The Alaska citizen., 1915-05-17

THE WAY OF STRONG DRINK
Text: Matt 6: 1892.

This is one of the strange scenes
in the Bible Two men are posses
sed OF devils and when they go to
Jesus about the matter he sends
the devils into a herd of swine. who
faithful 70 their business, OF destruc-
ton. rush the whole herd over the
steep preCipiCe into the sea, and they
are drowned The fellows who kept
the hogs fastened into the city and
told the owners of the hogs, who
came out and told Jesus to leave
the country, as he was hurting their
business. Now the Jews were for
hidden to raise pork and Jesus was
keeping within the law when he pei
mitted those devils to destroy those
hogs. Men are supposed 10 be law
abiding. but where is a lcgalized
saloon that will keep the law. or a
territory voted dry that the saloon
Will not do its utmost to carry on
its nefarious traffic. The attitude
of the liquor business is against the
Church the State the Government,
and the preacher who has the back
bone 10 advertise the results of its
wicked business, or oppose its eX-
istenCe. Just like the white SLAYER
it says let the preacher get out,
Trey are hurting our business.
But is the saloon business de-
grading against the town. the terri
tory, the individual? In Iowa the
saloon business pays the state $500
coo annually in licenses. Now that
ought to help reduce taxation if the
saloon is a necessity. Let US see.
Investigation. Seventy-five per cent
OF the idiots are children of intern
perate parents; so per cent of the
paupers: SO per cent of the crime
l. committed by men under the in
fluence of liquor; 80 per cent of
the adult criminals are whiskey
made The Chicago Tribune kept
track for ten years and found that
53,566 murders were committed by
men under the influence Of liquor
All this means an increase in taxes.
You step up to the young man be
hind the bars and say, How did
you get here" Drink" Another
Another loses his manhood and
self law breaker, through drink
Whence all the misery sorrow. cor
ruption. low morals? Invariably the
answer is uIluh.
The whiskey is the sum of all
villainies. 1t is more terrible than
war and more deadly than pesti-
lence. 1t is the crime of crimes. 1t
is the parent of evil and the mother
of sin. 1t is the source of three
fourths of the crimes and the source
OF three-fourths OF the taxes to care
for the criminals.
The state of Illinois appropriated
100000 in 1908 to take care of
the insane, and the whiskey bust
ness is responsible for Is per cent
of the insane Do away with the
saloon and see what enormous sums
would be available for other things
by eliminating the cause OF insanity.
And the saddest thing about 1t all
is that it is carried on by the sove-
reign will of the people.
You who vote TO carry on the
cursed business are apt to say, that
people will drink it anyway Yes, and
men will murder their wives anyway,
And they will steal anyway, but is
that a reason why they should re
ceiYe your sanction to do so?
In these days when the saloon
question is up for discussion in al
most every state We hear a great
deal about personal liberty" Let
US see about this. The man who
uses these great swelling words, if
he has the inclination and price,
goes up to the bar and fills up on
whiskey that sends him out on the
street a dangerous and irresponsible
wretch. But personal liberty does
not apply TO his patient, long-suf-
tering wife, haggard from caring for
the little ones that run from the
accursed brute. Personal liberty
is not for the peaceful, law-abiding
citizen going about his duties. try
ing to make men and women better.
Personal liberty" is not for the de-
cent woman OF the town who wheels
her baby along the street only to
be shot down by some man crazed
with drink This argument about
personal liberty" doesn't have even
one leg TO stand on.
Last year the income of the cities
and towns of the United States for
licenses was $3.50 600 600. The work
ingmen spent $4,000 900, 900 for booze
md it cost 1920, 900, 900 to care
for the Judicial machinery to grind
out the erist of criminals. In other
words. the W iskey business cost US
last year s3,4O0 100000 We will
Vuttract the paltry sum Of $35O,0
900 license money and it gives Us
43,050,0 900 in favor of knocking
out the whole business purely or
money basis. The average fac
tory hand receives $3.50 a year, and
/, costs us $1,000 a year TO support
each of our criminals. There are
1926 900 criminals in the United
States and 10000 men in jail and
penitentiaries. Seventy-five per cent
were sent there because Of drink
and then men have the audacity
TO say that the saloon business Il
necessary for the revenue it brings
Send that man over to talk to the
Car of Russia a few minutes.
There Is a great cry that if the
saloon is abolished it will create Z
money panic greater than the coun
try has ever seen, and that thu
farmer needs the saloons business
Now just stop to think. What PEI
cent of the grain of the country il
used for that business? Less than
per cent But look at the othe
side and see If the saloon is bene
factor of the human race. Here l!
the way 1t works. The farmer bring!
in bushel OF corn and gets so cent
for H. Ont Of that bushel OF corr