Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1894-03-08
I 9NPERANCE NOTES.
The sosERgsT NATION.
e Are the Most Temperate People on
Earth Proportioually.

ne Are the Most Temperate People on
Earth Proportionally.
In spite of the idespread ilnprcs sion
that The United States is nat.s = of
9rBnkards. its people are in reality the
soberest ana most temperate in the
,orll Whatever drunkenness we have
i endure comes chiefly from abroad.
y brought here by people who retain their
ald-Uorld habits, or transmitted by
Z Them in the nature Of appetite TO their
.BiIIren born here. Except for this
constant accession TO the drunkard list
IN importation. not one man in 10000
among us would be a drunkard.
cur best and most temperate foreign
noguIation comes from the united king
5sn. But in that country the drink
bijl for 1891 is placed by Dir. Dawson
gurns Of the united kingdom alliance.
Il sos 600 600 In the United States in
I.a3. according to Wilbur T. Copeland,
If the Voice. the drink bill was S1.l31.-
@aal0. or about sixty yer cent. larger
than in the united kingdom, though
-ba population is eighty per cent.
larger. the wealth a quarter larger
and the average drink twice as high in
price. Taking into consideration all
these facts our liquor consumption is
not more than one-half that Of the next
soterest country on earth.
The accommodations for getting
drunk are also greater in the mother
country than here. In England and
Wales. with less than half the popula-
ton Of the United States, crowded into
an area about equal to New York.
Massachusetts, and Connecticut. there
are rs, 900 public houses or drinking
rlsees while in this entire country
there are only 141. 600, or ten per cent.
more The compact population of Eng
land and Wales has public house for
every 2O2 persons, while the United
States has one for every $50. The aver
age English city has public house to
every IFS persons; in this country the
average proportion is considerably less.
Even in New York, an essentially for
eign city. there is only one licensed Sal
loon for every 200 inhabitants, while in
Philadelphia the proportion is about
one per thousand In most of the cities
# the country the saloons are closed by
law on Sunday; in all of the united
Kingdom the law permits them to re-
main open.
These facts should encourage the
temperance worker to greater effort.
The difference in the habits of the peo-
Die of the two nations is due mainly to
the agitation of the question that has
been going on here for seventy years,
md the legislation which has been the
huit thereof. In England there has
neyer been any such temperance agita-
lion or any restrictive act passed by
parliament. The act of 1928 placed the
licensing of public houses in the hands
II the very respectable local magis-
Tracy, which has made it a uniform
rule to renew the license of every pub
lie house. however disreputable. But
recently the demand for some local |
regulation has grown SO overwhelming |
That Sir Vernon Harcourt has intro
iuced bill which proposes that two !
thirds majority of the popular vote in |
parish may on three years notice pro-
hlblt al puD1lG llpusC VI EicN1Ao ~ I
lenses; eating houses, however, are
left untouched. The hating, the ten |
terne-s. with which the subject is APP |
preached in this measure, well ex-
hibits the power Of the liquor traffic |
h politics. Many of the most power
mi statesmen and leaders are suspected |
# possessing a vested interest in the |
sale Of grog.
Taking into account the fact that not |
1nly the united kingdom, but all Eu- |
rope is constantly unloading its drunk
'riS and most vicious classes upon us.
be facts which we have cited speak |
folumes for the strength and progress
the temperance sentiment in the |
United States The liquor power may |
overcome the temperance forces in leg /
elatures and city councils, but it can
cot persuade men against their convic-
tons and consciences. And it is be
cause Of the American conscience and
tense Of decency that we still remain
he soherest and most moral, as well as
ihe most intelligent and prosperous.
Ration Of the earth.-Troy Times.