The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1886-12-17
TEMPERANCE READING.
WHISKY FIGURES.

Ahe DA.erence IN Its Effects Upon Society
Between Buying Wheat and Consuming
1t and Purchasing Whisky and Drinking
1t.
In late issue was an article entitled
Hard times" by one who is "a pro-
aibitionist but in a dilemma He
says the statement is made that the
liquor traffic is a constant drain on the
wealth Of the world, that all this money
is wasted. and that he does not under
stand how the statement can be true.
will answer: The waste is in buying
the liquor for drink, and in drinking
it. Let me illustrate: 5000, 000, 600 is
tie estimated drink bill of the United
States each year. A has 5000, 600, 600;
B has 900.000.000 bushels of wheat.
worth 81 q bushel. B sells his wheat
to A, and takes the money. Now, sup
pose the assessor lists their property
Tor taxation; if listed at its true value
IN money, the aggregate wealth of A
and B would be $500, 900, 600.
Now, suppose the visit of the
assessor should be deferred one
year after the trade was first made
by A and b. Under ordinary circum
stances B would have the money for
the wheat, with its accumulated inter-
est; but he finds that A no longer has
the wheat, but it has been converted
into flour, and A and men in his en-
ploy have consumed it as food. Now
A has not got the wheat, but he has
the product of the labor of himself and
his men, who by its consumption have
been enabled to produce wealth and
property of two, three or four times
its original value, as the case may be.
This would be a case of productive
consumption, and the individual wealth
of A and Is would, under ordinary
circumstances, be greater than it was
at first, and the State in which they
lived would be able to show an in
crease of wealth, for the reason that A
and B, two of its citizens, had added
to theirs.
Now suppose that A instead of buy
ing wheat OF B had bought whisky to
the same amount; B would have the
money as before. Now suppose A and
his men drink the whisky as they had
eaten the flour produced from the
wheat. The whisky did not furnish
to A and his men either blood, bone
or muscle with which to labor. 1t
dulled their intellect; under its in1u-
ence they had wrong notions of indus
try, became careless and Indifferent to
labor, were forgetful and negligent of
me IF httc To-
industry, lost morals and self-respect,
lost power of endurance, lost regard
for themselves and their families, in
some cases became insane and a
charge upon the public, lost property,
became criminals and had to be
restrained and punished at the
public expense, became paupers
and load for the public to
carry and maintain, were more often
found in the gutter than in the work
shop, became poisoned in body and
weakened in mind, and wholly unfit
ted to produce wealth of any descrip-
ton, and utterly falling to do SO.
What a change has here resulted to in
dividuals and to the public! In the
one case they bought real food and ate
it, and individual and public wealth
was increased, now they have bought
intoxicating liquors to drink, and have
drank them, and the individual pros
perity of A and his men has disap-
peared; and the public that had right
to expect help from A and his men in
bearing the burdens of government,
lind that burden has been created in
stead of help. Here, then, in sharp
contrast, is picture of a destructive
consumption.
Suppose B still holds his money, and
has the $4,000 900, with accrued in
terest for the assessor Let us send the
assessor to A, and see how much he
will invoice. The whisky is not in his
possession, it has been drank up; and
what is the product its consumption?
The assessor goes to AS house to in
quire. A is not at home; away on a
spree. His family is in distress, pow
crty and rags. There is nothing there
for taxation. Tell the assessor to 90
and hunt up AS men; send him to the
graveyard first. Sixty thousand of them
are dead; died on an average fifteen
years each short of their natural lives.
Put down the loss 60, 000x15-900, 90
years lost because they drank the
whisky. The labor of these dead men
when sober was worth to themselves
and TO the aggregate wealth of the
State $500 per year:
800 years at $400-loss .... S360,OOO
Now put down 200, 90 paupers and
priminalS-mnde EopauSp they