The advance. (Milbank, Grant County, S.D.) 188?-1890, 1890-04-04
w. {. L. L. Department.
"For God and Home and Native Land.
Mrs. NJ. w. LYON. Editor.


TINS Is but beginning Of the work
which will be done here in that line
during the coming months before the
October election, and it matters not
whether we are sutfragiSts or other
wise the question is before us, and we
do well to study 1t carefully in all its
phases.
ECONOMICS AND lNTEMrERANCE.
Even those most converSant with
the evils OF lntemperanCe hardly est-
mate Alright their magnitude. In this
period OF the world $ history when
economic science Is approAlmatlng
more closely TO absolute accuracy than
ever before, few students CT It's pro-
blems have justly measured the waste
of material and production caused by
the use of liquor. In the city of New
York with It's adjacent suburbs of
Brooklyn and Jersey City, there lives a
population of at least three millions Of
souls. In the metropolis Itself 5000
saloons are licensed, Ill Jersey CITY,
| 200, and in BruokHn four times that
number These are situated in the
busiest aud most accessible portion
OF the three cities. That they are
centers OF contamination,p plague spots
of WretchedneSS. hot-heds of crime and
vice, need not he here stated. 1T is
the economic question with which We
have now to deal.
These l4.0OO dens of corruption.
more frequently than otherwise, are
situate upon street corners, So that
/ the average frontage OF each must
/ he more than twenty five teet rather
! than less, however, let thlS be the
| basis of calcLlatl0n We then ind
! that If these saloons were extended III
a straight line Side by side and touch
/ Ing each other, there would be TO"
/ OF grogrerles stretching 100000 feet
/ II Il trlhe more than slNty.six and
i one. quarter miles III length. THIS Is
I lust about tHo-thiras the distance be-
i New York and Philadelphia,
III imagination let lis take hold
of one end Of this row II saloons
and draw it up facing the othtl
end and parallel with i. We shalli
4 then have i street slightly iuolt
lllIl lIlII y N-IiIi1' III slNS tbii thQ " ~
which fit sAadoNy forms, de.
spailing broken hearted ,gaullt, wasted
and hopeless, the ghosts ot the drunk
ards victims.
1 But never mind these dumb. gaunt
Nlaiths, we are dealing not with
emotions, but with statistics. Let us
count the cost Of these dens To those
who support them
On an average il is estimated that
fifteen dollars day IS spent III liquor
III each. a less amount and they would
tail Consequently 8 500 are annual.
ly spent ia each saloon for rum, gin,
brandy, whisky, absiuthe, ale. beer
and the wines. Multiply this hy H.
600 and we have All expenditure ol
seyenty-slS millions and six hundred
ard liftv dollars every Year. for strong
drink alone in the metropolis and its
suburbs. This gives All average ol
Twenty-Five dollars for every man
woman and child within the specified
area
That this estimate must be rather
, less than above the truth. Is evident
.Styllsh" saloons, like that at the
Hoffman House, do business amount
ing daily to hundreds Of dollars, IL
tstead OF the paltry sum Of fifteen dol
: lars. Therefore, the average eXpen
, dlture for liquor must be more thar
twenty iive dollars.
Now at the least computation -four
lfths of this population. embracing
the majority OF women, all the child
rem and all the total abstalners among
men, never patronlze the saloon
7 Therefore the remaining non abstain
) ers, one fifth in mum ber, expend or
the average one hundred dollars an
nually TOR strong drink. That is jus
; so much taken out of the necessl.le;
OF life and expended Oh luxuriest9
Let us suppose this S118,65o,o0'
applied to the rent, food, fuel ant
, clothing of the class from which it i
J chiefly drawn. Whit would tha
neanl It would III Ill the abolition
Of dire poverty It would meal
food and decent clothing. Properl
5 spent it would mean the extinction Q
I mendieancy and pauperism. 1t Woul,
. also mean the rearing nf Children II
: decency SO that the next generation
would be far above the present. |
would mean the beginning OF Il ne>
: ETA.
' Widen ,ng our observation from til
/ metropolis to the entire country. w
tind that 100000 saloons Wlthdra,
! 400 600 men from productive indus
tr.es and absorb outright Sl0o,Oop,nnt
: These stupendous facts tell their oW
T story and draw their own moral
/. Let rs suppose these millions Q
+ dollars spent for benelicence, for th
! building Of beautiful homes. and fo
the endowment Of schools devoted t
sclencr. art. industries. education an
! religion. What might not he til
1 states Of tile United states could thi
il money only be withdrawn from TIL
7 endowment Of panpers, lunatic asN
n lums, hospitals, prisons and potter
fields,
What stands in the way Of thi
changed
i What. excepting Z want Of compre
l,o Of tha Itto \