The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-25

cause moro continuous-have been inflicted on
mankind by drink than by tho three great his
toric scourges of war. famine. and postilencec COM
binod. Another quotation is made from q
Protestant Archbishop OF Canterbury, who do
clarod: " Intompcranco Is n dreadful evil. eat
ing out the very heart OF society, destroying do
mestic lito among our working classes.
and perhaps doing moro harm than any
other cause that could DO named In
this ngc. 1t is tho prolific source Of
poverty, misery. and crime" A pastoral let
ter from the Catholic Bishops Of Ireland
is also cited TO the following effect: ITO drunk
enness we may refer. as 10 their baneful cause.
almost all tho crimes by which the country IL
disgraced. and much Of the poverty from which
1t suffers. Drunkenness has wrecked moro
homes, once happy, than ever fell beneath the
crowbar brigade In the worst days of %oviction; 1t
has filled moro graves and made more widows
and orphans than did the famine: II has broken
moro hearts. blighted more hopes, and rent
asunder family ties moro recklcssly than the en-
forced exile to which their misery has con-
dcmncd emigrants." Archbishop Ireland, him
self, has marshalled some memorable sta
tistics. He points out, for instance. that,
In San Francisco. in one year. tho total
number OF arrests was 25,669, OF which
$4,000 were for drunkenness. or for disorderly
conduct in connection with drunkenness.
In Boston. during n twelvemonth, 1887 SEN
fences were passed by the courts; Of these,
12,227 were for various grades OF drunken
ness. In Brooklyn the arrests in 1881 were
2s.ss2; of which 14.O69 wcro reported as
drunk and disorderly. In Philadelphia,
for tho sam year, there were 44,O97 ar
rests; for drunkenness and disordcrly con-
duct, 27,229. In New York the total number
Of arrests for a year was Il 1853. Of which AZ, 191
were for intoxication and disorderly conduct.
We are. at the Same time, reminded that much
Of the incompetence of tho country never boz
comes public, or, IL it docs, is never brought
before the courts. The poor man 1t Is whose
record is usually made the matter OF court pro-
ceedings; but the poor man, OF course, is not the
only slave of drink. Adduced also as painfully
significant are the figures relating TO the
number OF saloons and tho quantity Of drink
consumed. In 1881 there were, according to
official statistics, 1s5, 100 liquor dealers In tho
United States, or one dealer to every go per
sons. The proportion of saloons TO the popula-
ton in cities is also deemed worthy of note. At
the time when this lecture was delivered there
was in Boston ono licensed saloon to $50 por-
sons; in Chicago. ono to no; in Now York, one to
1875; in Buffalo and Albany, ono to 100. Deduct
ing from the population children and the many
women and men who do not use alcoholic bower
ages. or do not obtain them from saloons. we
aaaNa 49, VI - ivy ShaSoh ~ ~
derived from thirty or thirty-ilve persons. 1t is
pointed out that these, obviously, must consume
intoXicants TO excess, for the saloon business
could not thrive were its patrons to conflne them
selves within the limits of moderation. Two other
facts are brought forward: The Commissioner of
Internal Revenue reported for 1881, as the prod
uct OF distillation in the country, III, 1881 $50
gallons, or over ia gallons to every person in
the population. The Beer Brewers Congress,
held in Chicago in 1882, reported 13.3i7.110
barrels of beer manufactured the previous fiscal
year, or over 8 gallons to every unit in the popu-
lation. Upon the whole. it is pronounced no
exaggeration TO say that throughout the United
States 5000, 200 persons frequent saloons and
indulge immediately in alcoholic drink: II is
estimated that the annual drink bill of tho coun-
try falls but little, II at all. under the enormous
sum of one billion dollars. To appreciate the
meaning of this aggregate We must bear in mind
that the entire sum raised by taxes OF all kinds
national, State, county. city. town, and school
district-was. at the date of this lecture. not
more than 500, 0OO, 900. Archbishop Ireland
contends that in these figures lies the solution OF
the mystery how pauperism can exist in Amer
lea. No other country on earth is so rich in re-
sources; nowhere else are toll and talents so
literally rewarded. In America there ought to
be no poverty. except from unforeseen accidents.
Yet, as the Archbishop reminds us, the plague of
pauperism has broken out in our cities; waits
and Migrants line our streets and highways; in
all directions eleemosynary institutions rear
massive piles. Economists are alarmed The
author goes on to charge the saloons with being
the prime source OF all this pauperism. and its
attendant social evils. "Thither the laborcr and
tho mechanic bring their hard-earned dollars,
only to find themselves pennilcss when the de-
mand for work slackens. There fortunes are
wrecked. the ruin OF which precipitates embcz-
elements and fraudulent bankruptcies. There en-
ergy is paralyzcd and idleness is consecratcd.
There men toss Off their money to purchase
shame. while their wives and children at home
cry for bread; and. when the wretchcs have been
killed by the poisonous draughts, the doors OF
the county poor house or Of the orphan asylum
must open TO save their families from the blasts
of winter and the pangs of hunger" For the
evils OF the liquor traffic Archbishop Ireland
would look to legislation for n remedy, and he
holds that one may be found not only In prohi-
bition. but in q system Of high license which
should signally reduce the number of saloons.