The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-08-14
THE TEMPERANCE PROPAGANDA
CONCERTED ATTACK ON DRINK
WINNING ALL ALONG LINE.
Some Strong Statistics Which Show
That the Saloon is the Friend Of
Crime-Facts Compiled by Emil

Some Strong Statistics Which Show
That the Saloon is the Friend OF
Crime-Facts Compiled by Emf
nent Authorities.
Under the above heading DR.. Bar.
ker gives some strong statistics and
quotes eminent authorities in his
very helpful book, "The Saloon Prob
lem and Social Reform" He says:
"The officials of prisons and pen;-
tentiaries and reform schools ali over
the country unite in t~estifying that
a large proportion of crime is due
directly to the liquor traffic. Not
long since a general average Of testi-
mony gathered from 1917 keepers
of county jails in various portions
of the United States showed that the
proportion of crime due to drink was
~ per cent.
That the saloon is destructive OF
social order is abundantly confirmed
by prison statistics.
The whole number of cases brought
before the Boston municipal criminal
court for the year ending October /,
1908, was 1885; of this number
17,11S were cases of DRINKS. -.
There were 1925 cases Of commit
ments for Jail offenses in Connecticut
for 1902; 4617 Of these for drunk
enness and 6946 of the total, or about
80 per cent. by their own confession
pleaded guilty as drinkers of intoxi-
cants.
In n year there were $4,000 ar
rests made in Chicago. The city
prosecutor recently said: 1T IS true
that thr%ee-fourths of the crime of
Chicago are due to liquor"
The Superintendent of Bridewell
says: Liquor is the aus of the
Incarceration of so per cent. of those
who are committed to the Bride
we'll"
The prison warden of Pittsburg
reports: "Of 1879 convicts sent to
Jail during 1902, nearly every one
was treated for alcoholism, while OF
this number 709 suffered from acute
delirium tremens, seven dying"
Mayor A. F. Knots, of Hammond,
Indiana, says: "Ninety-fve per cent.
of all crime is caused directly or in
directly by drink. The police records
VI OuI CITY SuO" IudI HOit lldu
ninety per cent. of all the offenses
committed are the results of intem.
perance, and that our police force,
maintained at ar expense Of $4,000
a year, is almost exclusively employed
in watching and caring for men,
women and children affected by
drink"
Hon. S. M. Nichols, former mayor
Of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, with
a population of 10000, and one
hundred and tw~enty-six saloons, tes-
titles thus: During my sever years
tenure of Office I have had about
seven thousand cases before me, and
I am satisfied that about 80 per cent.
of them we're the result of drunken7
ness"
Judge Severance says: During
my nineteen years as judge of the
district court I have sentenced nearly
four hundred people to the peniten-
tiary, and I have traced 80 per cent.
of this crime to liquor drinking"
The report of the Massachusetts
Bureau Of Statistics on the influence
of the liq traffic in regard to GRIM
inals, informs us that "82 per cent.
were in liquor at the time of offense,"
and that lin "a per cent. the inteT-
perate habits Of the offenders led to
a condition which induced the crime"
More than this that, excluding mi
nors, ninety-six to every one hundred
were addicted to the use of liquors"