Mexico weekly ledger., 1903-02-19

1eep II undehled, and its influence IN
he nation win always be for good, but
iisrupt the home, debauch the home,
ind you have disrupted and debauched
IN integral part Of the nation.
The greatest disrupter OF homes to-
lay is intemperance, and consequently
becomes the greatest menace 10
national life. Intemperance robs man
81 physical and mental power; 1t robs
the home OF money, Of happiness on
earth, and OF the chance OF eternal
happiness hereafter. In thus weaken
ing the individual and the home it
weakens the nation. A drunkard's
influence is always bad, and organized
society feels his influence from the
home even unto the seat OF national
government This is the more true II
the drunkard be a man in authority.
The drunkard is a common sight
his name is legion. We have seen his
faltering, staggering steps on our
streets, befouling the atmosphere with
language unspeakable, and a breath
so putrid as TO be positively poisonous
to ladies and children who are com
PEELED to tread the paths We allow him
to obstruct. We have seen him in the
criminal courts in endless streams;
constituting IS per cent of all the
criminals who come before the bar of
justice. The daily press, that great
mirror OF modern life, has told us OF
the drunken judge on the bench, the
Keeling representative in our legisla-
tive halls, the inflamed general on the
field OF battle, the besotted diplomat
at foreign courts--and like a great
panorama Of horrors we have seen the
immense cost the shame and the
suffering occasiOned by these things
until we are sick at heart.
The drunkard might be SO from
heredity, but he is more apt to be a
product OF social customs and environ
ment. The boy takes his first glass
because be is asked to, and is afraid to
refuse-not because he has an Inherit
ed love Of liquor. Imagine, II you can,
a boy starting out in life with the
ayowed purpose OF becoming a drunk
ard You Eve heard Of such a
thing. Yet 100, 900 drunkards die in
this country every year, and 1905 600
innocent boys and girls must take
their first drink in order that the
supply may be kept up. This means
the downfall Of nearly 300 boys and
girls every day,
Can a nation continue to prosper
and advance In civilization as long as 1t
harbors and encourages ar institution
which causes the moral and spiritual
death OF 100, 600 OF its citizens yearly?
Nay, Verify
We spend millions of dollars In the
maintenance OF public schools, where
in our children are taught that alco-
hol is a poison and not a food for the
human stomach. Then we turn those
children loose on our streets wherein
we have authorized the establishment
OF an institution whose constant aim,
day and night Is to entice these youth
into the path that leads to drunken
ness and death. This institution is
the saloon.
According to the reports Of the
United States internal reyenue de-
partment, there are approximately
$50, 600 Of these saloons in the United
States. Placed side by side, allowing
25 feet frontage for each saloon, they
would line both sides of a street 600
miles long. Into the tills Of these sa-
looms the people pay $780, 900, 900
every year, an average Of about "a, lO0,-
600 each day. OF this vast sum the
government receives back In blood
money about 5000, OOO, 900, and the
counties and municipalities re-
ceive many millions more--blood mon
ey indeed, at the expense of suffering
wives, hungry children, the tears of
mothers, the despair Of fathers; at the
expense Of lunacy, insanity, crime and
Here are some OF the results of the
legalized saloon, from statistics gath
cred by the National Temperance So
ciety:
$500 smOthered babies.
5000 suicides.
10000 widowed mothers.
100000 orphaned children.
100, coo insane.
100000 criminals.
5000 murdered wives.
1000 murders.
10000 fallen girls.
100000 paupers.
0,000 feeble minded.
100, 1000 dying drundards.
100000 boys to take the place Of the
lying drunkards.
Is there anything in this horrible |
;ategory that can in any way be bene-
fetal to the government?
Isl not time for every citizen to-
grasp every opportunity to lessen the
power Of this mother OF crime, ere the
very foundations OF our government be
undermined and the structure we are
% nrnnd Of be fnmhled In the dnst2