p. 207 | Fearful to Contemplate

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Jul 11, 1878

"Fearful to Contemplate."

THIRTY-THREE estimates, carefully compiled, from different parts of the United States, and all brought to harmonize, show the following startling facts:—

There is drank each year, in our government, 561,600,000 gallons of ardent spirits, which, at manufacturing prices, cost the consumers the round sum of $3,841,264,000. It kills 164,062 persons each year, whose days are each shortened ten years, making a total of 1,640,620 years of time; put at $50 per year, this makes 82,031,000. There are 1,523,662 regular or moderate dram drinkers, who lose one-third of their time drinking, and preparing for the drunkard's grave, which is equal to one hundred days to each man in the year, put at 50c. per day, this makes 76,183,100. The total amount of crime costs the government annually $32,528,437, three-fourths of which is caused by ardent spirits 24,396,328. Add cost of pauperism, both public and private, caused by this evil, 21,375,000. Total, 4,045,249,428. —Sel.