"FOR THE WOMAN WHO THINKS"

White Ribbon, Volume 43, Issue 7, 18 August 1942, Page 5

"FOR THE WOMAN WHO THINKS"

(The following 22 authenticated facts compiled by Fred D. L. Squires of tnc Business Men’s Research Foundation, appeared in the March issue of “The Voice,” the official organ of the Board of Temperance of the Methodist Church.) 1. “The Repeal years have shown an extraordinary increase in the consumption of all alcoholic beverages. 2. "Arrests for drunkenness have nearly doubled. Specifically, the ration of such arrests per 100,000 population increased 52.1 per cent, in 1939 over 1932. 3. “Deaths from alcoholism are 41 per cent, higher than for the first seven years of national prohibition. 4. “The annual average of traffic deaths has increased 80 per cent, over 19191925. Specifically, the rate of arrests for driving while intoxicated per 100,000 population increased 61.3 per cent, in 1939 over 1932. 5. “The number of places where liquor is sold at retail, each of which has paid its internal revenue tax, had grown bv Julv 1, 1940, to more than 420,000. ' 6. “The liquor trade has spent nearly 300,000,000 dollars in advertising propaganda aimed principally at making customers out of millions of former non-drinking youths and women 7. “Since repeal the hard liquor trade alone has sold an equivalent of 39,570,370,740 shots of whisky and other alcoholic distillations, at the rate of 3,744 barrels of one hundred proof alcohol every day. Makers of distilled spirits have relieved their customers of something like 5,106,296,342 dollars. 8. “Beer’s gross intake was nearly three times as large, or more than 14,882,048,400 dollars,’ which Americans have paid for 272,051,210 barrels of beer. 9. “Makers of alcoholic wines (containing from 14 to 21 per cent, of alcohol) have peddled 450,000,000 gallons, receiving 1,605,000,000 dollars. 10. ‘Thus, the liquor trade, relegalizcd and given government protection, ha> taken in a pros'- of 21,503,048,400 dollars while thousands of other industries serving the people with food, clothing and necessary products lost a large part of this trade total. 11. “The prohibition years brought homebuilding to its peak. 12. “Assets of building and loan associations leaped upward nearly 150 per cent .in five years, 1921-1926. 13. “Membership in home-building organizations more than doubled.

14. “Savings deposits mounted from 144 dollars per capita in 1920 to 211 dollars per capita in 1926. 15. “Life insurance investment soared from 342 dollars per capita to 680 dollars per capita. 16. “The automobile industry nearly tripled its total sales, increasing from 64 cars per 100 families in 1921 to 164 in 1°26. 17. Since repeal the assets of building and loan associations have declined sharply. 18. “Membership rose from 4,962,919 in 1920 to 12,343.251 in 1930. 19. “Since repeal membership has dropped 28 per cent, or more than 3,514,000 from the 1930 peak. Building and loan assets which rose from 2,519,914,971 dollars in 1920 to 8,822,611,928 dollars in 1930, had fallen to 5,629,564,869 dollars by 1938. 20. “During the period of national prohibition, government figures recorded a 212 pound per canita increase in consumption of milk and dairy beverages (1917-1926). 21. “Expansion in sales of fruit and vegetable juices and other products use din non-alcoholic beverages combined, developed a new billion dollar industry. 22. “Average attendance in movie theatres rose to over 100,000,000 weekly admissions during prohibition. In ten years’ time, covering the repeal period, they have dropped 45 per cent, to 55.000,000 admissions weekly.”