The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1893-06-15
BEAUTIFUL ROADS OF NORWAY.

III hIuHuIuSIdDle TepelltlOHS Oh IQe leIteI
) TO the mountain tops. The distance
as the crow flies may be two or three
miles, but the road maker thinks
nothing of making a dozen of it. The
: peasant reachs his hut from the plain
at cost in engineering of many thou
sands of pounds. Yet Norway is a
poor country, and the traveller who is
2 new to it and who has not yet over
: hauled his guide book is at first little
puzzled to understand by what magic
2 of administrative iberality the work
, has been done
His wonder is not diminished when
he is told that this triumph of public
: spirit is all due to the sale of drink,
| says the London Daily News The
road is probably drink road;" that
is to say, that it has been made out of
the profits of the drink trade. 1t is
by no means the only benefit derived
from the same source. The drink not
; only helps to make the roads-it gives
= substantial grants in aid to education,
museums, libraries, and gymnastic
, schools; to hospitals, homes for the
poor, orphan asylums, and many other
institutions of the same kind. 1t even,
in lofty disregard of the precept,
against seething the kid in its mothers
milk, contributes to the support of
the total abstinence movement.
All these benefits are said to be due
to the fact that Norway has imported
the GOthenburg system from Sweden,
the sister country of its origin. The
! "a l.
knows IS an attempt to reduce the
drink traffic by limiting the profits of
those engaged in it, and consequently
reducing their temptation to promote
| the consumption. Associations or
companies sanctioned by law obtain q
total OF a partial monopoly of the
supply Of drink in particular districts.
and all the money they make over 5
per cent. which is regarded as the le
8itimate interest on their capital, is
devoted to purely public and philan-
thropic objects,
The barkeeper is, in a measure,
public officer He receives salary
which is wholly Independent of the
| amount OF business done on the prem
ises, and he is under very strict regu-
lation as to his dealings with drunken
| persons and minors. He is quite dis
| Interested in a pecuniary sense, and
has no more temptation to push the
sale" than the vender Of postage
stamps. This is the Gothenburg sys-
tenn in.its ideal of purpose, and, as
many coniehf IN the reali7ed hanafits
of its results.
1t has now in its application to Nor
way been made the subject of a valu
| able foreign office report by Consul |
General Mitchell of Christiania, the !
publication of which at the present |
moment is Il most timely service to
those engaged IN the discussion of |
public affairs. Some OF them, how
ever, will derive but small comfort
from Mr.. Mitchell's studies. 1t has
been alleged that the Gothenburg
system is administered better in Nor
way than in Sweden. In the latter
country the profits are applied to the
reduction Of public burdens to an ex-
tent which tends to stimulate the
drink traffic. Norway in this respect
was supposed to be superior to the
sister kingdom in purity of motive"
Mr. Mitchell is not of that opinion
The mere preferential payment of 5
per cent to the shareholders, he
says, in itself affords an exceedingly
strong motive for the promotion of |
the traffic. A safe per cent. is not
so easily earned nowadays, and, as a
matter of-fact, the shares of the un-
authorized drink companies are often
above par. The municipal right of
repurchase at par alone prevents them
from being constantly So Moreover.
their position gives great political
and social power to the shareholders,
and thus creates strong drink ia
terest Of another kind
There are both conservative and
radical drink rings in the smaller
towns. The larger the benefits at the
disposal of company the greater are
the benefits which town expects to
reap. The drink profits harmonic
with the ignorant lmpatience of taxa
ton common to the whole human race,
and the municipalities are constantly
tempted to make the liquor pay for
ali. Some companies have as good an
eye for the selection of sites as the
licensed yictualer before them; and, |
so far from being Indifferent to the |
spread of their business. they are try
ing to drive all the remaining publ |
cans out of the field.
As the people are compelled to pur-
chase in large quantities, in order to
diminish dram drinking, they are often
tempted to an indulgence far beyond
the needs, real II fancied, Of the mo
ment. With all that, every experienc-
ed person knows where to find a dram
when he wants it. In face of all this |
we have the undoubted fact that the
! consumption of drink has fallen enor-
| mously since the system was intro
duced. Mr.. Mitchell admits this, but
he maintains that the fall was mainly
/ due to the coincidence OF a season of
great industrial depression, and that
steady upward rise has begun 1t has
never. however, reached the old figure,
though there is nothing TO show that
the prosperity has not. Drunkenness,
/ MIR. Mitchell says, is still very com
mon, and worst Of all, it is frequently
induced by abominable liquor; for, in
spite Of their supposed Indifference to
profit, the companies still have strong
inducements to make as much as they
can. The one point which Mr. Nit
chell constantly overlooks is that, all
the profit, short Of the fixed deduction
is after all expended on public objects
and that therefore the bane and anti
dote are, IN measure, side by side
His report Is fortunate in the moment
of its appearance, and it will well re
pay the close study it will undoubted
ly receive.