The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1899-05-11
STATISTICS OF LIQUOR.
Distincr Sign of the Fact That Tenn
perance Is Making Gains in
This Country.

Temperance advocates have strenu-
ously insisted for some time past that
marked improvement was manifest in
the drinking habits of the people of the
United States, but in the absence of sta
tistics bearing directly upon the mat
ter, this contention has been accepted
with some hesitation. But, fortunate
ly, there are now at hand official returns
which show that there are fewer arrests
relatively to the whole population for
drunkenness than was the case 20, or
even ten years ago; that the consump-
ton of spirits has perceptibly declined,
and that while there has been an in
crease in the consumption per capita of
all liquors, it has not been large enough
to offset the decrease per capita in dis
titled beverages.
Under the enumeration of 1892, the
year Immediately following the pro-
mitigation of the last federal census,
there were 40,259 saloons in New York
Saloons, hotels, taverns, restaurants,
beer gardens and picnic resorts), 12, 700
in Pennsylvania, is, 400 in Illinois, 16, 200
in Ohio, $500 in Michigan and 500 in
Massachusetts. At that period the
average number of saloons in the
United States was one to 27S of the pop
ulation. In Illinois the ratio was one to
EOS, in Ohio one to 226, in Michigan one
to PAS, in Pennsylvania one to 421, in
Massachusetts one to 436, and in New
York one to $50.
Notwithstanding the steady increase
of population, in 1895 the number of sa-
looms in Ohio had been reduced froE7
10000 to $4,000, but in Pennsylvania the
number had been increased from 1000
to $4,000, and in New York from 4O, 1000
to 41,000. At that time the total num-
Der of retail licen ed saloons in the
whole United States was 20S,3SS. The
present number of licensed saloons, as
reported on the LIST of July last, was
only 1854, a reduction of 1900 in six
years. By the official treasury report
just issued the number of retail saloons
in New York is 32,73S, a reduction of
nearly 5000 from what it was a wear
| ago. In Pennsylvania the total number
| of saloons is 1896, small increase. In
illinois there were 1000 saloons fewer
on July 1, 1898, than six years before.
In Ohio the number was down to IA. 1856,
or nearly 1000 less than six years ago,
while in Massachusetts the number had
| decreased from $500 to 1920, in Michi-
gan from $500 to 5000, and in Indiana
from 1909 to 1900. The latest treasury
tiOnrpQ show that fha no. of
ury licenses in force in South Carolina,
the dispensary state, is only CPS, while in
the territory of New Mexico they num-
Der CIT. In Oklahoma there are 366 and
in Alaska 373, while in the territory of
Arizona there are SCI, as against 447
only in the state of Florida. While the
number of saloons in the United States
is apparently 1876 900, the actual number
is nearer 175,000, for the reason that for
the sale of liquors for however brief
period in year one government tax is
issued, and when for any reason it is
surrendered, or returned, or revoked, or
lost, or Cancelled, or made imperative,
the issuance of a new one, either to the
same place or to the same party, counts
as an additional saloon for that year.
While the decrease in the number of
saloons is no doubt due in part to pro-
hibitive legislation an to heavy license
fees, there is good reason to believe that
the principal reason is to be found in
the voluntary change in public senti-
ment which has been gradually taking
place during the -dst 20 years. The
total abstainer is as common now as he
once was rare, and a public dinner with
out wine is no longer regarded as an
anomaly. We are surely headed in the
right direction and we are making good
progress. The principal danger is that
the over earnest reformers may OBJ
struct the way by interposition of laws
that are calculated to arouse opposition
in men who do not mean to be driven
even along the path in which their feet
are already set.-Atlanta Constitution.