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Show oo DRINK LEADING RUSSIA TO RUIN St, Petersburg, Jan, 29. The council coun-cil of the empire was stnrtled today by a dramatic appeal from Count Serge Witte, the former premier to stop the consumption of spirits which he declared was leading Russia to ruin. The. council of the empire recently wa3j3pcupled with the discussion of a biiraimed at the suppression of inebriety. ine-briety. Count Witte contends that his successors at the ministry of finance fi-nance have misapplied the spirit monopoly mo-nopoly which he created. His aim, he said, was to suppress drunkenness. Instead of doing thi3 they have built an enormous cash reserve for the country's defense, and have only spent a small amount on national education. ed-ucation. Count Witte declared that the means for defending the country must not be collected through the cultivation cultiva-tion of a natlonnl weakness. |