River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1914-04-02
Reasons Why River Falls Should
VOTE AGAINST LICENSE
tuesday, April

4. Because, from a purely eco
nomic standpoint, it is to the in
terest of every legitimate business
in River Falls to oppose the Ii
censing of the saloons.
In 1910 there were 1891 inhabi-
tants in River Falls and granting
that We now have a population OF
/ 1900, there is 1 saloon to every 222
inha bitants; 1 church to every 285
Inhabitants; 1 grocery store to
every 333 inhabitants. All Of these
receive their support from the city
and vicinity and into these send
their influence.
The Bureau of Labor in 1901 in
vestigated the cost of living in
1867 laboring families and found
it to be $76854 for each family for
the year. Using these figures as
basis and figuring the help, rent,
light, fuel, license, drayage a n d
other expenses it costs this COM
munity $4,000 a year to maintain
the nine saloons of the city. These
figures are very conservative when
compared with the cost of saloon
maintenance as given by an ex-
saloon keeper in McClure's Mag
zine, volume 80. 1t is also less
than the cost quoted by Judge F.
S. Hefferman, who made study
of the saloon business and got his
estimation at first hand.
Now compare the cost of saloon
with the cost of education in our
town. The state appropriated $65-
900 Tor the running expenses of
the Normal school for the current
year. The inhabitants of River
Falls at the annual school meet
ing last July voted tax of 3d.
600 and the state aid and money
from other funds adds $4,000 more
to this, making $4,000 for the ex-
penses of the current year. Thus
there is furnished by the state and
by direct taxation $4,000 for ed
ucation in River Falls and at the
same time $4,000 is spent in h
nine saloons. For every dollar
spent for education, more than
dollar is spent for liquor. For ev-
cry dollar spent to improve h e
community, more than a dollar is
spent to destroy the efforts of the
schools. For every dollar spent to
improve the coming generation,
more than a dollar is spent to
debauch, degrade and destroy it.
For every dollar that we use to
build up, we are using more than
a dollar to tear down. Why? For
paltry sum of $4,000 license.
The city of 1000 raised by taxa
ton $4,000 to educate about 425
boys and girls, or taxed itself $3.50
per capita for education. At the
same time the city of 1000 and
about 1000 in the m m u nj y
around or about 5000 people are
paying $26.66 per capita to support
the nine saloons; $3.50 per capita
for education; $26.66 per capita for
vice, pauperism and insanity $3.50
per capita for education to train
men and women for society, and
$26.66 for the support of that which
produces Al per cent. of the pau
perism, 35 per cent. of the insan-
ity, and IS per cent. of the crime.
Think of it again. $4,000 for
liquor; and of this at least $50
900 leaves the city never to re-
turn-going into the pockets of
the brewers to further burden and
corrupt the nation; while Of h e
$4,000 spent for education IS to 80
per cent, or from $4,000 to $4,000
of it remains in the city to help
keep up the community.
If purely from dollar and cent
proposition, the saloons are so
disastrous to every interest of
the community, how much greater
is the blight upon the morals of
the community? They destroy our
homes, our hopes and our ambl-
tons; they corrupt our govern
ment; they lay their curse upon
every institution in the commun-
ity. Why tolerate them?
2. Because in two years our
Normal School will have to COM
pete with another located only
seventy-five miles distant. Our
territory will be greatly limited,
and the competition will be sharp;
and for this reason it becomes