`` demon rum contributes to all their forms of suffering-drunken fathers who do not come home with their pay envelopes ... children who do not eat because their fathers have drunk up all their money and lie in the gutter , young mothers beaten and left destitute , babes in their arms crying out for milk ... '' `` ah , yes , all that , '' says ezra , turning from her and strolling about the floor with his hands behind his back .