The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-02-14
TIE GREAT DESTROYER
SOME STARTLING FACTS ABOUT
TIE VICE OF lNTEMPERANCE.

Commercialism is the characteristic
disease of the American people, writes
the Rev. Madison G. Peters, Church Of
the Epiphany, New York, in the Sun
day World. Our Presidential cam
paigns for nearly fifty years have been
waged and won on simple questions of
trade. The most successful thing for
any party to do is to touch the pocket
nerve of the American people. There
fore, to make n winning case for tenn
perance we must array the commercial
ism Of America against the liquor
traffic.
Considered merely as a question OF
dollars and cents the liquor problem
will some day become a burning issue
in d politics. Thetentire, amount re-
ceiyed for tariff is approximately $685.
100000 per annum, while the total out
nut of gold in this country is something
like $780, ZOO, 600 per annum, and the sill
yer product is perhaps $6O,000,OO0, OF,
combined, as much as the annual
liquor bill of New York City, which is
estimated at 100000 a day. AS an
economic question neither the tariff nor
the gold nor silver issues is In 1t with
the drink problem.
The ordinary expense Of the United
States Government for all departments
is about $500, 600, 600 annually lin 1895
it was less than $375, 100000. That is
to say, our city's drink bill is more than
half the amount required to run the en-
tire Government of the United States.
It is nearly twice as large as u
tariff revenue, more than four times
the amount Of our gold product, and
six times as great as the entire value
of the silver product of. the country.
The city's annual" drink bill is more
than. one-third our National debt. 1t
is two-thirdss as. much as the total re-
ceipts of our, NATIONAL Government, out.
side of customs, and it is nearly halt
the total capitalization Of the national
banks of the country.
1t is more than twice the salaries OF
the teachers in all the public schools
of the country, and is twenty times the
income of all the Protestant foreign
missionary. societies Of the world,
American, European or otherwise.
Our city's annual drink bill is equal
to the value of our entire mineral prod
uct, including gold, silver, iron, copper,
zinc, lead, quicksilver and aluminium.
The amount spent'in New York every
year is equal to the value OF oil the
bituminOus and anthracite coal pro-
duced annually, and is nearly equal 10
the value Of all iii wooden manufac-
tures, The number of building and
loan associations in the United States
is less. thani7O0O, and their total assets
about 100000 900; or, in other words,
we spend about as much for drink
every twenty months in this city as the
whole country does through building
and loan associations to emancipate IL
self from seryitude to landlords.
The interest Oh the city's' annual
drink bill at five per cent. would about
equal the income of all the universities
and colleges Of the United states. Inc
value of the corn crop in 1900 was $i'-
PIG, ,OOU against $492,OO0,0N IN
1895; wheat, 1925, 900 1000, and cotton,
s575, 200, 900, so that we spend annually
for drink in our city nearly one-fourth
the value of OUT enormous corn crop,
and one-third the combined value Oh
the cotton and wheat crops.
The economic aspect Of the liquor
traffic should challenge attention.
The diversion of SO vast q sum from
the lines Of productive industries u
affect them seriously; $365,Goo,ooo
turned from the saloons into the CHAM
nels of legitimate trade would material
" improve our. industrial condition.
Instead Of spending $365;Oo0,0OO'
year in this city. for drink, suppose we
turned it into channels of usetul IN
dustry, see what it would 40. Fifty
million dollars extra expended 1or loou
and provisions, what an impetus TO the
grocery business all over the city!
fifty million dollars more for clothing;
what EMPLOYMENT would this furnish
for wooden and cotton mills, for tailors
and dressmakers! Suppose we could
mt woelen dresses and underwear on
oil the drunkards' wives and chlldfen
and wooden blankets on all their peas,
would not that create a greater WooleH
boom than any tariff that could ne
Ievied2 Suppose We should spend go
100000 more in New York every year
for shoes. what a boom to shoe II
leather factories! One hundred million
dollars more spent for new houses,
what demand for lumber, building ma
terial, carpenters, masons n mecnan.
icsl One hundred million dollars more
expended for furniture, what an III
!, crease in furniture and upholstery eS,
adjustments! Then we would SILL
have $40, OOO, 900 left to build and main
tain nlaces Of amusement. where men,
women and children could spend their
evenings with profit. no
Jacob Riis, in his Battle With the
Sums" has pointed out districts III
New York where there is a saloon 10
every 191 of the poulation; that 49,
thirty families Of poorly paid laporers
find money to support a saloon, Whlcu
requires an ordinary outlay OF say $ln
q day or th;rty-seven cents for each
famiiv. thirty-seven cents a day, II
saved at four per cent, would III t"en-
ty years build q good home IN q near
by suburb. If the money thrown away
by New Workers. in the last ten years
had been put into homes every renter
in the city might be living in MS OWL
house.
Neither open minis nor open mills
will do so much to abolish poverty,
stamp out crime, insure general pros
neritv and guarantee u people their
inolienable right to the pursuit OF
hapniness as closed saloons.
Temperance Notes,
Tbo Government of Honduras has