Of peoplep Is not every man
who is made drunkard just one taken
from the class that support by their pa
tronage every decent business2 <
The moment man gets the appdte'
upon him that moment he ceasesto be
aproducer and begins to be Consumer
only. Not only the luxuries evry fam
lily should enjoy, but the necessities OF
life are sacrificed to this one appetite.
He is of use to the rumsellr, and an
incubus upon everybody else The men
following respectable occupations lose
him entirely, and what he earns, begs
or steals goes to the supprt OF the one
business that made him what he is.
Every drunkard is loss b the cOmmu-
nifty not only by what lie would earn
were he not a drunkard. but the cost Of
his maintenance.
And yet the men whose business it is
to debauch humanity, 20 thus pile bur-
dens upon burdens lpon the general
public, claim that thy have the right to
follow this business, to 60 on and on, to
the end of the chaper, in this horrible
traffic! They claim that their trade,
destructive as it IS of everything that is
good in man and valuable in COM
munities, shall be prosecuted upre.
strained by law and uncontrolled by
the public.
The city of Toledo, with a popula.
ton of $4,000, has 800 whisky and beef
shops, to support Which the people pay
annually something over three millions
sof dollars! Can you comprehend these
figures! Three millions of dollars taken
from the merchants and mechanics OF
the city and sluiced through these hell.
holes! Three millions of dollars!
But this sum, enormous as it is, does
not represent the loss to the city occa.
stoned by this traffic, Add to this the
amount of time wasted by the drink.
ards, add to this the cost of the police
force, of the courts, of charitable inst
buttons! You can keep on adding /
figures to this enormous sum till papll
fails you
All this is taken directly from legiiS
mate trade. Every cent Of this would,
were it not for this traffic, be used in
the purchase of other goods in legiti.
mate way. The merchants would sell
more goods, and get their money fol
them, houses would be of better class
and rents would be paid promptly,
school children would be more comfort.
ably clothed, half the police force could
be discharged Immediately, the infrma-
ries could be almost closed, and the
criminal courts would have nothing to
do. The business man should remem-
Der that the taxes for the maintenance
of these costly luxuries come directly
upon him.
As it is in Toledo so it is everywhere.
proportionately. Rum and beer make
an item of expense which mounts I'D
far above all the other expenditures of
life combined.
In this Indictment of the liquor inter
est we have not touched upon the crime
and misery it produces, only the cost of
II. We have simply made an appeal to
the pocket. The cost of it is enough, or
should be, to enlist every business man
in the crusade against it. Every man
who is prosecuting a legitimate bust.
ness, every man who has dollar in
vested in legitimate business, should
no more refuse to aid in destroying this
absorbent of capital and labor than he
should neglect insurance. - Toledo
Blade.
Drunken Bows