The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1884-09-05
A DRUNKEN REPUBLIC.


sobriety is giving rise that people speak
of alcohol as .'the enemy and of eau
de-vie, the old term for cegnac, as eau
de mort. even the public is compro-
missed by the excessive drinking of the
population runs report on the SUBJ
ject lately addressed by the Associated
Mayors of Aioie lin the Bernese Jura)
to the Canonal Government. Failures,
bankruptcies and forced sales of prop
erty are alarmingly on the increase.
The official Gazette can hardly contain
them. AS 4 natural consequence land
is depreeiating in value, and mortgages,
who are compelled to foreclose, can
often find neither buyers nor ten
ants. The evil affects al classes, and
is even rife among the Other sex. We
could name several commuEes of Ajoie
in which the consumption of schnapps
is at the frightful rate of eight liters
per month per head of population. In
one village, with population of 600, a
single aubergiste has sold in one month
200 liters of cognac alone, equal to q
daily sale OF forty liters. 1t is easy to
understand in what a terrible ruin this
drunkenness must end. 1t is q whirl-
pool which swallows up every year
thousands and thousands of francs"
The Associated Mayors of Ajoie are
not alone in their alarm and denuncia-
tions. Almost every church synod that
meets passes resolut ons condemnatory
of intemperance. The Federal Depart
ment of the Interior is now engaged at
the instance of the National Assembly
in making inquiries with view to com
batting 1.-The enemy by restrictive leg
islation, and no subject more frequently
engages the attention of Societies of
public Utility and the press than the
.''war against drunkenness.
The increase of intempeTance against
which all sober andithoughtful Switzers
are up in arms dates only from 1874,
when the constitution now in force, by
instituting what is called complete lib
erty of establishment, deprived the
cantons Of the power which they pre-
yiously possessed of regulating the
traffic in drink. Article 81 OF the Fed.
eral c constitution lays it down that every
Swiss citizen las the right to trade
without let OF hindrance in any part OF
the Confederation, and, according to a
decision of the Federal tribunal, this
right extends to dealers in alcoholic
beverages under whatever denomina-
ton they may come. The effect of this
decision was to sweep away every local
restriction that had previously existed
and make the trade in strong drink as
free as the trade in bread or meat. Be
fore 1874 the checks imposed by cantons
and communes on the vendors OF alco-
holic beverages were numerous and
minute. No public house could be
opened without q concession, or in
excess of the supposed needs of the
population. In some districts publcans
had to give security for the proper con-
duct of their houses. In all they had
to be men Of good character Women
were not allowed to keep public houses.
Buildings in ended to be converted into
taverns, or ca es had to answer certain
requirements as to ventilation, size OF
rooms and situation. In Obwalden,
Neuchatel, St. Gall--indeed, nearly
everywhere-public houses were not
permitted in the height orhood of any
church, school, orphan-house, poor
house, or s'like Institutions Licenses
3 were only granted for limited time.
Publicans were forbidden under penal
ties to furnish young people with drink,
or allow them to frequent their houses,
which had to be closed greater part OF
Sundays, and at q certain hour in the
evening.
AS a consequence of the abolition Of
these restrictions, the number of public
houses has increased from 1907 in
1870 to 81, 738 in 1880. In other words,
while the population has increased by
6 per cent the taverns have increaseo
by % per cent. The two extremes arc
Geneva, where there is public house
to every seventy inhabitants, and Tes
sin, which has one for every 231. TAX
ing the Confederation throughout, the
proportion is one to every 139. Deduct
ing women, children and the sick, thai
gives one tavern to every thirty persons
But almost greater evil than actual
drunkenness and the known oflenses tC
which it gives rise are the time lost
and the money spent by worlzingmenin
public houses. and the untold suffering
thereby 'nfli ted on their families Or
this peir tn auA.or of ''Das Wirths.
haus give some curious Information,
procured from the ScbaSlde11bacheT, Of
certain inn-keepers whose customers
are mostly workmen Among the in
stances he gives is that Of a wagner,
with wife and children, who, in add
ton to money payments, ran up il
February last q drink score of 90 francs
another workman's ''chalk' for the
month was 81 francs, y third figured fol-
81 francs, and one thirsty soul haC
swallowed at a single sitting fourteen
+ glasses of beer and four glasses of rum
The daily consumption OF another guest
who appears to have settled his account
quarterly averaged five glasses of BEEF
and three glasses of spirits; and still
another was in the habit of taking with
his dinner five 'beersn and four glasses
Of spirits. Herr Siegfried, the author o.
the pamphlet IN question, has had ac
cess to the books Of contractor who
kept a public house, and he was thus
enabled to compare the earnings OF the
Workmen with their expenditure II
drink. One man, whom he calls A, il
the week ending January Z, 1881,
earned 90 francs, so centimes, and spen
20 francs, ) centimes. He thus took
home with him as the fruits of his labor
3 francs, So centimes not quite 3 shiI
lings. b earned 20 francs and spen
% francs; G. e francs and spent II
francs; d % francs and spent 10 francs
ECO francs and spent Is francs; F 2
francs and spent 20 francs; and ma
sons laborer, besides spending th'
whole of his week wages, left a bal
ance OF francs to the bad One week
when the men worked less or dranl
more than usual perhaps both-th'
inn eeper-contracto had no money a
all to pay, AMI every one of them be
gan the following week with baianc'
5ainst him. - Genera (Ss0stzef'taad
Cor. London Times.
Heath in the Pot.