Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-04-04
THE RICHMOND DISPATCH--sUNDAY APRIL 4 1886.

it with official facts which cannot Be
impeached or controvsftsd. 80
In the State Of Maine prohibition vas
adopted in 1851, and in Vermont IN
1853. In these States, therefore, pro-
hibition has had ample time to prove
what the results have been there and
what they probably will be in other
localities.
In an article published recently in the
Dispatsh it was charged, by implica-
tiep, that the inmates Of the prisons,
asylums, and poor.housss Of the State
are the victims of liquor-license, and
Mr.. Crepshaw confirms the assertion.
Compare the statistics Of Maine and
Vermont with Virginia, and we shall
be able to expose the fallacy OF such
hapbazard assertions. The colored race
is separated from the white in these
statements for reasons which are doubt
less obvious to all, there being compare
lively few colored people in Maine and
Vermont, and in Virginia they have
not, by reason Of their previous condi-
ton and present poverty, had an equal
chance with the whites, both as to edu-
cation and the opportunity Of acquiring
wealth.
The white population Of Maine is
GAG, $50; Of Vermont, 33l, 2lS; Of Viz
ginia, SS0,S5S. For the following sta
tistics see last United States census:
=. White PRIsONERs.-The number
Of prisoners in Maine was 40l, or one
in every 1913 Of population in YER
mont there were 252 prisoners, or one
in every 1874; in Virginia there were
$50 prisoners, or one in every 2,5l7.
WHITE DEFECTIVE CLAssEs.-In
Maine the defective classes, embracing
the insane, idiotic, blind, and deaf
mutes, number 4,l0G, or one for every
1853 Of population; in Vermont the
number was 2,506, or one in every 1872;
in Virginia the number was 5,lG0, or
one in every III.
WHITE PAUPERs.-ln the poor
houses Of Maine the paupers number
l,4ss, or one in every 435 Of popula.
ZION; in Vermont the number is 65l,
or one in every sos; in Virginia the
number is 1000, or one in every sos.
In addition, the number OF outdoor
paupers in Maine was LOG, while in
Virginia they numbered only 900.
The COLoRED RACE Of Virginia in
these respects exhibit the same fsyora-
BILE comparison. In Maine the number
Of prisoners was one in every 207 Of
population in Vermont one 10 every
III; in Virginia one in every 525.
In Maine the defective classes numbered
one in every ll2; in Vermont one in
every 100; in Virginia one in every
229. In Maine the paupers in the poor
houses were one in every s. Of popula-
ton; in Vermont one in every 264; in
Virginia one in every 6l5.
Here we have the official evidence
that in the prohibitory States Of Maine
and Vermont the number Of white and
colored persons in the prisons, asy-
lums, and poor-houses comparatively
exceed the number in liquor.license yir-
giDia. Can Mr.. Crenshaw harmonic
these facts with his theories:
How shall we account for this strange
state of affairs if the assertion Of the
local.opticnist is correct? Abolish the
liquor. license, we are told, and crime
and psuperism in Virginia will be d.
minished. Yet in Maine and Vermont,
where the liquor-license has been
abolished more than thirty years, crime
and pauperism are comparatively greater
than in Virginia NNN.