The Brookhaven leader., 1889-10-24
TEMPERANCE NOTES.
AN ALARMING INCREASE.
EnergetIo Measures Necessary to Check
the Tide Of Iniemperance.


the Tide Of Iniemperance.
The official figures concerning the
increase OF beer have an ominous sig
nifcance. The preliminary report OF
the Commissioner OF Internal Revenue
for the fiscal yea~ ended June 80, 1889.
gives tine total receipts from fermentcd
liquors as $23. 723 1856 26. as compared
Of 1899, ,6l6 7S. The last quarterly re-
port of the Chief OF the United States
Bureau OF Statistics gives the total
production of fermented liquors in the
United States in 1868 rs zoos, 625 bar
rels; in 1893, as 24,6S0, 2l9 barrels.
The total consumption OF malt liquors
in the United States in 1910 is given
as 23. 80, S43 gallons; in 1888, as 767,-
5S7. .056 gallons. The total consump-
tion of fermented liquors per capita
of population in 1910 was 1876 gallons;
in 1883, 1,248 gallons.
This great increase in the beer pro-
duction and consumption in this coun-
try in the last two decades is on many
accounts deplorable. On the score Of
health it is great detriment 1t is
in this respect so serious an injury as
| to cause life insurance companies in
many instances to decline beer-drink-
ers as extra hazardous risks. The
hospitals in their over-crowded wards
tell a painful story Of physical disa-
bility, much OF it the outcome, direct
/ L., ;.l <,fh haa lrin lyiro
The beer-waste, in the money aspect,
is in the aggregate enormous The
present English syndicate movement
to buy up with unemployed English
| capital American breweries to the ex-
tent of many millions is an indication
of what the great beer increase signi-
| fies in an economic point of view.
Capital is sensitive and its possess ors
seek only productive investment
They discern their opportunity in the
steadily increasing volume OF beer
making and drinking. Very largely,
| and most unfortunately. the individ-
| ual buye"s of the beer and contribu-
tors to the present and prospective
| wealth of the beer barons are among
the working-men and the poorer
classes. Five cents for a single glass
of beer does not in itself seem much,
but several times repeated in a single
day, and every day in the year, the
| aggregate is large II the income is
small and the family large, as often
happens, it will not suffice for both
beer and bread, and in consequence in
| many instances the bread is very
| scanty. Meanwhile to the brewers
| the retail sale of so much beer at five
cents a glass means, as last year from
the sale of 767. .587, ,056 gallons, enor-
nous total gains.
But worse than its waste of health
and wealth is the deplorable influence
of beer as a factor of vice, disorder
and crime The beer saloon Is the
nursery of profanity, obscenity and
crime. 1t was the headquarters Of
the murderous Anarchists of Chicago.
1t is the open pathway to moral ruin
to myriads of the young of both sexes.
1t is the testimony of experts in deal
ing with crime that the beer-drunk is
the worst drunk Of all. 1t is specially
significant to note that while there
has been this large increase of beer in
this country, there has also been a
corresponding increase OF crime. The
last census, ten years ago, showed an
aggregate prison population of about
10000. 1t is estimated by the secre-
@or,, Of {ha Nationol prionn
tion, an expert in this field, that the
census of 1890. about to be taken, will
show prison population OF nearly If
not quite 100000.
Another sphere in which beer ex-
erts very pernicious influence is in
legislation and practical politics. The
beer saloon is, in effect a political
clubhouse perpetually open. 1t seeks
to control legislation in its own
interest; to secure discrimination in
its favor in all excise legislation; and
to obstruct and defeat prohibitory
legislation at all hazards, by fair means
or foul. In this direction il wields
enormous power, OF which the recent
amendment campaigns furnish a
striking illustration. 1t is a most
potent factor in the promotion of Sab
bath desecration. The recent Cincin-
natl saloon-keepers' rebellion against
Sunday closing, with representatives
of the brewers in court promptly to
furnish bail for those arrested, that
they might at once resume Sunday
beer-selling, and thus successfully defy
the law. is an indication of what the
beer influence would do in this di-
rection if allowed to gain complete
control.
Beer has thus largely increased. and
continues, as the official report of the
last fiscal year tells us, still to in
crease, because of the prevalent no.
tion. fostered and propagated by the
brewers and their allies in every pos
sible way. that it is comparatively q
harmless, wholesome beverage. This
delusive notion the friends of temper
ance OF the various temperance organ
izations have done much TO dispel and
to neutralize. But as yet, even their
combined efforts are inadequate to
turn the tide and to lessen the food
of beer. To accomplish this desirable
end there is no short cut There
should be at once a general revival of
fundamental temperance teaching con-
fha xv;s1or, a-l l,,t- -