Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1909-02-04

anu oiA lllitS lOHSi
were found, the first of this year, 1877
dramshops licensed to do business. In
this same territory there are, of all
denominations, IA churches, and the
entire population, according to the
best information obtainable, is $4,000
Patriotic American citizens, look at
this picture! One church for every
1000 people; one dramshop for every
lO2; IA places dedicated to God for
the uplifting of mankind and teaching
the way of life; 1877 places licensed
to sin to lead men and women down
to eternal death; IA doors open to
point the young people to Heaven,
l37 doors open to pull them down to
hell. You may travel from Maine to
California, and from Pensacola to
Manitoba, and there is only one other
spot that you will find to compare
with this, and that is Benbow City,
new town with 20 voters and 20
dramshops.
But let us for a moment look at the
cost of these dramshops. According to
the dramshop keepers themselves,
they must take in an average of $25
day or they cannot pay expenses.
Now, II we only allow a profit of So
day, we have each one of the 1877
saloons costing the people every day
$25, or total of $3,425 a day. Con
trary to the laws of the state, they
keep open 365 days in the year. max
ing total cost for the year of ST.
250,125. For convenience and so that
we can remember the amount, drop
the s125 and call it one and one-fourth
million dollars In pile. Nine silver
dollars make little more than one
inch, but counting nine TO the inch,
we find that this pile will reach up
two and one-fifth miles. 1t is so high
that we still have very little concep-
ton of the amount Eight dollars laid
side by side will make foot Let us
take this one and one-quarter of mil
lion dollars and lay them down, begin
ming at the Venice ferry landing, and
we find that we have enough dollars to
lay path ten rows wide from the fer
at the other end of the township, and
have thousand dollars left to pay the
man for laying them down.
There is still another way that we
might measure this enormous cost so
that the people can grasp the mean
ing still better OF the 1900 popula-
ton there are about $500 families.
Now, II we call up the heads of each
family and ask them to carry off this
big pile of silver dollars, each man will
have to carry $445. If this could be
realized, think for moment what it
would mean to the butcher, the baker,
the grocer and the merchant.
But they say: Look at the revenue
we get out of the dramshops." Yes,
let us look at that also-137 dram.
shops pay $500 each, making a total
of $6S,500 a year. The bureau holds
the dramshop bag and we, the people,
put in s1,250000, and out of the great
kindness of his heart he gives back
SOS 500. How long will it take Venice
township to get rich paying into the
dramshop bag every year $1.1S2.000
more than its inhabitants receive
from it?
But let us call back these $500
heads of families who are carrying
the s445 each and have them hand
over the license money. Every man
will have to give up s24.50, and he can
still go home with $40.
This is just what the laboring men
are doing, exclaims j. G. Reynolds, in
Home Herald, where they have voted
out the dramshop. They carry the
money home instead of dropping it in
to the brewers big bags.