The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1893-01-12
DRINKING IN NJ
More Liquor Consumed for the Pom
ton Than in Any Other Country.

" H ODut.s
ton Than in Any Other Country.
The state Of Denmark has the denlor.
able reputation Of being one Of tie
countries IN the world where the most
liquor Is consumed. Centuries baror.
the birth Of C2IT-l history tells T.. .a.
the old Dan ! warriors sent
ter months III drunken revcls. old stryr.
mead being ne liquor used.
The Sea- avian mari -, ~ a
are inclined 10 use stroug a.4.l.
hapS on count of a cold and cAa:.~,.
able climate But there is the differ
ence that when the Norwegian or
Swede drln ) ne drinks heavily for a
while, then he stops; but slow and
steady drinking is found to a greater ex-
tent in Denmark than perhaps in any
other country. Norway was the first Of
the Scandinavian states to embrace the
temperance ideas brought to it from the
United States, and the earnestness
which characterizes this nation soon
showed forth III he temperance work.
About fourteen years ago the temper
ance army in Norway was strong enough
to send troops to Denmark, where thev
were greeted either with the utmost in
difference or with violent resistance.
Meanwhile Sweden had been strongly
stirred by the temperance movement in
the brOtherland. King Gustav III
had in the beginning Of the Eighteenth
century, out Of greed FOR money, made
a nation of drunkards out of the Swed-
ish people; lie had made the distillinG
of whisky a government monopoly and
encouraged in every way the use of
liquor. The condition of the nation be-
came through this so bad that the ear
nest element was ready to help the Nor
wegians as soon as they came.
A little while after the Norwegians
had commenced work in Denmark the
Swedes came to their assistance. For
many years no women took part in the
work. it was carried on mainly among
the pcasantry and the laboring classes
Of the cities, those being the most af-
tiicted by the scOurge of liquor. A
farmer and congress member, Claus Jo-
hansen, has for years been the leader Of
temperance work. The educated classes
remained in lofty Indifference to thu
whole question.
The temperance people tried to have q
law passed to close the saloons on Sun
days, but they did not succeed. They
are closed by law every evening between
10 and II. The chief of police of Co
peuhagen attempted to enforce ali
amendment that any person seen drunk
on the streets was liable to a fine, but il
met with strong objection; it was claim
ed to promote injustice, as the rich men
,o111 bira q ooh an1 Upt home 1n6p-
tected, while the poor man would have
to pay the fine. The law is now that
any drunken person shall be conveyed to
ais home by the saloon keeper in whose
saloon he got drunk; if not, the saloon
keeper-nOt the drunken man-will he
lined. A saloon keeper pays fifty dol
lars for IL license. There is very small
iuty on imported wines, and cOmmo"
LIQUORS are 50 cheap that three pints of
. rye whisky can be bought for ten cents.
AS a whole the temperance work IL
Denmark has been carried on under
such ~unfavOrable circumstances that,
though hard work has been done, the
. results are only small. The yearly con-
sumption of liquOr amounts to 10000,
crowns, or as much as the expectation
/ or the DdlllS1 NOESoS duIOuItS
to-and that is II Of the most impor-
tant resources of the state.
/ Four years ago the educated classes
were stirred up to an understanding of
!: the deplorable condition. The societies
D of the white ribbon and the blue ribbon
were brought to Denmark from the
United States. Mrs. Selmer, Of COpen.
hagen, being the who took the lead,
4rship. This gave n new life to the
;truggling temperance work. Az the
retined women Of the nation Though the
l~ristocracy as a rule is against the tenn
3erance movement and the church is in
differently took part in the work, the
ZONES got to understand that moderate
Thinking was the curse Of even the best
lmong them, that moderate drinking
lad created n natiol which, laughing
Jaw its sons go down toward peril, and
hen commenced crying when it was too
ate.-Nico Beck Meyerin Worlds White
L tOiIlnr