The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1889-10-23
TEMPERANCE NOTES.
An Al ARMlNG INCREASE.


increase o. Ueef AdVo an ohiuouS oAE-
nificance. The preliminary report OF
the Commissioner Of Internal Revenue
for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1889.
gives the total receipts from fermeRtod
liquors as 1923, 1913, 1856. 26.. as compared
with 1923. 32A2lS.4S in 1sSS..ap increase
of $399.6l&7S. pThslast 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 as 1905. 625. bar
rels; in 1888, as 24,6SO, 219 barrels.
The total consumption Of malt LIQUORS
in the United States in 1910 is given
as 23. 31O,8 gallons; in 1888, as 49,
5S7. O56 gallons. The total consump-
ton of fermented liquors per capita
of population in 1910 was 1856 gallons
in 1883, 1,24S gallons 49," ~
This great increase in the beer pros
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 -
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-cfowded wards
tell painful story OF physical disa-
bility, much Of it the outcome, direct
" or indirectly, OF beer-drinking.
The beer-waste, in the money aspect,
is in the aggregate enormous. The
present English syndicate movement
to buy up with unemployed English
i 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 buyers of the beer and contribu'
tors to the present and prospective
wealth of the beer barons are among
the working-msn and the poorer
classes. Five cents for single glass
of beer does not in itself seem much
but several times repeated in a single
day, and every day in the year. tn
aggregate is large. If the income il
small and the family large. as Otter
happens, it will not suffice for boil
, beer and bread, and in consequence il
7 many instances the bread is yer!
, scanty. Meanwhile to the brewer
the retail sale of SO much beer at fiv
cents glass means, as last year fron
the sale of 767, 587, O56 gallons, enor
, nous total gains.
, But worse than its waste Of healt
and wealth is the deplorable infuenc
of beer as a factor of vice. disorde
and crime. The beer saloon IS tn
. nursery of profanity, obscenity an
, crime. 1t was the headquarters
the murderous Anarchists of Chicago
: 1t is the open pathway to moral rui
to myriads of the young of both sexes
0 1t is the testimony Of experts in dea
ing with crime that the beer-drunk
the worst drunk of all. 1t is special
: significant to note that while ther
has been this large increase of beer
+ this country, there has also been
corresponding increase Of crime. III
last census, ten years ago, showed a
= aggregate prison population of abo'
o 10000 1t is estimated by the seer
= tary of the National Prison Associ
y ton, an expert in this field, that Il
!. census of 1890, about to be tPken, wi
show prison population of nearly
not quite 100000.
n Another sphere in which beer e
II erts very pernicious influence is
-, legislation aud practical politics. II
~ beer saloon is, in effect, polite
70 clubhouse perpetually open. 1t see
~ to control legislation in its ov
interest,"; to secure discrimination
:. it's favor in all excise legislation; al
:, to obstruct and defeat prohibito
~ Legislation at all hazards, by fair mea
~ or foul. In this direction it wiel
>. enormous power, of which the rece
- amendment campaigns furnish
~ striking illustration. 1t is a mt
+" potent factor in the promotion of Ss
bath dissertation. The recent Cine
., natl saloon. keepers rebellion agail
III Sunday closing, with representatv
gu of the brewers in court promptly
'al furnish bail for those arrested, Il
IT. they might at once resume Sund
d. beer-selling, and thus successfully d.
$50 the law. is an indication of what I
beer influence would do in this
ne rection if allowed TO gain compl,
iIs control.
y, Beer has thus largely increased, q
no continues, as the official report of
.iS last fiscal year tells us, still to
oe crease, because of the prevalent
ia' ton, fostered and propagated by
ne' brewers and their allies in every p
IS sible way. that it is comparatively
harmless. wholesome beverage. 7
the delusive notion the friends of temp
OPP ance of the various temperance org
Ter izations have done much to dispel 6
n.y. to neutralize. But as yet, even tn
MY combined efforts are inadequate
nto turn the tide and to lessen the fl,
to Of beer. To accomplish this desira
ar end there is no short cut Tn
ach should be at once general reviva
fundamental temperance teaching {
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