LICENSING REFORM.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVI, Issue 4917, 18 December 1925, Page 1

LICENSING REFORM.

THE GOTHEiA'BUKG SYSTEM. AN INTERESTING LETTER. A Norwegian lias written to the editor a letter that should be interesting to the people of Oninemuri in view of the fact that restoration has been carried and schemes of licensing reform have been mooted. He s,tate& that he is neither a prohibitionist nor an advocate for continuance in its present form, but is a supporter of reform in the system, and. while he expresses the opinion .that there is little chance of the improved. Gothenburg system, which he explains, being adopted in its entirety .at the present time, the acts are given for public informaion in the hope that others may take up the problem and evolve a scheme that would be satisfactory from the point of view of all but the out-and-out prohibitionist. The Gothenburg system was adopted in the Swedish city of Gothenburg in 1865, and was later extended in an improved form in Sweden and later to the whole of Norway. Prior to itsi adoption in Norway there was no control exercised over the sale of intoxicants, and the bars were open day and night. In those times the country -was comparatively sober. Reformers had the Improved Gothenburg system: introduced, and then the sight of a drunken man. on the streets was a great rarity. Some years ago the prohibition party, by Act of Parliament, had the country made “dry,” and whether that was the cause, or even a contributing factor, or not, Norway is now one of the most drunken countries, of the. world. The writer, ivho points out that in some of the details he may be wrong as it is many years-since he was in Norway, explains that .the principal of the Improved Gothenburg system is that the liquor bars were owned by a public company, which, by the way, proved the safest and most common investment for trust money. There may have been a company in each district. Tire Government did not necessarily hold shares in the' company, but it had a representative, or possibly a majority of representatives, on the beard of directors A fixed percentage of the profits was set aside for the payment of dividends and the creation of a reserve, and the balance was 1 devoted to public purposes. Seats of learning were endowed, grants were made to. scholars and tradesmen desirous of visiting other countries, for educational 'purposes, hospitals were built, charitable aid given, etc. The distribution of licenses was absolutely in the hands of the State, and it stipulated where a bar was to be opened or if a. bar was to be closed. The company had to comply. Each bar was in the charge of an official, who received no remuneration other than a good salary- He, therefore, had no. inducement to increase the sales at his bar, but had to give efficient service to hold his position. The prices were feed, and inspectors were employed to test for adulteration. No person was permitted to have more than three.drinks at any bar at anyone visit, and no person showing signs of having had sufficient was to be. served. The barkeeper had no inducement to break this law, and the inducement to hold his wellrpaid position made him observe it. If a man was found in a. public place under the influence of liquor he was punished if he liad become drunk at a public bar or on liquor purchas,ed by the bottle for consumption off Licensed premises. If the drunken'man. stated that he had procured the liquor ait a bar the barkeeper had to prove to the Court that the main did not become drunk at tile bar he controlled. If this, could not be done the barkeeper lost his wellrpaid job. 'As: .the onus of proof rested on the barkeeper he did not take risks. The hours during which liquor could be‘ sold were fixed by law, but the same exceptions as there are in this country applied to accommodation houses and their boarder's. The same laws in regard to drunkenness also applied, however. In cases' where the company did (not own the hotel the hotelkeeper Was, appointed barkeeper under the same conditions as the others. At the bars it walsl not legal for patrons to- go to the counter for their drinks. They sat down at a table, and they were served as in a; restaurant. Bottles could not be purchased at a bar, and only by sober men at a separate place licensed for the purpose. These are the points .of the system ae far as the writer remembers. He states that he is open to correction, and would welcome It. It was under this system, he'concludes, that Norway got .the name of being the most sober country in the world, which fact has so often been mentioned in New Zealand temperance papers'.