America’s Tobacco and Liquor Spending
Some of the Expenditures of a “Christian” Nation.
Would we call a man a practical Christian who spent $105 for his own pleasure and appetite and only $1.00 for Christ? Well, that is about what this “Christian” nation is doing in one item alone. About $5,000,000 is expended for the advancement of Christ’s kingdom and $525,000,000 for tobacco alone. One dollar to $105. Flour for 70,000,000 people and education in addition, cost but little more than tobacco. Double the amount paid for public education, all church expenses in this country, and all foreign mission contributions, and it barely exceeds the tobacco bill of the country. The “Christian” nation’s whisky bill, including court fees, etc., less all receipts, fines, internal revenue, state and local licenses, amounts to the sum of $1,883,877,549. The amount received from the traffic amounts to $136,289,700. The expense of the traffic is $1,747,587,489, a sum equal to $38,917,849 more than the national debt was Dec. 1, 1895. This yearly liquor expense is sixteen times more than the entire product of our gold and silver mines in 1895. Is the nation “Christian”? Has it the Christianity of Christ?