The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1890-04-23
TEMPERANCE NOTES.
AN ECONOMIC QUESTION.

AN EcoNoMlc QUESTION:
Hsaber q saloon Ds.s snd What rhsy
Cost Their Patrols.
Even those most conversant with the
evils OF intemperance hardly estimate
Alright their magnitude. In this period
OF the worlds history when eco
nomic science is approximating more
closely to absolute accuracy than ever
before, few students Of its problems
have justly measured the waste Of ma
terial and production caused by the use
OF liquor. In the city Of New York with
its adjacent suburbs of Brooklyn and
Jersey City, there lives population of
at least three millions of souls. In the
metropolis itself 1900 saloons are Ii
censed. in Jersey City, 1000, and in
Brooklyn four times that number.
These are situated in the busiest and
most accessible portion of the three
cities, That they are centers of con-
Elimination, plague spots Of wretched-
ness, hot-beds of crime and vice, need
not here be stated. 1t is the economic
question with which we have now to
deal. 889a
These IA, 900 dens OF corruption, more
frequently than otherwise, are situated
upon street corners, 80 that the average
frontage of each must be more than
twenty-five feet rather than less; how
ever, let this be the basis of calcula-
tion. We then find that il these saloons
were extended in straight limo side by
side and touching each other, there
would be row of groggeries stretching
$50, 900 feet, or triie more than 66A
miles in length. This is just about
two-thirds the distance between New
York and Philadelphia.
In Imagination let US take hold Of one
end OF this row Of saloons and draw 1t up
facing the other end and parallel with it.
We shall then have a street slightly
more than thirty-three miles long,
adown which fit shade Wy forms, de-
spairing, broken-hearted, gaunt. wasted
and hopeless, the ghosts Of the drunk
ards victims. tlt &tEf
But never mind these dumb, gsunt
wraiths, we are dealing not with emo
tions, but with. statistics. Let us count
the cost Of these dens to those. who sup.
port them.
On an average it is estimated that $1s
per day is spent in liquor, In each; .
less amount and they would fail Con
sequently, $500 are annually spent in
each saloon for rum, gin, brandy, whis
ky, absinthe, ale, beer and the wines
Multiply this by IA, 900 and we have al
expenditure of SIC, $50, 900 every year
for strong drink alone in the metropoli:
and its suburbs. This gives an average
of $25 for every man, woman and chile
within the specified area.
That this estimate must be rather
less than above the truth, is evident
stylish" saloons, like that at the Hoff
man House, do o business amounting
daily to hundreds Of dollars, instead o
the paltry sum of SIS. Therefore, tn,
average expenditure for liquor must b
more than $685.
Now, at the least computation, four
fifths Of this population, embracing thu
majority q women, all the children ant
the total abstainers among men, neve
patronize. the saloon. Therefore the re
naming non-abstainers, one-hfth il
number, expend on the average 500 an
nually for strong drink. That is just q
much taken out of the necessities of lift
and expended on luxuries(?).
Let us suppose this $76,650,0 900 ap
piled to the rent food, fuel and clothing
Of the class from which it is chief
drawn. What would that mean? l
wou Id mean the abolition of dire pov
erty. 1t would mean wholesome apart
ments nourishing food and decen
clothing. Properly spent it would mea
the extinction of mendicancy and pau
perism. 1t would also mean the rearin
OF children in decency, so that the mex
& generation would be far above tn
present 1t would mean the beginnin
of new era.
Widening our observation from tn
metropolis to the entire country we fin
that 100000 saloons withdraw 400, 90
men from productive industries and al
sorb outright 500, 900, 900. These st,
pendous facts tell their own story an
draw their own moral.
Let us suppose these millions of do
lars spent for benefcence, for the built
ing OF beautiful homes and for the 81
dowment Of schools devoted to science
art industries, education and religion
What might not be the status Of tn
United States could this money only /
withdrawn from the endowment Of pa,
pers, lunatic asylums, hospitals, prison
and potter's fields!
What stands in the way of tn
change?
What, excepting want of compr,
hension Of the first principles Of Chri
tianity? What, except that that ign
rance which is the root of selfshnes
and selfshness which is the root ,
greed, and greed which is the root
politics, still control the civilization
the nineteenth century.-Union sigma