The Swedish Licensing Law and the Gothenburg System of Working it.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3207, 30 May 1879, Page 2

The Swedish Licensing Law and the Gothenburg System of Working it.

Concluded from our last,

Regarding the results of the operation of the Swedish law, as applied ia Gothenburg, they are undoubtedly much more satisfactory than those to be found in any other town in Sweden. In the year 1855 (tho year of starting of the Company,) Gothenburg had a population of about 30,000, with 3,431 persons arrested for drunkenness, b8 of which were females; in 1874 the population had increased to nearly 60,000, while the arrests of ijbunkenness had decreased to 2,234; of4rhich five were females. The .opinion of the police of Gothenburg inmost decided : " That the system now existing is better than the old, because it both lessens the taxes of the community and elevates the morals of the people." The contrast of the state' of,affairs which exists in Gothenburg with 1 that of Chrißliana is most remarkable. As far as law is concerned both places work under the'same general provisions; ;but the amount of drunkenness in the latter is much in excess of that which r exists in; the'former ; Christiana with its 90,000 inhabitants had in 1874 some 9,000 arrests for drunkenries3ji or ten >percentin Gothenburg the figures show but four per cent; the difference is credited'tothe fact of the existence of ; the Company in Gothenburg,' whi!elvCHristiana has np such body, in its midst. The /financial rea'tflitlPM^He: Jfo'ijnjof Gothenburg in consequence of the transference of the public-house licenses to the Company are something astonishing. The sum annually,,paid to the town, when the licenses were sold by auction to private*persons/:was, about£7jOQQ, the profits of the trade of course'being retained by .thepublican,; <, Jnjlß#s the town treasury received from the Company the enormous sum of £35,000 as all the profits, less interest on capital, are the property of the corporation. i/T^i; by, } the Gothenburg plan of dealing with the liquor traffic, the town gets the full monetary benefit which is tp be derived frqmthe^xiitenpe of the traffic; direct taxation for local purposes is completely: done away with, and drunkenness at the same time is considerably:; diminished. -To jsum up the whole system it may be said that it is based Upon two great principles : First, that spirits shall not be sold in that community for; private profit, but,that the whole gain on their sale shall be devoted to public uses; second/that the great aim of those entrusted, with the administration of the' Company shall be, not to increase the sale of spirits, but by any practicable means, to diminish it, and so to regulate public houses ; that food, instead of intoxicating , drink, shall be bought in tlierii. ■>'' & AH. ■! Rjh, This is a condensed statement regarding the Swedish system and its results for good may be taken asji fair outline of its general..provisions and operation, and is onHtieJ Jfirst heading ; bf ifcj 3t> impress one favorably in -referencei to the plan; but there are one or two principles underlying the whole matter,deserving of consideration before unqualified approval is given to the system. We wili,b.nefljr notice these. Iv the first place, it;would appear that the promoters of this measure, and those who for< some _y cars .past have carried' it 1 but, look upon the surroundings of the traffic a'i the matter requiring most attention in the reform' that they contemplate ; in fact, that- the drunkenness which existed, in/Sweden, and which ithey-j were so!; anxious; to/rsenjovieiofiij' diminish,/, was mainly; to be ..attributed to.\ .causes ,• connected with the.-saie,, of spirits rather than Jo the spiritififtemsefves, and that the .interest which the, liquorseller had in pushing a trade went a great way towards causing the drunken state of the country, the low class of the houses which were licensed^ and the|im)dejoi their being conducted, acting Tn'the same direction. JThis view is, no doubt, in a degreef a correbt* one. As long as any class of men have adirect interest in the demoralisation of their fellows, so long will; Inducements be held out to the people Ttb arlrii-^'li^'p^blic^h^seFllstf^do|l deal of , harm, ? ,but the real cause drunkenness lies hot in either these or any of the other supposed sources;which are constantly being credited:; ash: thd parent of the vicei Let the traffic be put into the hands of whom it may; let it be governed by the best and purest of men; but so surely as strong drink is permitted to be sold in any community, even though the attendant at the bar were an angel

from Heaven, drunkenness loill follow the consumption of the drink. The mischief lies in the thing itself, and all the laws that may be made to restrict, the traffio v or to render it " respectable," must continue to fail, as long as the drink continues to be what it is. The Gothenburg and other systems may apparently improve matters for a time, and anything which in any degree does this should of course be aided; but all experience is tending to prove that the sale of alcoholic drink never 1 can W regulated .so as to prevent drunkeQness.r True wisdom points to the extinction ofthe traffic as the only cure, and towards that end should the attention of all lovers of humanity be turned.

Another 5 most dangerous feature- in connection with the 'Swedish system is the corrupting' effect-it, has > upon-local-governing bodies, ; which , received the gains of the trade. From all that has been said, it-will readily be understood that the plan developed at Gothenburg is the work of men really anxious to stem the tide of intemperance, which they saw was destroying their country, and who were sincerely desirous of reducing the traffic to the smallest proportions possible. But how long did its remain thus P How long could it be expected that such feelings would govern any body of men who, in th& increased consumption of spirits; saw plainly their own exemption from local taxation? Human nature is but too susceptible to such influences; the temptation to local bodies, who have the fixing of the number of licenses, is too great to be for long resisted. Just as it has recently proved in Gothenburg, will it prove to all time ; selfish interests prevail. There is now no disposition on the part of the Gotherburg Town Council to further reduce the number of licenses, although it has been pressed to do io. The money receivable by the authorities has proved to be the curse connected with the whole thing. In Sweden, as in every other country, the liquor traffic has exhibited its corrupting influence/ No one, individuals or corpora-, tipns, can engage in it without being lowered by it. It seems fated to blast and blight all it comes in contact with,; drying up all the finer and holier feelings of those engaged in it, and reducing to its own degraded level all who enter into it for the purpose of its elevation. No; the task is hopelesi. The liquor traffic never can be made "respectable," in its true •ense ; but will continue to entail untold misery upon humanity as long as it continues to hold a licensed existence in any community. .. __ . , ■