The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-02-16
ECONOMICS OF TEMPERANCE
 WORK
(Continued from Fifth Page.)

NSOhLiuueu 1IOl II HUI IdSe.J
 if they did not drink? What shall we
 call It when those men cannot buy the
 clothes, although they do not drink?
 Make man temperance man, to-
 tai Abstainer, and you give him a new
 outlook, new ideals, new demands.
 When he stops drinking he has solved
 one operation of the problem of meet
 ing these new wishes.
 It Is claimed by some that temper ance
 workers do great injustice to those who
 work for wages; that alcohol is ne-
 cessity; that those who deny that this
 is so, are lowering the standard of cum-
 fort of working men, thus lowering
 wages. We know the great difference
 between the man who drinks and the
 man who does not It is the former
 who is satisfied with little of every
 thing except drink, and of that nothing.
 Let us return to the community we
 left some time ago. Some of the peo-
 pie were suffering from poverty because
 of the drink habit. In our absence
 some have fared even worse. Occasion
 al help is no longer sufficient They
 must have 1t all of the time and they
 look to the public to provide them with
 1t. The community is benevolent, but
 unwilling to care for each person need
 ing help, unless all such are in one
 house. A public home Is established
 and the necessary ones placed in
 charge This means more expense. It
 means more waste, because those who
 take care of the unfortunate ones can
 take no part in industrial work. Of those who suffer from pauperism, di-
 rectly or indirectly from the drink hab- it, there are found larger numbers among white people than among colored people; more among females than
 males; more among foreign born than among native born; more among those over thirty years of age.
 For the third time let us return to the | community. All of the men and women | who are drinking are not suffering from | poverty or pauperisrn; they are making | the community suffer on account of | them, by reason of their crimes. Drunkenness is crime; it is also disease; it is a producer of crimes. It is crime itself by statute and reason. It is nuisance.A> Some of the people in this community have been aroused to evil passions because of the drink hab-
  they have fortified themselves with drink. While under the influence of drink they have committed deeds that they would not have dared to do if they had been sober. Some while under the | Influence of drink have seen crime com- mitted, but could give no account of it; could give no assistance in bringing the criminal to punishment. The children of these people have been irregular in at school, committing truan- cy, close proximate of crime. All these criminals, all these crimes in this have increased the public expense by rendering necessary prisons, courts and police. They have added to the waste of the community. Men who were previously engaged in industrial are now criminals; or they are protecting, as it were, the commu- nity from those who have become crim- inals. In either case there is loss to the industrial life.
 To refer to the beginning of our study, economics is the science which treats of wealth, it's production and What is wealth? Henry George has said: "Only such things can be wealth the production of which increases and the destruction of which [ , decreases the aggregate of wealth." | , And where he says that an increase of / wealth is not an increase of land, nor of , population, but, quoting the words of f Mr. George, land increase of tangible / .hings, having an actual and not mere z y a relative value, such as buildings, ,attle, tools, machinery, agricultural s Ind mineral products, manufactured r ,oods, ships wagons, furniture and the f ike. The increase of such things con- n 'titutes an increase of wealth; their de- r rease Is a lessening of wealth." IT
 The economics of temperance work is F he science which gives us many req " ons for carrying that. work on. This is V wealthy nation, so called; and the r ,eople are prosperous, as it were. We elieve that liquor Is not part of the S wealth of a community, because the I, reduction of 1t does not increase the E 7ealth We do not claim that we can g 1ake every poor man prosperous by u polishing the drink habit; but that W 7e can make more men, women and hildren less miserable; yes, some hap P fer because they are more prosperous W .bolish the drink habit and you in- g reaSe production or wealth ana cnange T omewhat it's distribution. sl It is argued by those who oppose our ee .ork that were temperance workers ir accessful, and were the drink habit one away with, there would be great bl ecrease in the public revenues. They NV ay that if we are to remove the sa- to ons, and deprive the people of the rev. cr 1uee therefrom, we should propose ,me way to meet the expenss now met ti v the proceeds of the various taxes on TO uuors They do not remember that as ly is a crime, those who en- Ing ,urage drunkenness or allow it for the tn ike of the revenue to be derived ar lerefrom are participants in crime. sll hey do not tell us that although inter- Tn Il revenue taxes and license fees yield nc rge amounts of money it is not a net lin, if it is a gain at all. There is a ta f off to this income. We have shown nl Id we know that the drink habit pr .ings burdens upon the community, ar Id robs the community of some who, tn 1der other conditions, would share cel ose burdens. We have shown some of the economic un