The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-05-28
How England Proposed to Deal with
the Liquor Question.
Boston Adrertise,'.l

A special committee Of the House Of Lords
has been for TWO years considering intcinpcr-
nncr in England, and the possible remedies
which can he applied By legislation. it has
now presented It's report, OF which we receive
abstracts in The English Journals. IT, readers
In this country the most useful parts of the
report Will be it's account OF The progress IN
sweden of what Is known rs the GotlIcnburg
plan, which has been watched with great IN
tcrcSt, Us Il possible escape from SOME OF tho
dangers evident In our system Of licensing
Tie silG OF liquors. 1t appears from the re.
port that this plan has been introduced In all
the LII ger towns of Wcucn-StUckh holm, IT.
self the largest. finally determining To adopt
1t. or the results o; tue pan some curious
Information Is given, which, in some regards,
will prove unexpected by h cmLhuSiastlc ud-
mircrS of the system, ana also by those who
ridiculcu II most freely.
Lii the Gothcnburg plan, all the rights to IL
ccnse liquor dealers III Il town Is given to Il
charitable association, which assumes the
duty Of liquor selling us Il necessity but prom
Uses to use no profit nccruing from the sales.
Any profit which may accrue above the or
dintry per cent. Oh the invested capital Is
paid over to the town treasury, In Gothcn-
bursli this company, on beginning Its opera
lions reduced tile number OF licenses from ll9
to hi. The local authorities, acting IN concur
renee with tho company, closed all bars from
d Saturday afternoon to 5 Monday morning.
The result IN tiOthcnburg, as shown by COM
pariSOn between 1915, WAS II decrease uf.2l per
cent. in drunkenness brought before the
courts, while In other parts OF Sweden the
evil Of ~inteInpcrnncc was rapidly increasing.
The capital Of the company was only S3j,UU.
The annual roiits-lnarrelOl to Say-were
s2M, D6. These accrued to the town treasury
no Sllghtgift to II town vi 60,W0 people.
The popularity Of the scheme in Sweden
seems TO result from this handsome bonus to
the local treasures. ThsSwedcs like to drink
as well as any people, ind do not dislike very
much to he drunk. But rs much rs any poo.
pie they like low taxes, and to have u good
balance in the treasury, has been suggested
in England, by Mr.. Chamberlain, Il member
of Parliament, and by other persons Of iniiu-
ence, that u similar method was practical
there, without the lntcrvcntion OF u company
by simply permitting the town councils to
take the Whole liquor trade. The plan Is the
town kept Il liquor agency 'fOr medicinal
purposeS'-only that 1t Is proposed In Eng
land that the towns shall sell for all purposes,
with the advantages that IN course the towns
will not diSobey their OWL regulations, and
that absolute oversight OF the bars and other
places of sale will he possible. The town
council Of The city OF Birmingham, by q vote
adopt this plan, and the "ISOurd OF Guardi-
ans approved unanimously.
The Lords report discusses both sides Of
the Swedish plan and of the English with
caution and candor. The committee conclude
tina II Birmingham or any other town wants
to try the experiment 1t ought TO be permit
ted. BY IL non scQiifer somewhat curious,
they also agree that the "perlnissive'' plan, so
called, by which any town council may re-
Iuse to license ut all-wlat We call ''lc'all OPP
tion''-is out Of the question. They propose
proper legislation to enable local town gov
crnlIcntS TO carry On for themselves, the
whole business OF liquor selling.