The Cost of Strong Drink

[…] Relate to the concentrated form in which the powerful agent is procured by the employment of the still; that is, by the application of science and art to strengthen the spirit beyond the point to which it can possibly be raised by natural fermentation; and very nearly one half refers to the cheaper form of this concentrated product which is prepared in home manufacture, and which, therefore, it is to be presumed, expresses approximately the consumption by the less wealthy portion of the community. The exact number of the millions of pounds sterling that are swallowed in the form of strong drink in our own islands alone can scarcely be ascertained, on account of the diversity of form in which the product is presented for consumption, and on account of the complex relations which connect duty and quantity in the different forms. The amount can only be guessed at under the guidance of such figures as have been named. If, however, one penny in the pound on taxable incomes be taken to represent, as it is stated it will shortly do, a sum of two million pounds, then the £30,000,000 paid yearly to the revenue by alcohol is tantamount to an income tax of fifteen pence in the pound upon such incomes, and to an assessment of £31 a year upon an individual income of £500 per annum.

The fact which is involved in the figures of these several statements would assuredly be a very surprising one, even if the large sum of money were expended in an article of unproductive but harmless luxury. As Dr. Richardson suggested in his lectures, a very strong impression would be made upon the public mind if, after some long period in which the boilers of steam engines had been fed with a mixture of spirit and water, it was suddenly discovered that the engines would work quite as well with the water without the spirit, and that the millions of pounds that had been devoted to the production of the spirit had all been so much unnecessary waste. But the argument goes very much beyond this in the case of the millions of engines called men, if it can be shown that there is hurtful as well as wasteful expenditure, and that in a very large proportion of instances the engines would have worked even better without the costly addition of the spirit.

In these days of scientific applications of the doctrines of economy it certainly must remain a matter of some surprise to thoughtful men, that, in a land of advanced cultivation and intelligence, so many millions of good money are continuously applied to the production of a commodity which, in the existing habits of society, may reasonably be held to be pernicious alike to the pockets, to the health, and to the morals of the community.

It unfortunately happens that the question of the influence of alcohol is a difficult one to deal with, on account of the subtle effects and the complicated instrumentalities which have to be encountered and unravelled at every turn; but it is for that very reason a question that imperatively demands a more searching inquiry, and a more concentrated attention, than it has yet received at the hands of the general community; and there are some broad facts in connection with it, such as some of those which have been especially dwelt upon in the course of this article, that are already beyond the pale of uncertainty or doubt, and that therefore deserve, even now, to be made the base of an improved practice and a new faith.

We are not prepared at present to follow up the above statements with similar statistics in relation to our own country, but hope to be able to do so soon. Meanwhile the experience of others is full of instruction for us. It is said that this whole subject is attracting more attention among the governments of northern Europe than ever before. And well it may; for the evil is one that, if let alone, spreads at an enormous rate, at the present day. In Sweden, for example, where, owing to the excessive production of brandy, the price of it at one time "fell so low that the moral and economical existence of the nation began to be endangered," a check was put upon its manufacture in 1854, by the interference of the government. Of late, however, the trade has displayed fresh symptoms of activity. In 1865 the revenue from this particular item amounted to $7,153,200; in 1872 the figures rose to $12,910,000. Yet in 1871 the excise duty was immensely increased. It is noteworthy that the whole revenue of the Swedish government in 1861 is placed at $3,091,150. The ancient Swedes defined the vice of drunkenness as "the disgrace of man and the mother of misery," and their children have abundantly proved the truth of their saying.

The interest in the subject of temperance newly awakened among the higher classes in England is an augury of good. The result is likely to be a more thorough and open discussion of the subject than it has hitherto had, by men accustomed to scientific and unprejudiced investigation. There is reason to hope that this may be carried far enough to open the eyes of a great number of people to the vast importance of the questions involved, in every possible point of view that relates to the happiness and well-being of men.

Much of the indifference that prevails in regard to this matter can be owing to no other cause than involuntary ignorance, or else that habit of passive acquiescence in the existing state of things, which is hardly less dangerous to the continued existence of what is good, than it is favorable to the propagation and growth of what is evil, ever the ranker and more luxuriant product. By thorough and careful discussion, and the general diffusion of the information thus elicited, both of these causes of indifference and inaction will be likely to be broken up and removed.