Terrible Statistics

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 20, 1882

Terrible Statistics.

The following is from the Southern Presbyterian Review for 1871: "The government statistics for 1871 may well cause every honorable man to hang his head with shame, and may well fill every patriot's heart with alarm. They are as follows. Let them be pondered by every lover of his country: Salaries of all ministers of the gospel, $6,000,000. Cost of dogs, $10,000,000. Support of criminals, $12,000,000. Fees of litigation, $35,000,000. Cost of tabacco and cigars, $610,000,000. Importation of liquor, $50,000,000. Support of grog-shops, $1,500,000,000. Whole cost of liquor, $2,200,000,000. And these are the facts in this 'enlightened' nineteenth century, and in these United States. One might infer from them that we are fast becoming, if not already, a nation of drunkards. And then consider this country's estimate of the gospel ministry, the ministers of all denominations costing a sum, less by millions, than the very dogs of the land."