The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-01-20
LIQUOR TRAFFIC IN NORWAY.

Ihere ID, perhaps, no more dlf1cult
social problem confronting communities
to-day than the proper regulation of the
liquor traffic with a due regard to the
interests Of dealer and consumer alike.
It is one Of those difficulties that refuse
to be shelved or hidden away. Neglect
Of it invariably brings in it's wake an
increase Of crime, and restitution
among the poorer classes. High license,
prohibition, the Gothenberg system,
each has it's enthusiastic advocates; but,
80 far as our experience goes, there 10
not n Of these that can produce proof
Of entire success. 1t may be that the
difficulty is like the poor-we are bound
to have it with us always. Prohibition
does not prohibit, and neither Henry
George nor Edward Bellamy has as yet
succeeded in driving the wolf from the
door.
Nearly every country has it's peculiar
nostrum, but Norway, Of them all, seems
to have come nearest to a practically
successful solution of the vexed prob
lem. In Norwegian towns, the licensing
authority devolves upon the municipal
councils, either alone or in conjunction
with the magistracy. It is their pecu-
liar function to decide on the number of
licenses that are necessary and to fix the
period Of their tenure. The law pro-
vides that no single individual can
hold more than one license. Incorpora-
tions may do 30 upon condition that
they apply the profits Of their business
to the aid Of objects OF general public
benefit and utility. Any society that is
willing to accept these terms may hold
one or several or all OF the licenses in
any given locality, and their right to do
so is given by the vote Of the municipal
authority and confirmed by royal war
rant. The Gothenberg system. which is
in force in Sweden, cannot compare with
this in it's results or morals.
The Swedish system turns the
surplus into the local treasury
and applies it to the reduction Of local
rates. In other words, it puts a premi.
um upon the consumption Of liquor, for
the more a locality consumes, the less
are the local burdens. The population
is at liberty to choose between the ex.
pediture Of money on rates or on liquor;
the choice of the one obviates the neces-
sity of the other.
Statistics are at hand to prove the
beneficial results Of the law. In 1876
the whole country consumed some two
million and a half gallons of spirits;
within eleven years the total had fallen
to 1,1S9,440 gallons. Even in seaport
towns, with their floating population,
the same tale has to be told. Fourteen
years ago, for example, when the law
went into operation, the port Of Bergen
had a population OF 10000, and fourteen
bars; the population has increased by
10000 and the number Of bars is re-
duced by n That is certainly not a
startling reduction, but it is a note
worthy fact that the consumption of
spirits has fallen in the same time from
% quarts per head to 1.3. More i'm
portant still, arrests for drunkenness
and similar offenses have fallen from
1,1S5 in 1876 to 729 in 1889, and sum
monses for the illegal sale of spirits are
lessene I'D by two-thirds.
The Norwegian chemist is a perfect
autocrat in his own domain. His re-
sort is in the most public streets, for
hole and-corner drinking is discour-
aged. The man who sneaks up an alley
and in at q side-door for his smile" is
a unknown quantity in Norway. The
bartender is the sole judge Of a mans
condition, and he has an undisputed
right to set a limit to the number OF his
rotations. His uniform is Of a high
class style, and his Laboratory is as
clean az hands can make it. But there
are no seats, no lettering corners, and no
one is allowed to linger in the expecta-
ton Of a chance "set-up." The "mixolo-