The Washington herald., 1915-04-13
The Waste of a Billion.

1t has al last. Tea and coffee are not
foods. They. arc Stiuuants indulgence OF which
leads to excess, destruction OF the nervous system
and general decay This is the dictu1n OF DR..
Dixon. State health commissioner OF Pcnnsylva-
MIA. The doctor adds that it is impossible to say
how many tens OF millions OF dollars are expcnd-
cd annually upon these stinulants. which might
be saved without loss OF any benefit. and to the
majority OF users distinct physical gain We
ict in DIR bones that this revelation would
come, some time, where but expected
1t to receive its first announcement in Kansas or
Oklahoma. some other progressive community,
and not in conservative Pennsylvania.
The next step will be to show the extent of
the enormous waste. which DR.. Dixon confcsses
he docs not know. The coffee crop OF the world
is about 2.5ooooo,ooo pounds. which produces
5,oooooo,ooo gallons. or 10000 900, 900 haf-pint
cups of strong coffee, and it costs more than a
billion dollars year. Then there is about 9oo-
100000 pounds OF tea put on the market every
year and 100000 900 pounds OF cocoa. which DR..
Dixon forgot to mention. 1t is safe to say that
the moncy spent on these stimulants would go a
good way in meeting the expense OF the European
war
But, As with other stmulants We can afford to
leave the rest OF the world and give atten-
ton particularly to reforming people.
We consume about a billion pounds of coffee and
more than a hundred million pounds of tea every
wear in thi, country, ten pounds of coffee, an
additional pound OF tea and a pound and half
o; cocoa per capita every year. These items OF
drink cost us something like billion dollars a
year. or enough to pay the expenses OF the govern
mcnt even under economical Democratic adj
ADMINISTRATION. 1t would build two and onc-half
Panama canals. or 4 hundred batteshps, or $4,000
happy homes. Mr.. Bryan would say. and they
give nothing in return except mOmertary OK
citcmcnt OF tho nervous system that leads gradu-
ally to loss OF physical and mental strength and
results in loss OF efficiency.
when tho statistics have been collected and
analysed Lv thc efficiency experts. properly dis
played in u poster campaign and exploited on the
Chautauqua platform, may expect the intro
duc,ion Of 4 Constitutional amendment to prohibit
tho importation, sale grinding, boiling perco-
larnc OF coffee, and the sleeping or drawing OF
tea. within the jurisdiction of the United States
l. may prove 4 hardship to many OF our confirmed
cotfcc and tea drinkers to prohibit the importa-
tror nj these poisons, because do not produce
either. except a little coffee in Porto Rico But
il is sard that during the civil good many
people parchcd barley and rye and used these
grains as a substitute for coffee, while burdock
root catuip. sage and other native herbs made a
tea which lair substitute for the Ccylon
product.
There arc other things the people cat and drink
which arc almost Objectionable tea coffee,
>ocoa tobacco, beer and whisky. All the spices
arc in the category. and the soda fountains
arc dispensing drinks OF like character. In China
tho natives are said TO cat salt mmoderately when
they want to end life agreeably SO we have ma
tcral for prohibition campaigns for many years to
COME but we are sorry the health commits sioner
of conservative Pennsylvania put over on the
OF Kansas. Still Gov. Brumbaugh
is something of reformer and this may be his
challenge to Secretary Bryan in securing new
issues for 1916.
Our forcfathcrs dumped lot of tea into
Boston Harbor, and the Ouakers of Philadelphia
made public demonstration by smashing all the
teacups in the public square, to show their abb
horrcncc OF the heather Chinese. So Gov. Brum-
baugh may combine old-fashioncd patriotism and
new-fangled morality a platform for the pro-
hibition OF tea and coffee. and beat Mr.. Bryan
on his own favorite ground.