The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1902-03-13
THE GREAT DESTROYER
SOME STARTLING FACTS ABOUT
THE VICE OF INTEMPERANcE.

The Murders OF Drink--Eight Hundred
and Twenty Hoinicides In the United
States Last Year Were Caused by In
toxication-I Blood of the Saloons Crime
For several years past the Chicago Tri-
bunc has annually published statement
| regarding the crimes of violence in the
| United States. The method used in gath
| ering those statistics is not unquestion-
| ably accurate, since, as we understand it,,
| the report given is merely n summary OF
what the news dispatches bring to the
Office of the Tribune in the course OF the
year. However, the figures are valuable
and probably approach nearer to authen
| tic statistics than any Others in existence.
| According TO the 1ribune's figures Il ere
were in the United States during the year
| 1901 800 murders caused by intoxicating
drinks. The incompleteness of this state
ment is manifest in a moment when it is
noticed that the list includes 1916 murders
that are recorded as the Outcome of quar-.
rels." 1t is a matter OF common knowledge
that comparatively few quarrels end in
murder where the principals of the quar-
rel are sober. For some reason or other OF
late years there has been an extreme disin.
clination upon the part of the newspapers
to report drinks part n n murder case.
Yet the intelligent reader readily recog
nizes. 1t in numerous instances. Take as
cago last Saturday night Two men quar-
relied over a matter of 81. One of them
went out and was gone few minutes. -.
turned and renewed his demand, was re-
fused and shot the other man. instantly
killing him, and turning ran from the
office, entered a saloon and took n drink.
That that was rot the first drink in the
tragedy needs little confirmation, but the
published reports will record this as a
crime due to a quarrel, rather than due to
drink.
But suppose that the figures of the Tri.
bune we're accurate, and that only 800 peo.
pie were murdered in the United States
during the last year on account of ntoxi.
eating liquors. Even with that, the show
ing would be that as a people we arc al
lowing wellknown, preventable cause to
deprive large number Of fellow-citizens Of
life and to carry grief and suffering to a
much greater number. Even $40 murders
stand as q charge of appalling blackness
against a people who viii not take the
necessary steps for the removal of the
cause. We say will not" for SO far as
the great multitude of the American peo.
pie is concerned, that is the case. Ii ia
true there are propositions for regulation.
propositions for changing the method By
which drink il sold, propositions to in.
crease the revenue received, but each and
all OF such propositions offer not the slight
est ueNlatlon from the one constant tact
that the sale of Intoxicating drink, under
any regulation, by any method, produces
crime, makes murder.
The surprising fact about it is that the
Anglo-SaXon race has known this for cen
turies. Two hundred and fifty years ago
Sir Matthew Hale, then an eminent jurist
of England, said:
"rhe places of judicature which have
held in this kingdom have given me op-
portunity to observe the original cause of
most of the enormities that have been COM
mitted for the space of nearly twenty
years, and by close observation ! have
found that if the murders and manslaught-
ers. the burclarics and robberies. the riots
and tumults and other enormities that
have happened in that time, were divided
into five parts. four of them have been the
issue and product Of excessive drinking at
taverns or ale-house meetings."
Murder touches us quickly enough some
times. The whole country was convulsod
and even now there are thousands who
would legislate away the dearest bought
rights OF the people because single mur-
der was committed last summer by poor
fool at Buffalo. But how long can not the
saloon spatter the blood Of its crimes in
the faces of Christian people with iinpu-
nity?-New York Voice