ALCOHOL: AN ENEMY OF HOME AND COMMUNITY 549 



the necessities and pleasures of the home life, instead of for 



alcohol. 



Alcohol an enemy of the community. Lastly we come to 

 consider the effect of alcohol on the community. And here 

 we find that every citizen of a town, including those who do 

 not use alcohol, has to pay the penalty for the consequences 

 of those who do use it. For alcohol helps to make criminals, 

 paupers, and insane people. Every taxpayer has his taxes 

 raised in order to look after these people in the way of 

 supporting prisons, poorhouses, and insane asylums. 



Alcohol and paupers. In most communities there are 

 paupers who are not able to support themselves and so are 

 cared for by the town. Investigations have shown that 

 about two fifths of the paupers cared for in the almshouses 

 of this country owe their condition to alcohol. Of many 

 dependents not living in almshouses, who are given relief 

 by charity organizations, it was found that one quarter were 

 brought to their position through the influence of liquor, 

 either directly or indirectly. 



Alcohol and crime. Many investigations have been made, 

 both in this country and in Europe, regarding the part that 

 alcohol plays in causing crimes, and without exception all 

 show that it is a very common cause of crime. A jud^ 

 the District of Columbia, who had tried 150,000 cases, said 

 that at least 75 per cent were due to strong drink. The 

 Committee of Fifty made an investigation of the records of 

 13,000 convicts in seventeen prisons and reformatories 

 scattered through twelve states. They found that in one half 

 of the cases intemperance was a recognized cause of crime. 



Similar investigations made in other countries give some- 

 what similar results, and it is a fair summary of the situation 

 to say that about one half of the crimes committed are due 

 to alcohol. 



Alcohol and insanity. Alcohol is also a common cause of 

 insanity. The asylum statistics of the various states in 



