_Dr._
1. To amount spent on tobacco
and accessories, $1,200,000,000
less taxes, say 105,000,000
----------------
$1,095,000,000
2. Fire loss, a. Towns, $45,000,000 to $90,000,000
" " b. Forests,
" " c. Loss of life in fires,
3. Preëmption of arable land, 1,200,000 acres,
4. Extra expense for R. R. equipment, hauling, etc.
5. Expense of keeping the country clean,
6. Morbidity,
7. Retarding education of children,
8. Waste of time,
9. Weakening of social sense,
10. Weakening of will power,
_Cr._
Smokers' Euphoria,
In this balance sheet the item _profit and loss_ is intentionally
omitted. To include it would give this study the form of an argument
instead of the simple statement of facts which it is intended to be.
Every reader must, therefore, decide for himself on which side of the
account the balance should be inserted, and doubtless many will decide
this question, as they decide so many other questions, according to
their personal inclinations. The smoker will be convinced that the
enjoyment which he gets out of tobacco is worth all that the habit
costs the community. The non-smoker, on the other hand, will feel that
the non-smoking majority pay altogether too much for the pleasure of
the smoking minority. Neither point of view interests the writer, and
he will have spent his time in vain, if he has not made it clear that
he has endeavored to construct a _social_ balance sheet. The only
question to decide, therefore, is whether the value of tobacco to
society is worth what society pays for it in direct expenditure as
well as in the destruction of property, lives, health, etc.
Certain other familiar topics are also omitted, not because they are
lacking in interest or importance, but because the author believes in
the maxim _ne sutor supra crepidam_ and, being an economist, has
limited himself to strictly economic and tangible topics. The field of
ethics, e. g., is not entered, though some of the social and economic
facts which are brought out may supply the moralist with useful data.
Nor is the subject of manners considered, though courtesy may be
regarded, in the words of an English statesman, as "a national asset."
History too, is untouched, though tobacco first led to the
introduction of slavery into Virginia and, therefore, has played an
important part in our political and social evolution.
The main purpose of the article is to give tobacco its proper
perspective. Many people, e. g., who are familiar with the
significance of our drink bill do not realize that the amount annually
spent on tobacco is about three-quarters of the amount spent on
intoxicating beverages of all kinds.[25] The national war budget is
always the subject of much criticism, and yet the appropriations for
our army and navy are less than one-fourth what we spend annually on
tobacco. For years the power of the government has been exerted to
keep down the railroad rates, until it is claimed that the roads
cannot pay the wages demanded by the men and give the public the
service which it expects without an increase in charges. And yet an
addition of but 25% to passenger fares would mean but about one-eighth
of what the tobacco users spend without a thought, and would afford
the railroads a welcome relief.
[Footnote 25: See _The American Grocer_, June 4, 1913, which
estimates the average cost of alcoholic beverages during the last
three years at $1,630,187,252.]
In estimating any social burden, account must be taken not only of its
magnitude in a single year, but also of its persistency. One
peculiarity of the tobacco habit is that, while it is often difficult
to acquire, it is still more difficult to shake off. Indeed, in most
cases the will is as much bound as if the smoker had signed, sealed,
and delivered a mortgage on his own personality. This is well
understood by the tobacco trust, which is giving away cigarettes to
the people of China in the confidence that, once the habit has been
acquired, the trust can collect its annual tribute, almost as surely
as if it had conquered the country in war. Thus, it is not unfair to
capitalize the annual expenditure on tobacco and to say that our
country carries a direct interest charge of some $1,200,000,000 on a
social mortgage, of which about $105,000,000 is in favor of the
treasury, the balance in favor of the tobacco interests, in addition
to the heavy personal and social burdens specified in our balance
sheet. The direct charge alone represents the interest at 5% on
$24,000,000,000 or over twenty-four times the interest-bearing public
debt of the United States. No wonder the tobacco dealers are happy.
And no wonder that shrewd old Dr. Burton, after saying what he could
in favor of tobacco, in the words quoted at the beginning of this
article, adds in conclusion: "A good vomit, I confess, a virtuous
herb, if it be well qualified, opportunely taken, and medicinally
used; but as it is commonly abused by most men, which take it as
tinkers do ale, 'tis a plague, a mischief, a violent purger of goods,
lands, health, hellish, devilish and damned tobacco, the ruin and
overthrow of body and soul."