The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-11-20

II
intelligent, less tidy and less ambi-
tious than those OF the United States?"
Drink" he again calculated.
What is the greatest incentive to
crime and vice among the working
people?"
Drink"
as there any hope for the eleva-
tion of the working classes Of your
country to the same standard as those
i'm the United States?" I asked.
"Not as long as there is a public
house at every crossroads i'm Great
Britain" he replied.
"The liberal eXise law is the parent
of pauperism i'm Great Britain" said
Dr. Joseph Parker. Free trade and
taxes have nothing to do with it. Taxes
are high, of course, and many people
complain of them. but no man can
justify object to paying 1 per cent. or
: per cent. or 10 per cent of his earn
ings to the support of the government
so long as he spends 20 per cent. for
liquor"
LIQUOR STATISTICS.
In 1870 the consumption Of beer in
England averaged 27.09 gallons per
capita. In 1896 the average was 300
gallons. In 1870 the annual average
consumption of spirituous liquors wore
1.0l gallons per capita. In 1896 Il was
a little less than one gallon per capita
There are in Great Britain today s.
7S5 breweries, III distileries, 2i9 recti-
fiers and 1860 "victualers" who are
licensed to sell all kinds of drinks.
I,, 4
places licensed to sell malt liquors only
a total of 2S,76S saloons for a popula-
tion Of S95OO.O 900. But that does not
compare with the number in the United
States. Last year the number of sa-
looms licensed to sell liquors by retail
in this country was 20l, pa, and to sell
| malt liquors lO.032 saloons to a popu
lation of about 3,50O,OOO. In Chicago
there are 14,499 persons licensed by the
government to sell liquor While our
drink bill is smaller in proportion, the
number Of saloons is much larger in
this country than in Great Britain
PAUPERTsM DECREASING.
Pauperism is deer. asing i'm England.
| This is due to education and benevol-
| encc to free schools free laundries,
/
| and other enterprises for the better
/ mont Of the condition of the working
people.
In 1Si9, when the census of Great
/ Britain showed population Of 1859, 81
! ga souls, there were 9&i,419 paupcrS-'
more than one to every twenty-eight
| of the population. In 1863, the high
! tide Of British poverty, there We're t.
/ N a =
| G2S.51S. In 1850 when the population
/ increased to &45oO,OO0, the paupers were
| reduced to 100000. and ever since then
| the population has been going up and
pauperism has been going down, until,
| in 1896, out OF a total of SO, 46j, ,720 per-
sons in the united kingdom, 7S3, 554
were dependent upon the public for
support.
IN London in 1875, with a population
of @S9S,5jG. there were 1OS,S2O paupers.
| In 1896, i'm q population Of 4,3I916O, there
were 1862 persons dependent upon
! the public for support. The average
number Of paupers in the city Of Lon
don for the last twenty years has been
| lO2, 1913, and the average cost of sup
porting them has been SIPS, 600 year
TEMPERANCE PROGRESS.
Robert Rea, secretary of the Nation
/ al Temperance league of Great Britain,
! i'm answer to my questions said: 80
| far as the general condition of Great
| Britain is concerned, we are no doubt
making gradual Improvement As the
moral sentiment of the community ad-
vances and education teaches the peo-
] pie that they are better off without
drink there is less intemperanCe. 1t is
very likely also that there is less eX-
ccssivc drinking than formerly; there
| are fewer cases of alcoholism in the
. hospitals Drunken men are not sc
/ frequently seen in the streets, and IN
the houses of the rich hospitality now
stops short Of MEDITATION. 1t is not
good form for gentleman to ge
drunk any more. Years ago it was not
considered disreputable for a guest al
dinner party to roll off his chair un-
der the table. Such a thing today
would aprall polite people.
Those who keep the statistics claim
there has been a vast advance in the
number Of total abstainers 1t was
G,OOOO0v a few years ago and is now
100000. and some say 100000, among
a population Of 39,OOO0OO or 4o,0oO,0OO in
the united Kingdom
'lnele IS SiaOudl increase III lnC
amount of beer and liquors consumed
IN Great Britain and in the revenue
from excise and license. We consum-
cd in 1898 3l,59i $50 barrels of beer. in
1894 3l,745,462 barrels of beer, in 1S9,
80, ,225,743 barrels Of beer We cOnsum-
ed in the year 1898 390S2,7S3 gallons
of spirits. We consumed in 1898 IA, 164,,
200 gallons of wine, in 1899 14,G%5,5GS gal
Ions of wine.
"In 1886 there was an increase OF
nearly per cent. in the quantity
consumed. At the same time it should
said that the consumption of liquor
has not been more rapid that the in
crease in population. While there is
reason to believe that drunkenness is
on the decline, and the number o.
tcctotalers is gradually growing, times
% prosperity in trade and industry
enable and induce people who are il
the habit of drinking to spend more
l. oncy in that way, and we have had