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Drunkenness: |
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Source:
"The Borough of Stoke-upon-Trent" John Ward, 1843 |
Drunkenness:
"Of
morals, which are so materially influenced by education….. the large
earnings of the artisan, and his family, are too often squandered in
deleterious draughts at the liquor-shops, or those numerous and obscure
houses, were the word, 'Licensed,' followed
by the disgusting announcement - 'to be drunk on the Premises' - is interpreted as a legislative
invitation to the free indulgence…..
We
call a case to mind, (and there are many parallel ones) of a workman, who
lately died, at the age of fifty-three, whose earnings, when he chose to work,
and the earnings of his family, had, for more than twenty years, averaged
upwards of £3 per week; and who, if he had been a sober character, exercised
common prudence, and been content with moderate fare, in meat and drink, might
have accumulated at least £1,000; and probably, lived out the common term of
human life, instead of dying of diseased viscera and premature old age, in the
Parish Workhouse, where he closed his eyes!
…
the policy of our legislature, for some years past, has tended to encouraged
by multiplying Beer-shops to an
unlimited extent, for the advantage of the agricultural interest, has had, and
continues to have, the effect of demoralizing the labouring community to a
most fearful extent - that it greatly enlarges our criminal calendars -
estranges the poor man from his domestic comforts - counteracts the
educational efforts of the philanthropist - and by its brutalizing tendency
renders the unhappy victim totally averse from, and unfit for, the sacred
duties of the Sabbath…."
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