The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1916-03-12
THE PERMANENCY OF NATIONAL
LIFE ASAFFECTEDB BY INTOXICANTS
e. RODRIGUEZ cUEBAs.

average citizen in America, II moder-
ate drinking SO desires. That day will
be the last for all the standard Amer
lean institutiohs-in fact, will be the
last day of the nation.
A study of the economic aspect of
the question will point out that the
production Of intoxicants pays good
dividends only TO few tlnanciers, and
that the vast majority of farmers and
laborers who help TO make the An
Ished product get only an infinItesimal
share, plus the after effects OF the
drug. In 1912 the liquor traffic bought
2S 100000 bushels OF corn. which Is
only one per cent OF the total crop;
and 100000 bushels Of rye, which Is
ten per cent. a. The traffic furnishes
market for two per cent OF the
grains and two and a half per cent OF
all the farm products, as reported by
the thirteenth census and tho Amer
lean Prohibition Book Compilations.
In 1910. the capital invested in the
manufacture OF malt. distilled and
vinous liquors was S771.51O.000. This
gave to labor about six per cent for
Its share in production. while on the
same basis. the hleather products in
dustry paid twcnty-three per cent In
wages: paper and printing, twenty
ono per cent: and the textiles indus
tries paid to labor twenty-three per
cent. (GN.
On tho consumption side, still great
or economic losses a1cct the majority
of tho people. For more than twenty
years the United States has paid over
4l.O00,0O0,O0O annually for drink. The
annual cost in 1913 was 81, 100000, OUU,
which Is equivalent to direct tax or
SIS on every person in the land. The
prohibition year book makes the ma
tIonal drink bill for 1912, $4,000. 00O.-
600. S1,700, 100000 is fair estimate.
1t is a well known fact that the
liquor habit dimlnishes the purchas-
ing power of the people, a determin-
ing factor in industry and trade. The
money spent for drink Is lost forever
to the drinkers family. A constant
waste Of money finally restricts the
ability to buy food and clothing, UNI
til by gradual lowering of the stan
dard OF living the drunkards family
Is reduced to poverty. A. r. Heath, of
Chicago, has shown how this principle
works in different states. I'D He
made Maine the unit for comparison
because among three-fourths Of It's
population and over three-fourths OF
its territory prohibition has been en-
forced for more than fifty years. The
per capita wealth OF Maine was made
the measure Of thespurchasing powers
the ability to consume goods, pay.
wages and support population of all
trades. Measured by the Maine STAN
dard, 1t was found that Illinois, Cali
fornia, Massachusetts, New York and
Ohio. license states, supported less
people OF all trades than. 1t was de-
manded by the ratio Of their per cap
ita wealth to their population. Mr..
Heath possesses data on the subject
for every state in the union.
Similar scientific researches have
dlscredited the traditional helietpthat
liquor promotes trade and general
welfare. Unlike most Legitimate In
dustries, the manufacture and sale Of
lntoxicants deadens the market by
driving away necessary commodities
through unfair competition. Liquor
actually paralyzes the market in every
respect save to I'LL the pockets OF
the few men back Of the business; its
prices are inelastic, do not tluctuate
with the demand, as Is the case with
true luxuries. and 1t grows as an evil
and power at the expense OF the ma
tional health and wealth. When the
physical and economical condition OF
a nation is affected by alcoholic in
temperance. certain disturbances In
the social order will naturally follow.
This suggests the third topic for dis
cussion.
/ will analyze the relation of liquor
to society under four headings, name
ly, the family, the public burden, edu-
cation and the struggle of labor and
capital. The AXIOM that the family Is
the working unit OF a nation has long
stood the test of centuries. History
tells OF great nations and empires that
tiourished in the past, OF Egypt. China
and Rome, powerful in their time:
but they gradually weakened and
passed away. They fell because the
people degenerated through vices and
ignorance. They fell because their
home life was vitiated. the normal sup
ply of strong citizens, artists and
thinkers was checked, and tho effemI-
nate weakltngs took the place of the
heroes.
Is the family life in the United
States affected in any way by intoxl-
cants? If, according to a fair estl-
mate. there are 20,000.000 habitual
drinkers in the country. plus the inn
mensc number Of persons that take al