New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-12-28
GROG-SHOP MONOPOLY.
FEATURES OF THE TEMPERANCE REFORM
MOVEMENT IN SWEDEN.
Stockholm. December |.


in the great municipalities Of Sweden In TINS
hardheaGed steady going nation the drink traftc
vears AGO reached almost its high-water-or high
alcohol-marl of ruinous effect Shops Tor the
sale of liauor were everywhere. large proper
tion of them were what in America would dc Calico
dive" So numerous were they that compe-
tition put the price of grog down 10 thc Io"esO
possible figure And the quality or the stul "ehO
even lower than the price. II was resuldr
swilling of fusel oil all around Ihcre were
many thousands of distilleries in vecen whlch
made liouor of rho worst sort and sold 1t Of retail
ot about the price Of beer. In fact 1t became
evident that some radical reform must DC eHecteu'
or else the nation would be ruined, Tor 50 mucn
drinking of so bad liquor would soon sap anu ue-
stroy even the magnificent physique OF inc oo"'i'
dinavian race
The first important reform was attempted about
1874 at Iothenburg. That municipality adop'ea
tho nlon known Is the Gothenburg licensing sys'
tenn" which has become famous all over "'o
world The theory of this system is to grant
TO a single company the absolute monopoly OF the
Iiauor trade in that municipality. The FRANCHISE
is piven under certain conditions, which compei
tho reduction of the number Of grog-shops 10 Tue
lowest practicable number, and the keeping Oh
them in sanitary and orderly condition Aver
the expens.s are paid and a small profit allowed
on the coptal all receipts are 10 lie handed over
10 the Government, for the benefit Of the poor
and other public purposes Neither inc eoocN'
holders of the company nor It's directors, hoi any
Of the employees, nor indeed, any one conhec'e>,
with tl.r business, IS allowed 10 make ceho vi
profts beyond fixed percentage on investment OF
beyond stated salary for services This removes
entirely the temptation TO make as large saleS
rs possible and, indeed, inclines them 10 prefer
small safes 70 large ones. rs early as lSo' en-
periments looking toward this system were mace
but il was not until 1874 that 1t went compleeiS
into force. In 1876 II was adopted by Stock
holm. also. and though bitter opposition 10 IL
has continually been manifested and strong efforts
made for It's repeal it's results have been 80 Dehe
fetal that no change is likely 20 be made
By no means the least important reform has
been in the direction of purer lqours, and for this
the Gothenblrg system is not entitled to all the
credit: indeed to very little of II. The existence
Of that system made the reform possible, but the
reform was really effected by outside forces and
against the strong opposition of the company that
had the monopoly under the license system Inc
apostle Of pure liquor was, oddly enough, the
chief liquor manufactured in the kingdon, ME-
Lars Olsen smith Before the Gothenburg sys-
ten came into force he was not only the chlei
distiller Int also tho chief retailer Of gro9 lie
bad shops by the thousand and sold fully THREE
fourths Of all the strong drink consumed In
Sweden He was taxed the basis Of an IN
come of nearly 100000 year; and as that was
the assessed. rot the real, amount, the actual
,nayuitude Of his business may be estimated lie
Vas known far AMI wide as the Brandy King. lie
made his liquors chiefly ont Of potatoes, and po-
tato spirits contain n great amount OF fusel oil
The result was that lie was wholesale and retail
pury,yor Of acknowledgements insanity, crime and
death After awhile he realized this, and then he
had a pretty bad time with himself. The more
he thou ht about il, the more uncomfortable he
became.
II set ont he says TO ascertain whether
alcohol without fusel oil was detrimental 10 human
life instituted Investigations in all the cOun-
tries of Europe, and, among other steps, caused
To be- summoned at Paris temperance congress at
tended by the delegates from all the civilized
world. ! paid the invited delegates expenses to
and from Paris and all their expenses during
the time of the congress. which was ott"ndrd
by delegates from great many countries. Reso-
lutions were passed embodying the results of the
latest scientific Investigations into the nature OF
alcohol and the conclusion arrived at by the
congress was that alcohol without fuscl oil was
| compara'ively harmless, but that fusel oil was
poisonous in the extreme, and they called upon
/ all civilized governments 10 take united steps
! 10 limit the manufacture or control the employ
| meut of this deleterious liquid. II has been
! proyed that in those departments of France where
! brandy is manufactured from grapes which con-
! tain no anvil there are no deaths from alcoholism
| or ,lclrium trcmcns but in those departments
! where the spirit is manufactured from hcetroot,
which is full Of fuse oil, the proportion Of alcohol
| ism. dclirlun tremens, suicides. and all those
curses which wait upon drinking. is exceedingly
! high Amyl alcohol. then. was the first eremy
/ against which | had 10 contend IN the interests
of my fcllow-crcaturs. If could but get rld
! If the anvil alcohol and other impurities the pure
ethyl alcohol seemed Ia me a comparatively limo
cent, beverage and therefore | concentrated my
| strength upon struggle with this poison.
Mr. smiths investigations led him AT last 10
! invent system of his own for removing the fusel
! nil from spirits and he forthwith put 1t into
op,ration in his factories The cost of Introducing
If into hi, seven largest dstilleres cost him not
| less than - 600. 900 Then he tried 10 put the
pure liquor upon the market in place q" the tanglc-
| foot stun that was IL universal use. But tins
WAS not So easy The Gothenburg system was in
vogue. and a company licensed under 1t had the
MONOPOLY of the trade in Stockholm. And when
Mr. Smith, who was longer in the retail
business proposed 10 supply that company with
| his purified liquor, the oiIer was declined. Inc
company preferred TO keep on with the fhseloll
stun. which was cheaper than his After trying
| In every way, but vpinly 10 persuade them To
| patronize his disti'lerlts. he determined To Try
! force He declared a commercial war against
them. The company had the monopoly only OF
the territory governed by the municipality of
Stockholm. just outside the city limits, up the
river were MIR Smiths huge distilleries. only a
few minutes distance from the heart OF the city.
but beyond municipal control. so he paid the
License fee Of 500 required by the Government, and
opened "A huge series of retail shops and drinking
rooms Then he established service OF fifteen
swift steamers the fastest that he could get, ana
on these he carried, free of charge, to his place
any one who wished 10 buy spirits and brought