The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-07-01
Voice 81 the People

v Olce$ O1 I'M
The Drink Habit
Editor of The Times-D lspatc
sirS--aEaving$ made q st~udytqe|the LIQUOR
d jquuleestioonnssfoo r twenty years past, ana being
thoroughly " convinced that YOU position
3isa wrong In regard to s~elf-c0ntroI5 n
moderate drinking, as exhibited In last.
Sundays paper In reply TO- some criticism
lin the South Boston News, Which had
taken issue Nth 4 former statement; In
The Times Dispatch. I would be glad
to occupySsome space In your widely
circulated and influential paper In CIV
ing reasons for. the above statement The
new argument to which i have reference
is formidable because Of the SdeHelopment
OF certain facts by business men, from,
a business standpoint. from lohg years
OF $actual experiment and test. n similar
facts were stated u by temperate es men.
without thoroughly celebrating their
truth. the average person WOULD pass
them b y as unworthy OF Gnotit4.8 It IS
true, perhaps, that some ardent temper
!ancegadyocates have not been az careful
In their statements as they ought TO be.
yet III believe&the damage causedNby the
traffic. has been more often Eunderstated
that overstated.
Here are the facts which are RHkely to.
be new o most ,o,f readers: In 1870
Robert Warner. a Quaker, was refused
life insurance In London at the regular
premium rate, because he was n Ab-
lstainera from all alcoholic drinks, Warner
was so certain that this was q business
5blunder that he convinced some friends
fo3f the correctnessgo o. his position, to the
extent that they Joined him In forming
Ia life insurance company in which teeto-
ftaalersi Instead OF }SseiIts Tcharged@m nor
than the ordinarylgraf OF 2 I =
section Was added, ga which carefully!
selected moderate 1dl1tnkets were accepted.
tbut each section whs k{pt ntlrel,,sfsep
s1arate from the other. Ghe company is
now now one. OF the glargeBt in England, hav!ng
Accumulated thlrty-six million dollars
uunrencumbered assets.
1.-THE separate sections have been con-
tilnued down to the present time both
classes 81 members paying the same rate
Of premium, but sharing In pro1tF ac-5
cording to the earnings 8of the section
ITO whlchSN the members belong, During
8thirty-tlye years. 1866-1e00,$ for every 100
deaths In the temperance section there
were 1871 deaths in the moderate drinking
section, based onsa corresponding MIN
Dor aof lives at risk The effect upon
profits was also marked. The dividend
recently declared for the past 1--WE years
averaged $50 to the Temperance MEM
hers. while SIT was. paid to each mem
n r3s 81 the moderate drinking s%ectlon.}
The members in both. sections of this
compnn are people living in the slime
climate and under the same conditions,
with the one distinction only that MOD.
crate drinkers compose one section hnd3
persons swho do mot drink at all EcomHose
the other. Several other European cpmS
are now doing business on the
same basis and with similar results.i3Al
35S The Scottish Temperance ife,Storgiin-s
ized IN 1855, has always allowed total
Tabstalners 10 per cent. OH Its regular
iumn yra tes and made q better balrgaal4n$;
at that on temperance people than 8toh
moderate drinkers. Remember, that no
insurance company at present is wlllng
to Insure the life OF g nka q ontyf
moderate drinkers are accepted. THIS -
true in Europe and In this country also,
a number OF the American companies
having been Induced, by the success pf
the European companies, to arrange tent
pernnce sections, and with the same res
suits that are obtained I'M Europe
Seventeen years ago there was 8estapf-
lished in New York City the American
Temperance Life That company has re-
uo u IL O4kOS ~ ~ ~ ssN ffFA
surance, according to its language. Gtof
occasional drinkers" at IL per cent, htkhis
ar rate than It charged 1ts total II abb
stniners. This company's success has
been remarkable, II now has o .magr
nlAcent fourteen-story building for Y
home office. 1t has over ten 8mllllon
dollars OF business In force and an
annual income OF about 100000. and ~
rapidly growing stronger and more pops
ular. 1t la shown. from the yarious
sta tistics OF these insurance companies,
that the death rate OF total abstainers
Ia about 30 per cent. less than that OF
moderate drinkers, 3E#
There Is statement from the Amer
lean Temperance Life, which 1t says. is
made upon the authority Of the most,
painstaking observations of Insurance ex-
perts. to the erect that moderate drinkers
1--we on an average Of ithirty-ftye and
a half years; tlpplers, fIfty-one years.
total abstainers slxty-four and one-fifth
years. 43E
remembering where they come from. and
how they are secured, how can you argue
that the man who controls himself and
drinks only moderately Is not only not In
jured by taking strong drink. but 10 to be
commended for his Moderatlontand SELF
control These Insurance men are not
moralists, n YOU Will see the moral
phase OF the question has not been
Houched, except asst Ia finsepaTably con-
nected With the business statistics given,
X men unquestlonably shorten their lives
by the beverage Plse OF ardent spirits. are
they not guilty 1of wrong to- themselves
and to God, II MI to society In general?
TO my mind; however. the man who
can drink modirately and keep 1t up
year after year without apparent harm
TO hlmselft or y anybody else, sets a
more Hdangerousl example than the man