The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1885-09-02
IN SCANDINAVIA.
THE GOTHENBURG LICENSING SYS-
TEN OF PROMOTING TEMPERANCE.
Chat with the Originator of the Ee~
I4aws-For the Good of the Working
glasses Some Surprising
Itr-EItx
Robert r.,t-r'~ Goihenbnrc letter !


Through .he OitcG..,, Of Capt. g. W.
Schroeder, Cur vice consul, was Introduce
to :. \ lie lutt, proprietor and editor OF
The GotEeaiIr, Commercial anu Shipping
Journal, aud Maurtz Rubenson. associate
editor 1T TIL StEue journal Under the per
sonaI guidance az these gentlemen ! was en-
;lbled 10 learn many interesting facts relat-
ing Ia the several peculiar institutions OF
Goth~nburg. Mr.. Hedluud who is well
known throu9 h9nt the Unitel States, IS tho
father o. tho tiothenhurg licensing system.
which, from the beginning of this town, haI
spread throughout Scandinavia. and ut the
present notuont IS being studied by the so
cial scientist of many other countries.
In reply to AIR Hedlunl'a earnest request
to know what liz could 10 for M, | said:
@1,ell me all about tho GotbCnhur5 licensing
System, its origin. It's object and the degree
of success attending It.
"Wen." said he, "ths Swedes. as you
Doubtless know, flrinl; a Gooi ieni of brandy.
With the exception OF Denmark AMI per-
haps the Netherlands. we consume per capita
greater quantity Of spirits than any CHER
country in the world. it IS needless for me
to discuss the craving for brandy and It's
immoderate consumption in Swe len. Until
within a com paratively recent time every
landowner in Sweden po4so~Sod the right t.
dstill Swedish brandy, spirit made from
grain or potatoes, containing % per cont. of
alcohol. The country ON the verge of
ruin from the deluge of spirits pouring
forth from myriads of small distillerieS-
There was well-nigh public house to every
cottage"
NEW SYSTEM.
"What was the first step to remedy this
condition of affairs
"In 1850 new laws for regulating the lis
iiilng and sale Of spirits cam, into force.
The bject was to increase the difficulty Of
procuring Intoxicating drinks. By this law
it was left tn the cammuneS to decide not
only in what manner and within what
limits il should he carried on, but even
whether il might take place ut all within
their jurisdiction. Thi paved tho way for
tho Gothenhrg system, rs it j. termed. "
How did that originated
"The laws of 1850 did not reach the core
Of tho question, especially in the towns
The rural districts were, undoubtedly, ban
flied. Drink threatened to sap the life
blood of the tOwnS. On holidays and Sun
days troops of drunken people might have
bean seen reeiinr about tho str etS Of this
very town, while within the saloon the
most deplorablo and scandalOuS scenes We're
eEacjed. With population of about 1000
nearly : 800 persons ,vero annually arrested
AMI iineI for drunbenue $50 per cent. of
the population arrested. But these figures
dc not give adequate idea of the owls
arising from inmolerate brandy drinking
Th,.- must le looked for in the nature and
extent of pauperisn1; in the deplOrable phys
teal, moral AMI economic conjit into
which q greater part of the poorer popula-
ton, not only of Gothcnburg, but all the
towns of Sweden had been plunged. Con
scious of thi, condition Of affairs and being
at tho same time member of the munic-
ip,l council OF Gothenhurc, | introduced a
resolution March 81, 1851 proposing to APP
point a committee for nVesti eating the
actual condition Of pauperis,n in the town.
A year later the committee presented with
it report a plan If Il system for or
ganizing the ii,,lor traffic in Gothenhurg.'
TIE POORER CLASSES.
at the tinie of your investi cation and re-
port, what was the condition &C the working
ella :~es of Gothenburg,"
VIC atiSiied ourselves that incompetence
is not u-ei by tho cravings of coarse
ssnluaiity alone That tho trsacharops
quality of brandy TO warm, il but for
tine the shivcring and thiny clad frame,
to a~euage tho gna wings of hunger, to slim
- uiatc the failing strength Of the over worked
and pnvcrty-strcken, reasons both for
its Use AMI abuse too often overlooked by
temperance reformer-. Squalid, unhealthy
dwellings. wretchod clothing, poor and in
sufficient football these combined prclu
n state e del actiou and debility. moral and
physical, which persons who have investi-
gated the subject consider n leading cause
Of drunkenness among the poorer classes,
sufTerirr they 10 from want and mani
fold Irivation.'
"ilow o,i the Flea that the town should
undertake tho sale of liquor first occur to
the committee"
ain the first place had little faith in
the variou plans proposed, which, as You
know, vary from high license and limiting
the hour ot Sals 10 prohibition One of the
strongest arguments for Keeping up public
houses, at least to certain amount was
that there must be sufficient number of
places where workinstnen can purchase
food. This likewise brought forward
rs weshty objection to Sunday holiday
closing This undoubtedly suggested the
idea Of turning tho saloons into eating
houses ami making the saic of drink iacl-
dental"
"Ifow was this dOnc?'
by transferring the saloon licenses to n
company, consisting of persons who engage
in the undertaking, not for the sake of profit.
hut solely for the gonl Of tho WORKING,
classes. The members OF tho company can
not lay claim To any profits, which, soon
ms all eXpensGS of management, As we'll rs q
per cent. annual interest on the capital in
vested in it by the shareholders. have been
paid, shall bo annually made over to the
town treasury"
"What has Teen the effect % the system?"
cit has reduced the number Of public
houses from about sixty t. twenty-fi five, AM
these dc facto eating no ltses are healthy,
light AMI roony. Relatively speaking, tho
annual arrests for drunkenness have de
ciined moro than half. In 1870 1j the saie
Of spirits reached their greatest height AMI
since has steadily declined. No one the least
intoxicated can procure q spirituous drink
in GotEenburg-no yuuth M, Ter ~ years;
nor Is it sold on sun lay, except tho usual
dram before dinner
FODD AND DRINK.
y visit to the company eating houses not
only gives a good idca of what the
Swedes drink, but what they eat ais, Those
places are roomy stores, neatly furnished
with small wo lden tables, at each Of whic.t
.boiy