The Sentinel=record., 1913-12-31


 taining the institutions that must be maintained from some source.
 It will surprise everybody who has not taken the trouble to investigate the subject to learn that all the ex- penses of our courts, our police, our prisons and even our public charities are met by revenues from the liquor traffic in the shape of license fees charged saloons by states and munic- lpalities and taxes imposed by the federal government on beer, wines and liquors. And after the liauor business has paid all the millions of dollars required for the support of their institutions there still flows from it's capacious pockets stream of revenue sufficient to go a long way toward paying the cost of our Ma. tlonal Guard and other heavy govern. ment expenses.
 This is not a new state of affairs. | but one which has existed for years and 1t becomes more favorable to the 1 liquor business with every increase in the license fees, such as was re- gently made in New York and other | states.
 That there should be any ground for the assertion that the liquor busi- ness serves any useful purpose is all the more surprising, because the an- ti-saloon forces have always main. tained that the saloon is an unmixed evil, which gives nothing in return for all that it takes from a commun- ity. Only the other day, for exam pie, a well+known prohibitionist made the statement that the revenue the liquor dealer gives the state does not pay half or a quarter or a tenth of he costs he imposes upon us in the maintenance of prisons, hospitals and asylmus"
 The statistics show that this and other similar statements are inaccur- ate and without the slightest founda- | lion in fact. Far from paying only quarter or a tenth of the costs of prisons, hospitals and asylums, the liquor business pays all these cots and. in addition. it pays the entire eXpene of the police and the courts, and also contributes literally toward other useful and necessary govern l ment expenditures.
 Of course the Prohibitionists main tain that a large proportion of the inmates of our prisons, hospitals and asylums were brought there as a re- suit of the liquor business. But un- til it can be shown that if we had no l saloons we would need to have no | police, prisons, courts or charitable | institutions there will always be something to he said in favor of the | liquor business whose revenues form | the sole support of these institutions. While it is difficult to get exact fig. ures on this subject, because of the confusion in public bookkeeping, 1 there are enough available to support the case for the liquor business The last general compilation of govern mental expenditures is contained in the census report of 1902. This shows 1 that the entire annual expenses oi the state and local governments foI l charities, insane and penal institu | tions were then a trife more than lSl00,000, ,000. The total receipts from liquor licenses were $55,0G0 600. anC the federal internal and customs rev enue from liquors $200 GOO, ,000 addi tional. Thus the revenues from the liquor business would pay all the ex penses of our penal and public char itabe institutions and leave $l55, 000 900 for other uses.
 It mey be objected that there are other charges which should be con sidered, as, for example court pro ceedings and police The entire ex lpenditures of states and localities for courts military and police for the year 1902 were not quite $l00,000 900. Adding all this 10 the expenses al- ! ready given. makes a total of $200,- l 000o0e The revenue from the liq uor traffic would pay this. too, and leave a balance of S5O,000000 for oth- CT purposes.
 It is pointed out tht it is not req. sonable to charge up the expense of all the asylums, almshouses, prisons and hospitals to the liquor business. ! This is shown by the state of Kan. sas which has been for number of years under prohibition laws. Kan. sas reports a total expenditure for these purposes of S1,600 GOO, approxi- mateiy Sl.10 per capita. This is Gnly 20 cents per capita less than the av- craze for the United States. But if this excess in other states wero all chargeable to the liquor traffic, the total difference would have amounted in that year to les sthan one half the receipts from liquor licenses alone.
 Were the liquor business to Joe abol. ished as the prohibtionists urge. the nation would be forced to raise, by di- rect taxation or in some other way the S255, ,000 900 which is received an- nually fro mthis source and which is more than enough D pay all the cos of police, prisons courts and public charities, (Adyt)