The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-01-28
Nemesis of the
Liquor Traffic

| We have the good fortune TO number among
our acquaintance gentleman of discreet ago
and mature judgment, who is so exceptionally
| we'll informed that find his opinions of the
highest value
The other day he remarked that the most in
teresting development of the time is the steady
growth OF the nationwide opposition to the
traffic In liquor. He finds 1t active in every
section of the country and among all classes Of
4 the population. Moreover, it is different, not
only In extent. but in character, from that of
former days. He said
/ II am old enough, you know. to recall the
| famous Temperance movement of the past.
But the present movement Is unlike those OF
! former days They were stimulated largely by
religious feeling, although all denominations
were concerned in the work. But it is longer
/ a religious question, and the agitation is no
longer led by greatly strengthened by the
churches. There is some greater force behind
II which / have not been able to identify I'M
derstand. One thing Is clear, however: The
movement is irresistible. l convinced that
this generation viii the liquor traffic sub
merged and carried away by tidal wave OF
condemnation"
/ We agreed with our friend that the traffic
is doomed, and there is a good deal of warrant
for his belief that the end will come within
comparatively short period But we dissent from
the view that the old time religious spirit is
absent from the opposition and that the churches
are less active than in the past
But the fight has broadened in its nspira-
! ton and its following Economic forces have
| Joined with religious conviction. The latter ele-
ment has gained rather than lost In vigor but it
no longer has exclusive leadership,
The great force which the observer dis
Germs behind the present movement, and which
| Is reinforcing the religious sentiment eff
fectually comes from many different sources.
| 1t comes from medical colleges and hospitals.
! from the operating tables of surgeons and the
I Laboratories Of chemists where cold blooded men
| of science study the marvellous structure of the
human body and measure with minute accuracy
effects OF alcohol in weakening It's tissues and
deranging its functions
/ It come from asylums for the insane and the
feebleminded, from almshouses and prisons.
where experts analyze the effects of degeneracy
and trace the cause of countless instances to al
| coholic excuses. 1t comes from those who work
| to alleviate misery through desertion courts,
childrens societies and charitable organiza tons
and from those who study the sunken lives in the
slums, and the dreadful victims OF vice.
| 1t comes from publication of the reports of
| county commissioners and other officials. which
show how large a part of the taxes paid by the
people is absorbed in caring for criminals and
dependents created by the liquor traffic. and
from the testimony Of business men that de-
crease in the number of saloons is invariably fol-
lowed by increase in prosperity.
i 1t comes from the changed attitude Of think
ing persons toward the drunkard and the de-
linquent of tainted ancestry, which rega rds
them as victims of heredity and disease rather
than wicked violators of moral law
IT comes from railroads, banks, merca ntile
houses and industrial establishments from every
place where efficiency is demanded, the opera
ton OF which shows that users of liquor are I'M
trustworthy inefficient and source Of danger
1t comes from wider understanding Of eugen-
les. This is new science and it's truths have
been exaggerated by the misinformed; but it has
at least established the principle that much So
cial degeneration is due to alcohol and that
the marriage of those tainted by its poison
should be discouraged.
1t is from these and thousand other sources
hat he fore hob ind
ment is derived 1t is the awakened sentiment
thus informed that has changed the character
of the Temperance news which our friend now
finds in the newspapers
He reads. for example, of a condemned muir
derer who declares that a brewer whom he killed
was really responsible for the crime, because he
sold the liquor that crazed the guilty mans
brain. In how many papers would such state
ment have appeared a few years ago? He reads
that widow. whose husband died of drink
brings suit against the saloonkeeper who sold
him the stuff-and gets judgment
In a single newspaper he finds recommen
dation from the Schuylkill county grand Jury
with not a clergyman or a pronounced prohibi-
ton advocate on it--for reduced number oil
licenses. because the saloons responsible for
most of the crime and much Of the burden OF
taxation, and similar recommendation from
the Luzerne county grand jury. with this And
ing:
1T is earnestly urged that no increase in the
, number of saloons is necessary, and general
mere drinking places of the county. Such a
, course means less crime less degeneracy, less
poverty. From the standpoint of general morals
and public economy. the policy would he justi-
fled"
He reads that in the three weeks following the
closing OF the saloons In CoatesviIie there were
only three arrests that the patrol wagon horses
have been sold to an ice man. and that instead
of the ruin of business predicted by the liquor
advocates, the merchants unanimously report a
greatly increased trade.
i He reads that In Kansas, where the consti-
tuition declares that 1.-The manufacture and sale
of intoxicating liquor shall be forever prohibited
in the State that thirty-eight poorhouses are
empty. and have been for years; that recently
fifty-three empty county jails enumerated.
that there fewer than 500 paupers in the
whole commonwealth and that the death rate
during the last thirty years has fallen from
seventeen to seven per 1000.
No great reform that recall was ever
permanently established except through a union
Of ethical and economic principles which are
In essence. one and the 1t is this mighty
coalition which gives to the present movement
against the liquor traffic its tidal-wave force
mad viii ultimately sweep the evil from the
Observation-Disclosures North American.