THE liquor traffic is wont to boast of the good it does in furnishing public funds through the licenses and taxes it pays and the number of people to whom it gives employment. Dr. Madison C. Peters, of New York, throws some light on this subject which is worthy of serious consideration by the people at large. Here are a few of his facts and conclusions, which give some idea of the financial losses sustained by the people through indulgence of the liquor incubus:—
The entire amount received for tariff is something like $150,000,000 a year. The total output of silver in this country is perhaps $65,000,000 a year; $1,000,000,000, it is reliably estimated, is the direct tribute which the people of the nation pay to the support of the liquor traffic. The ordinary expense of the United States Government for all of the departments, prior to the Spanish-American war, was less than $400,000,000 a year, so that the drink bill was three times the amount required to run the entire government of the United States.
Our drink bill is more than six times as large as our tariff revenue, and nearly sixteen times as great as the entire value of the silver product of the country.
One billion dollars turned from the saloons into the channels of legitimate trade would go far toward improving our industrial situation, for, notwithstanding our prosperity, the masses seem to be unhappy, and unknown numbers are suffering for the simplest necessities of life. Neither open mints nor open mills will do so much to abolish poverty, and insure general prosperity, as closed saloons.
If the money which the wage-workers of this country spent in the saloons during the last ten years had been invested in railroad stocks and bonds, it would have transferred the ownership of every single mile of railway in the United States to the laboring classes who squander their wages in drink.
Of every ten dollars spent for shoes, tracing them back through the factory to the tannery, about three dollars go to the farmer to pay for his hides, and about three dollars to the tannery and shoemakers; but out of the ten dollars spent for beer and whisky, only about one dollar goes to the farmer for his grain, and less than fifty cents to the man who produces the liquor.
More capital is invested and less labor employed in the liquor industry than in any other in the country. For every dollar the brewer and distiller pay the farmer for his grain, there would be at least thirty dollars paid him by those who consumed his products in other forms.
WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE?
THE people are wont to complain of the lavish expenditure of public funds by Congress, yet they fail to appreciate how far they are themselves responsible for it. The recognized prime qualification of a representative in Congress is his influence in securing money appropriations for his district. If he become a candidate for re-election, his friends will point first of all to what he has done in the way of getting public appropriations for his constituents. Or if he has not been successful in that respect, he will not be likely to have many friends, and his opponents will make the most of his failure to get public money to spend in the community. Therefore the main thing that the congressman who desires re-election must look after is home appropriation; and in order to succeed he must reciprocate with his fellow members. He must vote for other appropriations for public improvement in order to get votes for his own district. It is very peculiar that among all the complaints that are made about the extravagances of Congress, the people seldom assume that too much government money is expended in their own immediate locality. The same principle applies in reference to State Legislatures. The representative who is most reckless of the public revenues, if he but secure good appropriations for home expenditure, is the man who is most popular with his constituents. Then is it surprising if such an one should narrow the limit, where possible, and work for his individual interest? With all the censure that such public servants are subject to, they are usually true types of the people they represent.
Labor Unions and Blacklisting
The labor unions denounce the corporations for maintaining "black lists" against strikers and discharged employees whom they deem undesirable; but the unions themselves are, as far as possible, blacklisting every employer and employee, and every special product that does not bear the union label. Thus they are following in the wake of the great capitalists and trusts, whose methods they profess to oppose. But they go a little further; they not only set up the black list (otherwise called the boycott), but they set noisy "pickets" to call special attention to their victims. It is not surprising that the unions and the capitalist oppressors unite to monopolize the business and the labor of the country, and to crush the great mass of laborers who believe in liberty and the small employers whose business can not stand the extortions of the labor unions. Verily these are days of oppression, and the Golden Rule is becoming more and more ruled out of industrial and commercial circles as well as the political and financial policies of the world.
Capital and Labor
Capital and Labor.—Altho some of the prophets of "smooth things" (Isa. 30:10) would fain convince the people that there is no conflict between capital and labor in this country, those who are nearest the greater battle-grounds know better. Judge Grosscup, of the United States Circuit Court at Chicago, in a recent address, sketched the present conditions and complaints of employers, employees, and the general public, and, upon the relations of employers and employees, said:—
It has come to pass that, instead of peace, the standing relations between them is that of war. They look upon each other, not as neighbors or co-partners, but as belligerents. When they sleep, it is upon their arms. When a truce comes, and indemnity is laid, it falls, not on the belligerents, but on the outside public—the great neutral who, up to that time, supposed it had only a moral interest in the conflict.
As showing the growing lack of confidence in financial conditions, the speaker said:—
During the last twenty-three years the capital deposited in the banks of the country has increased nearly ten billion dollars. This capital, largely, has come from men in ordinary circumstances of life. It measures the capital detached during this period by this class of our citizenship from active proprietorship in the industries of this country. It marks a tremendous shift in the personnel of active proprietorship. The shift is due to the sense of insecurity the people feel in the ownership of corporate property, as corporations, under existing State policies, are now permitted to be organized.
The tomb of Napoleon I. was recently visited by Mr. W. J. Bryan, while on a short tour of Europe. A sentence from his description of the place is significant. He says: "The sarcophagus is made of dark red porphyry, a fitly chosen stone that might have been colored by the mingling of the intoxicating wine of ambition with the blood spilled to satisfy it." Incidentally these few words describe the career of one who made the most noise and the greatest failure of any character of modern times, and yet is the object of more hero worship than any man of the two centuries in which he figured. A man of peace will naturally join in Mr. Bryan's soliloquy on this occasion, as he says:—
Looking down upon the sarcophagus and the stands of tattered battle flags that surround it, I reviewed the tragic career of this grand master of the art of slaughter, and weighed, as best I could, the claims made for him by his friends. And then I found myself wondering what the harvest might have been had Napoleon's genius led him along peaceful paths, had the soil of Europe been stirred by the ploughshare rather than by his trenchant blade, and the reaping done by implements less destructive than his shot and shell.
But this man whom the world calls great had no genius in that way. He simply did not know anything to do in time of peace but to plot for more war and prepare for it. And his councillors were at a loss to know what to do with him during the intervals of war. It is said that they agreed to his Egyptian campaign, which resulted so disastrously, just to get him out of the country for awhile. The awful failure of Napoleon ought to have been a cure for human hero worship, but it wasn't. The disease is still epidemic.
Britain’s Passive Resistance Movement
We observe a tendency in some of the secular papers in this country to make light of the “passive resistance” movement in Great Britain, as tho it were a bit of fanaticism, a mere tilt against a windmill. These cynical critics are either ignorant of the real issue at stake, or so indifferent to high moral principle that they are unable to appreciate the attitude of the noble men and women who are fighting a new battle of religious freedom in old England. These passive resistants are not fanatics or fools, but sober-minded, loyal-hearted Englishmen, who love liberty and mean to obtain it. All honor to them for their self-denying allegiance to principle.—Examiner.
Chicago’s Capital and Labor Conflict
A Chicago pastor, rector of St. James Episcopal Church, in a recent sermon, predicted that Chicago was destined to be a great storm center of the opposing forces of capital and labor. He warned the rich that they would be the ones to suffer most, and that, by their indifference to Christianizing influences and their failure to set a righteous example, they were sowing the seeds of bitterness, and would surely reap the whirlwind. As the members of this church are largely of the wealthy class, the address caused much comment among the membership. There is no doubt that in the large cities the opposing forces will focus their energies first. In the cities are the majority of the rich, and the wage-workers are crowding to the cities as never before. The contention is bound to grow keener until that time spoken of by the prophet, "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you." James 5:1.
The Increase of Train Wrecking
The wrecking of trains, or the attempt at wrecking, has been greatly on the increase during the past few months. Many attempts to accomplish this wholesale killing of people for gain have been reported during the recent past. The attempts are often the carrying out of the threats of blackmailers who had demanded certain specified sums of money from the railroad companies. The companies in all instances reported have refused to comply with the demands of the blackmailers and have usually taken additional precautions for safeguarding the tracks. However, wrecks have occurred which are believed to have been the work of wreckers. Some arrests have been made, but the companies continue to be threatened, and the lives of the traveling public continue to be placed in jeopardy, by these murderous-minded men, notwithstanding the fact that train-wrecking is a capital crime.
Harwick Mine Explosion
A terrible explosion occurred at the Harwick Mine, of the Allegheny Coal Company, near Cheswick, Pa., on January 24. Every man in the mine at the time was killed outright, except one, and at least one who went to the rescue was added to the number of the victims. The total number of the dead is placed at 184.
Pocahontas Memorial Pulpit
A pulpit made of wood from the forests of Virginia will soon be placed in St. George's Church at Gravesend, England, in commemoration of Pocahontas, who is buried in the chancel of that church. The entry of her burial there is still preserved in the records of the church, the date being March 21, 1616.
The Aglipay Movement in the Philippines
In the Philippines the Aglipay movement is gaining considerable headway. This is a movement of the natives away from the regular Catholic Church, and takes its name from the one who has been most active in carrying it on. In Cavite province there is considerable friction between the two parties. They seem to be carrying their differences into politics, and whichever party is in the majority in a place uses its power against the other. The municipal president of Dacoor was recently suspended for causing the arrest of natives who were attending a meeting held by the Presbyterians.
Britain Remodels Its Army System
The British Government has decided to remodel its army system entirely, with an eye single to the “effective training and preparation of its military forces for war.” There had been much criticism of the military forces of the empire as to their effectiveness when compared with the armies of the other powers, and the government feels that these defects must be remedied and the army brought up to a state of efficiency equal to that of any of the other powers.
Russia and Japan Prepare for War
Negotiations between Russia and Japan have not yet been broken off, tho reports from that part of the world continue to be of a warlike nature. Russia is still withholding her reply, in the hope, it is reported, of so framing it that it will be acceptable to the Japanese; but the latter believe that Russia is delaying, in order to complete her preparations. Both nations continue to prepare for emergencies.
Mayor Ames Freed on Technicality
By Editor
The notorious Mayor Ames, of Minneapolis, has been given his liberty, after an appeal of his case to the State Supreme Court. He was accused of many violations of the law, of accepting bribes from dissolute women and the lawless generally. At the close of his conviction he was sentenced to six years' imprisonment. The Supreme Court now frees him on a technicality, in spite of his guilt.
Experiments
Experiments, seemingly successful, are being made in Bavaria in the manufacture of cotton out of pine wood. The wood is reduced to a very fine pulp, goes through several processes, and is then spun out by machinery. The process is said to be inexpensive, and the promoters of the project claim that it will make Europe independent of America and India in the matter of cotton producing.
Trouble Feared Again in China
Trouble is again feared in China, owing to the fact that placards are being posted up in various towns, urging the people to rise, and resist foreign aggression. It is feared that this means the beginning of another such move as that of the Boxers in 1900. This movement is the result of Russia's threatening attitude in the North.
Colombia Prepares War Against Panama
Colombia continues her preparations for sending a body of troops against Panama. It is said that the attitude of the people is compelling the government to make this warlike move. People who leave Colombia declare that the conditions are becoming worse every day in that country.
Turkey Sends Troops to Bulgarian Frontier
Turkey continues sending troops to the Bulgarian frontier in anticipation of some action in that vicinity. The Macedonians and Albanians are said to be threatening the lives of the foreign officers sent into the disturbed districts in compliance with the new reform scheme of the powers.
Mme. Curie Receives Two Prizes
Mme. Curie, the discoverer of radium, has, in conjunction with her husband, received two prizes which are only awarded to those who have made some notable scientific discoveries. These are known as the Nobel prize and the Osiris prize.
San Domingo Revolution Suppressed
The Jiminez revolution, in San Domingo, which had showed signs of renewed strength during the week, is again reported to have been suppressed. The conditions in the island are chaotic, owing to the continued revolutions.
China Opposes Foot-Binding
An imperial edict has been issued in China, commanding all officials to warn the people against the evil results of foot-binding. In Hunan the governor has threatened the punishment of those who continue the practise.
National Negro Suffrage Convention
A National Negro Suffrage Convention will be held in Chicago, commencing June 30, 1904, for the purpose of inducing the Republican party to use its influence and power against the disfranchisement of the negro.
Destitution in the Balkan Regions
Terrible destitution is reported from the Balkan regions. An attempt is being made by the government and by charity organizations to supply the actual necessities of those in direst need.
British Victory in Somaliland
The British force in Somaliland attacked the forces of the Mad Mullah on January 11, and defeated them with a loss of about one thousand killed. The British lost 9 killed and 21 wounded.
British Advance in Thibet
The British expedition now in Thibet has been warned that, if they proceed further, they will be attacked in force. The expedition will continue its advance.
Standard Oil and Rothschild Copper Alliance
A report from London indicates that the Standard Oil Company and the Rothschilds have united for the control of the copper production of the world.
LABOR NOTES.
By Editor
A CORRESPONDENT of the New York Sun says: "Lately a benevolent lady visited the home of one of the mechanics on strike in the building trade. She found evidences of a destitution which touched her deeply. So poor was the family that the children were out of school because of inability of the father to provide them with winter garments. Seeing some new shoes on the floor, the kind-hearted visitor expressed her pleasure that some one had remembered the family's necessities. 'Those shoes,' explained the mother, 'we shan't take them. The walking delegate has found that they haven't the union label.' This she said not in resentment against the ruling, but in a tone which showed that she fully justified the exclusion, and the father was of the same mind."
Milwaukee Labor Temple Proposal
FROM the American Industries we learn that the Federated Trades Council of Milwaukee, as representatives of the wage-workers of the city, has adopted a resolution demanding that the city set aside a sufficient sum to buy real estate for, and to build, a centrally-located temple, to be the property of organized labor and to supply the unions "with high-ceilinged, well-ventilated, and well-lighted meeting rooms and business offices, and to include also a large assembly hall, to be used for mass meetings of citizens as well as for union purposes." Until such a structure can be built and furnished, the city is asked to grant the use of the Common Council Chamber and the hall of the school committee in the city building to the unions for their meetings on stated evenings of each month.
Militia Men Denied Reinstatement
It is reported that General Sherman Bell is preparing to prosecute firms that have been refusing to take back men of the militia who were called out to serve at Cripple Creek, Col., and whom the employers now refuse to reinstate. Dozens of such cases are said to have been reported to Governor Peabody and General Bell. General Bell says there are in Denver a number of the large stores violating the law in not giving places to men who were forced to leave the city with the National Guard.
The Open Shop
THERE is entirely too much special pleading on the part of the labor unions as to the rightfulness of its demands, says William H. Pfahler, of Philadelphia. I stand for the open shop, because it is the freedom of the individual, because there is no condition by which any body of men in this country can gather to themselves a power or a right that each individual shall not enjoy. Suppose I want to earn my living in a way that seems best fitted to me, in a manner that seems best fitted to me, in a place in which I can best do it. Have I the liberty? Who says I have not?—Only the labor unions.
THE POWER OF SONG.
By Josephine Weatherly
BY JOSEPHINE WEATHERLY.
"O MAMA," cried Nellie Harrison, bursting into the kitchen late one afternoon in the early fall, "Miss Wilson says I have music in me and that with study and practise I'll make a good player. See, here is my next lesson, and she says I had the one for this week very good."
"I'm so glad to hear all this, dear," replied a pale, tired-looking woman as she looked up from her sewing-machine, which was pulled right up to the window to catch the last lingering rays of the setting sun. "But put aside your books and music now, and take that bundle of sewing over to Mrs. Brown's before it gets dark."
"O, not now, mama, let me just play this piece over several times; or won't to-morrow morning do as I go on my way to school? I pass Mrs. Brown's, you know."
"No, Nellie, to-morrow morning will not do; I need the money this evening yet, to meet the payment on this machine. Mr. Doolin called here last Saturday, and I promised him the money this evening. He said, 'Very well,' but if it were not ready by that time, he would have to take the machine, and that would mean no more music lessons, dear; for, you know, mama is doing this extra work to give her little girl extra advantages. So run like a good child."
"All right, mother mine," replied Nellie brightly, all the impatience dying out of her face and voice. "I'll do my share to help you;" and she flitted out of the room after having imprinted a kiss upon her mother's pale cheek. Mrs. Harrison drew a breath of relief and bent over her work with renewed energy. The kiss imprinted upon her cheek had sent a glow to the tired, discouraged heart, and somehow had lightened it of its burden.
Poor Mrs. Harrison of late had found the burden of life almost too heavy for her weak strength. Left a widow three years before with two children—a boy twelve and a girl ten—she had managed by dint of hard work to keep her little flock together and the wolf from the door. But it was such hard work! A few domestic animals, some chickens, and a three-room cottage on a two-acre plot were all her available assets when she became the wage-earner. The produce she derived from these sources brought enough, at first, to satisfy their few needs, but now that the children were getting older it took more to keep them; especially as Nellie, having a decided talent for music, was taking lessons now. So Mrs. Harrison decided to get a machine on the instalment plan and do plain sewing to pay for these lessons.
She herself had always loved music, and she desired that her little daughter's inherited talent might be cultivated.
And how Nellie did practise! The first thing after the breakfast dishes were done, until time to go to school. Then at noon she scarcely gave herself a chance to eat her dinner. And then right after school she pitched in again, until mama called her to set the tea-table or to run up-town for her. After supper Nellie did not practise, because their one lamp had to do service at the work-table where mama must sit with her sewing, and brother Fred must figure at his sums for the next day.
Poor Fred, being but a boy, and a rather bad boy—if we might believe neighborhood gossip—was not supposed to have any ambitions beyond doing the "chores," taking care of the garden, and mastering reading, writing, and arithmetic. It was very unfortunate for the boy that he lost his father just at the age when most boys are apt to get a little wayward. Besides, Fred's father had been more in sympathy with him than his mother ever had. His noisy, boyish ways had frequently annoyed her so, that to escape her rebukes Fred got into the habit of playing out in the street and away from the house, and that, too, with boys who were not the most desirable companions.
So the mother, absorbed in her grief, cares, and Nellie, gradually let her boy slip from under her control and away from her influence. She did not realize this until one day Fred openly rebelled at her request that he stay away from a ball game to chop some wood for a neighbor who said he would give him half of all he could chop in one afternoon. Poor mother! How clearly now she saw that this thing and that thing had gradually, during the last three years, weakened her influence over her boy. How bitterly she regretted the past and how prayerfully she determined to start anew, only the Father who heareth in secret ever knew.
"Mama," called Nellie, one afternoon, in a shrill, irritable voice: "I wish you'd come in here and make Fred stop. He won't let me practise." Mrs. Harrison came into the room prepared to take Nellie's part as usual, and also as usual to administer a rebuke to Fred, when suddenly she bethought her of that bitter half-hour that she had spent upon her knees over her wayward boy. So, instead of ordering Fred out of the room, as she would have done a week ago, she laid her hand upon his curly head in a way that made the boy start and look up into her face with incredulous surprise, which changed into a happy smile when she turned to Nellie and said, "Why Nellie, Fred is only humming the tune you are playing, and from what I heard of it, it was in good pitch and time. I wonder, son," now turning to him, "if you haven't music in you, too."
"Music in him," called out Nellie, "if it's anything like the noise and racket he usually gives us, I hope he'll keep it bottled up tight. And now, do, mama, make him leave the room so that I can finish in peace! You know I am to play for Sunday-school and Junior Endeavor to-morrow; and every song I have yet tried, Fred spoils by trying to sing! and Monday is my lesson day, and I must work real hard this afternoon if I expect to get my lesson."
Mrs. Harrison, seeing that Nellie was in no frame of mind to be reasoned with, being so wrought up about mastering her exercise, said to Fred: "Come, son, and get in the wood and coal for to-morrow, and this evening we'll investigate whatever musical abilities you may have, and rest assured that mama will do the right thing by you, just as she does by Nellie." With a cheery whistle that Mrs. Harrison had not heard for months, Fred went about the tasks assigned him, while from the front room came Nellie's rhythmic counts of 1-2-3.
Mrs. Harrison again resumed the work that the disturbance over the lesson had interrupted, when, happening to glance up the village road that the view from her window commanded, she saw a gang of boys headed toward her front gate. For an instant her heart stood still. Well she knew those boys. They were about Fred's age and had a reputation for being wayward boys and capable of doing more meanness in one afternoon than you could imagine in a week. Their company had a peculiar fascination for Fred, who had often taken part in their pranks. During this last summer, the orchards that had been robbed, the melon-patches invaded, the hen-houses molested, to say nothing of cattle turned into garden patches, and out-buildings overturned, could all be traced directly to these boys.
As before stated, Mrs. Harrison's expostulations with Fred had all been in vain of late, and now these boys were coming to get him to go with them to commit some new depredation.
What should she do? What could she do? If she asked him not to go with them, and he should pay no attention to her, but go, she felt sure it would break her heart. Then an inspiration came to her. Running in to Nellie, she said, with a face so white and drawn that the child was frightened: "Nellie, dear, play again that piece of music that Fred took such a fancy to, and I'll call him in to see if he can sing it. Yes, yes, dear, do as mama asks you," she whispered, as Nellie appeared to hesitate. "Those boys will be after him in a few minutes, and we must keep him at home." Then going to the kitchen, where Fred was just depositing his last armful of wood, she said: "Listen, Fred, Nellie is playing that song that you tried to hum a while ago. Let's go in and see if we can't learn to sing it. I, too, have taken quite a fancy to it." And without waiting for a reply she linked her arm within that of her boy and together they walked up to where Nellie was playing with all the gusto she could muster. The mother's voice wavered at first, not having been used in song for so long, but, presently, seeing Fred start as the familiar calls of the boys were borne in to them, she nerved herself to the needs of the moment, and its old-time richness and power struck a responsive chord in the boy's heart so that his full boyish voice mingled with hers in those wonderfully strengthening words:—
"My high tower is He!
To Him will I flee;
In Him confide,
In Him abide;
My high tower is He!"
Indeed, so joyfully and triumphantly did the song float out upon the clear October air that the crowd of boys at the front gate, after a few disconnected calls and whistles, left the place. Song followed song. Nellie, in the unselfishness of her little heart, which somehow caught the anxious spirit of the mother and responded to it with a kindred feeling that lies latent in all womankind, dismissed all thoughts of the unfinished lesson and would have gone on playing indefinitely if a rap at the door had not interrupted her.11
"Well, but this sounds like a camp-meeting," exclaimed the visitor, Mr. Marsh, who was superintendent of the Sunday-school that Nellie attended; "and don't go, son," he added, as Fred was about to leave the room, "for my business is with you, too, altho I, myself, did not know it until I heard you sing. I came up to see Nellie about the music she is to play at Sunday-school to-morrow, but your singing gave me a new idea. It is this: To get all the young people of the church together and organize a choir to sing at Sunday-schools and at the evening church services. And you must help us in the singing. Why, I declare, your voice is as true as a tuning fork and as clear and penetrating as a bell."
It would be impossible to tell how happy this little talk made Fred, and in what a manly way he promised to join the proposed choir. A dignity not born of years was suddenly added to his character. A new purpose shone in his eye and resounded in his walk as he went about his hitherto menial chores that evening. That night, after Fred had retired to rest, mother and daughter kissed each other, while happy tears glistened in their eyes. "Mama, I believe Fred is going to make a good boy yet," said Nellie.
"Yes, dear," whispered the mother, "the soul that can comprehend the beauty of music and feel the power of song is not beyond the pale of hope. Our boy will grow up to be a man of whom mother and sister will be proud."
It was even so. Fred was turned over to Miss Wilson, who was delighted with his talent and his application. Mr. Marsh gave him a steady job of work at fair wages.
The young people in the church with whom Fred became associated were of a different class from the street urchins with whom he had of late years come in contact, and their influence, with the strong power of religious teaching and the refining and elevating power of song, developed in Fred all those noble and sterling qualities that go to make up a true man such as the world admires, and such as the world needs.
Emporia, Kan.
HE GIVETH HIS BELOVED SLEEP.
By Gertrude von Giers
BY GERTRUDE VON GIERS.
AROUND the town the lightning flashed,
The wind a fearful gale;
Above, the awful thunder crashed,
Down came the rain and hail.
The gloom of Egypt, seen and felt,
Mantled the quivering air;
And many a soul in terror knelt,
For death seemed everywhere.
In fear, alone, a young girl thought,
As she wandered to and fro,
Of the fearful ruin by tempest wrought,
Destruction, death, and woe.
"I will not lay me down to sleep,
I'll watch 'till dawn of day;
Perchance the wind to-night may sweep
A myriad lives away."
She opened the old-fashioned Word
Which few men reverence now;
Above the storm a Voice was heard,
"My child, why wakest thou?
The builder buildeth all in vain,
His house is overthrown;
The hand to check the lightning's chain
Is Mine, and Mine alone.
Except the Lord the city keeps,
The watchman wakes in vain."
The maiden hears, nor longer weeps;
Like music sounds the rain.
Henceforth the words of David's song
Are comfort to her soul,
When lightnings rend their way along
And thunders grandly roll,
She calmly lays her down to sleep,
Content to know that He
Will watch and guard, and safely keep
Wherever she may be.
SIDELIGHTS ON THE WINE INDUSTRY IN CALIFORNIA.
By Mae Guthrie Tongie
[Mae Guthrie Tongie, in the Union Signal.]
To ONE who views the landscape from a car window in the month of May, the foothill region of Sonoma County in Northern California presents a scene of picturesque beauty.
The vine-clad slopes stretching away in peaceful perspective; the valleys dotted thick with orchards of prune and peach and pear trees, and marked by gleaming waterways; the graceful hop-fields showing at intervals their tender green—the whole framed by the blue peaks of the Coast Range mountains—make a picture which once seen will never be forgotten.
This is the great viticultural center of California. Here are produced the best (?) American wines, the bulk of which are shipped to Europe. California produces more wine to the acre than any country in the world. Certain kinds of grapes will average 600 gallons per acre. The total acreage of wine grapes grown in Sonoma County is 25,000. A considerable acreage of hops for brewing purposes is also grown. The number of wineries in the county is variously estimated at from 150 to 200.
Last year 100,000 tons of grapes were manufactured into wine, yielding a total product of 15,000,000 gallons. The average price paid was twenty dollars per ton, which means $2,000,000 for the season's crop. Thus, from a purely monetary standpoint, it pays to grow wine grapes in California, but from an ethical point of view the baneful effects are everywhere apparent. Almost everyone is mixed up in it in some way. The wine-grower's money goes into the church treasury, the preacher is silenced, and religious energy practically paralyzed. The cause of education is correspondingly affected.
"This is a very prosperous community," was the information volunteered at one town visited by the writer.
I looked about me for evidences of the boasted prosperity.
"Where are your school buildings?" I ventured to inquire, and for reply an old ramshackle, wooden affair was pointed out, within which eighty children of all ages and conditions of life, are inadequately housed, while one teacher struggles vainly to meet the exigencies of the case.
It is significant that this town forms a center, outside of which, within a circle twenty miles in diameter, are twenty-seven wineries and twenty-six distilleries.
In another town I was reliably informed that among the boys of high-school age, all but one are habitual wine-drinkers. Indeed, in these great viticultural districts, wine-drinking is common among all classes. Men, women, and children indulge in it. The flush of wine is seen upon the faces of old and young alike.
Much has been said and written in praise of our California wines. Their virtues have been widely extolled through the press and from the platform, but the fact remains that drunkenness, immorality, and crime are undeniable accompaniments of the wine industry in the State, and a curse seems to rest upon those who engage in it.
Many of the vineyards are owned and managed by Italian capitalists, the most noted of these vineyards being the great Asti Vineyard, so called from its marked likeness in climate, topography, and soil, to Asti, in Italy. Here is located one of the largest wineries in the world, where every year enough wine is manufactured to float a battleship.
