Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-04-14

viz ihloAacaHts consumed last year
was over $1,750 100000 That figure
represents the amount of money trans
ferred from the pockets of the people
to the pockets of the liquor dealers;
money paid out for the pampering of al
depraved appetite, giving us no re-
turns. unitarian or otherwise; money
literally thrown away. In other words,
1T costs in cold cash over $40 per-
capita to secure a saving of SO per
capita in taxation
We are twentieth century business
men l believe. We are noted for the
acumen we display in grasping the
profitable end Of all propositions that
present themselves. Yet we trade a
twenty dollar gold piece for three sill
yer dollars, ali the while patting our
selves on the back for our remarkable
business sagacity.
Now if that We're the only loss wei
sustained in this little economic bunco
game, we might congratulate ourselves
on getting off easily. But there isl
more to come. Suppose we consider
that ss,sooooo,ooo invested in the
liquor business. Always remember
that this capital is absolutely without
value SO far as the production of ma
tional wealth is concerned that It'll
adds not the worth of a dollar to the
products Of legitimate industry; and
augmentation of human welfare Then
let US consider the 100000 men en-
gagged In the liquor business We have
nation of S5,000.000 people, with say
2S,000,000 adult workers capable Of en-
gaging in productive industry. But u
100000 Of these workers are engaged in
non productive industry, leaving 21,-
100000 for the fields of productive toll
Suppose we transfer this $4,000, 100000
useless capital and these 100000 nom
producers to fields of productive in
dustry. 1t would mean an increase of
at least 33 per cent in the productive
power Of the nation. Estimating the
industrial aa products of the past year at
$4,000 100000, an increase of 33 per
cent in our productive power would
mean an increase of industrial pro-
ducts to the value Of 100000, 900,
that Is to say, we are losing, in the
presence of those 100000 men in the
non productive field of the liquor
business, more than SAP per capita
with the uncomfortable fact that the
mere existence Of the liquor traffic as
business costs every inhabitant of
the American nation s102 in cold cash
every year. or q total for the entire
nation Of about sS.750,000,000 annually.
Yet we are willing to stand this enor-
nous drain upon our resources; we are
willing to face this annual business
loss, for the mere pleasure of receiving
the miserable SO year the devil kind
~ allows each Of us in payment for
placing the stamp of responsibility
upon his nefarious business.
Gentlemen. that man who "cc''ire*7
more or less fame in neighborhood
history for not being able 70 see
inch ahead of his nose was just a
plain American business man.
But this SS,750,000,000 represents our
yearly loss by reason of simply the
existence of the liquor business. The
loss resulting from it's physical and
mental effects upon the people re-
mains to be considered.
1t Is fact patent to every man, in
Guiding the saloonkeeper, that the hab-
itual use of intoXicants decreases the
physical and mental ability, and there
fore the economic efficiency. of the
user in direct proportion to the
[ employer of labor knows that his
workmen are industrially capable ac-
cording to the degree of Their absti-
nence from alcoholic liquors. Every
physician knows that intoxicants are
in their very nature poisonous. The
root meaning of the word itself is
sufficient to demonstrate that fact.
Constant absorption Of poison will
in time tear down the strongest con-
stitution. Therefore we know it to be
be true that the use of alcoholic liquors
| means constant decrease in the
average of national economic effici-
ency; and that signifies an industrial
loss which, while impossible to reli-
ably estimate, is enormous and stead
| lily increasing.
Furthermore, when large proper
ton Of the nations population deliber-
ately weakens itself physically and
mentally by alcoholic indulgence, the
susceptibility to the ravage of dis
ease Is greatly increased. and the bar
riers erected by the health officials to
prevent the spread of pestilence are
greatly diminished in efficiency This
adds another large item to the price
we pay for surrendering our social
honor.
The vital statistics of the nation
show that from so per cent to rs per
cent of the pauperism, crime and
lunacy prevalent is due to the use Of