The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-09-13
A DRUNKEN REPUBLIC.


The vice of intemperance is growing
so fast in Switzerland as to occasion
grave anxiety among public men Of all
classes. So palpable and postentous are
the evils to which in some districts in-
sobriety is giving rise that people speak
of alcohol as 1.-The enemy and of eau
de-vie, the old term for cognac, as eau
de-mort. Given the public is compro-
missed by the excessive drinking of the
population" runs report on the sub
Ject lately addressed by the Associated
Mayors of Ajoie Cn the Bernese Jura)
to the CauOnal Government. Failures,
bankruptcies and forced sales of prop
erty are alarmingly on the increase.
The official Gazette can hardly contain
them. AS natural consequence land
is depreciating in value, ana mortgages,
who are compelled to forecloSe, can
often find neither buyers nor ten
ants. The evil affects all classes, and
is even rife among the other sex. We
could name several commuEes OF Aioie
in which the consumption of schnapps
is at the frightful rate of eight IiterS
per month per head of population. In
one village, with population of 600, a
single aubergiste has sold in one month
j 200 liters of. cognac alone, equal to a
daily sale OF forty liters. 1t is easy to
understand in what a terrible ruin this
drunkenness must end. 1t is a 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 intemperauce. 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 the enemy by restrictive leo
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 intemperance against
which all sober and thoughtful 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-
viously possessed of regulating the
traffic in drink. Article 81 OF the Fed
eral Constitution lays tdown that every
Swiss citizen has the right to trade
without let or 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 Genomina-
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 driuk as
free as the trade n'bread or meat. Be
fore 1870 the checks imposed by cantons
and communes ON the vendors of alec
holic beverages were numerous and
minute. No public house could be
opened without concession, or in
excess OF the supposed needs of the
population. In some districts publicans
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 intended 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 neighborhood of any
church, school, Orphan-house, poor
house, or ''iilIe institutions. Licenses
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 certain hour in the
evening.
As consequence of the abolition of
these restrictions, the number of public
houses has increased from 1907 in
1870 to q, 1873 in 1880. In other words,
while the population has increased bv
6 per cent. the taverns have increased
by q per cent. The two extremes are
Geneva, where there is a public house
to every seventy inhabitants, and Tes-
sin, which has one for every 23l. TAX
ing the Confederation throughout the
proportion is one to every 1870. Deduct
ing women, children and the sick. that
gives one tavern to every thirty persons.
But almost Il greater evil than actual
drunkenness and the known offenses to
which it gives rise are the time lost
and the money spent by worI;ingmenin
public houses, and the untold suffering
thereby nfli tied on their families. On
this point tn author of '.Das Wirths-
haus' give some curious information.
procured from the SchUiLenbucher, of
certain inn-keepers whose customers
are mostly workmeng Among tine in
stances he gives is that of WAGNER,
with wife and children, who, in addi-
ton to money payments, ran up in
February last drink score of 80 francs;
another Workmans ''chalk'' for the
month was 30 francs, q third figured for
81 francs, and one thirsty soul had
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 beer
and three glasses of spirits; and still
another was in the habit of taking with
his dinner five "beers" and four glasses
OF spirits. Herr Siegfried, the author of
the pamphlet In question, has had ac-