The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-03-15
A Stern Indictment.

The presiding judge OF one OF the Chi.
cago courts said recently to an Intet Ocean
interviewer: q
"You mny ransack the pigeon holes all
such annual reports as are made UP, but
they will not tell half the truth. Nof only
are the saloons Of Chicago Responsible fot
the cost Of the police force, the fifteen jus.
tice courts, the county jail, great p0rti0n
Of Joliet State prison, the long ,m4rdek
trials, the coroner's Office, the moreuas the
poorhouse, the reform schools, !the mad
house. Go anywhere you pleaseL and6u
will almost invariably find that -~hiskey -
houses Of the city, ana the bad. houses oi
the city, are the. direct outgrowth OF they
boon companions Of drink. OF all the
prostitutes Of Chicago, the downfall oil al-
m ost every one can be traced to drunken
ness on the part OF their parents or hus.
bands, or drunkenness on their own part.
OF all the boys In the reform school at
Pontiac, and in the various reformatories
about the city, ninety-f1ve psr cent. arc
the children OF parents who died through
drink, or became criminals through the /,
same cause. OF the insane or demented
cnses disposed OF here In court every Thurs
day,,a moderate estimate Is that ninety
per cent. are caused by alcohol. saw
estimated the other day that there were 9
ten thousand destitute boys in Chicago
who are not confined at all, but are run.
ming at large. think that is small estf-
mate, Men are sent to jail for drunken.
ness, and,what becomes OF their familiesf
The county agent and poorhouse provide
community. Generally speaking, these
families 60 to destruction. The boys turn
thieves, and the girls aud mothers gem
orally resort to the slums. The sandbaa-
gers, murderers and thugs generally Of to-
day, who are prosecuted in the police
courts and criminal courts, are the sons OF
men who fell victims to drink. The per-
centags in this case IS fully sixty-fve per
cent s 7f,3fsf
that saloon the other saloon'-saloons,
saloon, saloons, saloons-fgured con-
etantly and universally in the anarchist
trials. Conspirators met In saloons; dyna-
mite was discussed In saloons; bombs were
distributed over saloons; armed revolutions
lists were drilled above, under. or In rear
saloons; treason made assignation In san
looms, and time and time ugain witnesses
say, We went to such and such saloon
for wine and beer There Is not country
under the sun in which turks go much
saloons OF the United States, and notably
In the larger cities. These saloons pests
harbor thieves, thugs, housa-hreakers,
anarchists, robbers and murderers. Nine.
tenths OF the law-breaking in America isl
hatched In saloons, and the admitted fact Y
is palliated by the axiom that saloons are
headquarters for town, city, and even ma
tionai Serrymandering. The liquor coun-
ter Is the scaffold on which half.hundred
beautiful. vital American things ore as
sassinated. on which scores OF horrid
plaques are gloriaed."
A Physicians Experience With Alcohol.
had never been much in sympathy with
any temperance movement until I served
as an interne in an alcoholic ward OF
large city hospital, writes physician In the
New York Sun have inquired into the
habits OF many alcoholics and the clrcum-
stances OF their intoxicatlon.
have come to believe restraint Is Inn
perative. Lessen the opportunities offered
for alcoholic fntoxicatlon by progressive
taxation Of the liquor traffic; say add $500
n year to Raines law taxation for tea or
twelve years rs an initial step. Then take
your soundings.
Let benevolent men or the city found
twenty-five Cooper Unions" as working
mems clubs" or more, perhaps 1fty-in
different parts OF the city for ballroom
dwellers and others, and you will deprive
the saloon Of large share Of its patron
age.
Practical agitation for legal redress will
receive the support Of alcoholics them
selves. Class legislation. even against
saloon keepers, Is always odlous, and justly
so. Agitation from the parsons study Is
foolish. Too many clergymen know moth
ing Of the conditions under which fifty per
cent. Of the population Of this town live.
Physicians who, during their college years
and after graduation, have worked among
the poor and for them know Of their naked
ness and starvation and alcoholic indul.
gence, both by men and women.