The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-10-21

] eggs and other food In the restaurant are allowed one dram of liquor.
 l In nearly every case the restaurants are kept by the manager of the agen- cy, and the profits on the sale of food go to him. Hence, as he receives 8 sal ary for managing the agency, and his compensation is in no wise affected whether he sells little or more liquor, it Is to be his pecuniary advantage to persuade callers to take coffee, tea and food instead.
 The results of the introduction of the Gothenburg system in that city, in Stockholm and elsewhere are very ap- parent. Tn the first place, the number of distilleries in Sweden, which, as l have said, was 172,124 in 1850, was re- duced to 590 in 1870 and to 126 in 1898. The amount of liquor consumed annual ly per capita in 1850 was forty-flve quarts, in 1870 it was thirteen quarts, in 1898 eight quarts.
 By excluding individual profits as a stimulus for increased sales. by refus- ing to sell on credit, by opening we'll lighted healthy and clean premises in places of the former dark, wretched haunts of vice and misery by serving pure instead of poisoning drinks; oy establishing eating houses, and in other directions, the bolag has certainly i'm proved the condition of the poor and decreased drunkenness and vice, The reports of the police courts show this in a remarkable degree. In 1855, when Gothenburg had a population of only 35, 900, there were 9,431 arrests for drunkenness; in 1S75 ten years after the new system was established, with population of 60,000. the number of arrests for drunkenness was 2,49o; in 1885, with population of 34,0OO, the ar rests for drunkenness were 2,475, and in 1895, with a population of 113,000, they were 3,516-only few more than when the population was les than a third as great.
 Similar reports come from every city where the system has been introduced, The publications of the Gothenburg so- cieties contain reports from the govern- ors of nearly all the towns and prov inces of Sweden, and while most of them are conservative, they all testify to the improved morals of the people. The governor of Gothenburg says There can be no doubt that these measures have brought about an im- proved moral condition, and, although fights and other disorders cannot be en- tirely prevented, we must allow that the intervention of the police has been called for less often than in former times. The governor of Stockholm says: This company has undoubtedly done excellent service in checking the baneful consequences which must ever attend the sale of spirits" The gov ernor of Upsala says: The company S operations have been, and continue to be, of essential benefit in promoting or der and morality" The governor or ,Jonkoping says: We do not hesitate to bear witness to the good results which by diminishing drunkenness and promoting temperance among the working classes. the companies nave already achieved" The governor or Kalmar says: By adopting this sys- tenn a beneficial result has been ob- tained so far as the morals and the or der of the community are concerned.
 Similar commendatons appear in ev- cry official report on the subject that I have seen, and tho system has met with the approval of authorized com missions sent by various municipal and other governments to make inves- tieations. hTe best report on the sub feet, am told, was made in 1893 by the labor bureau of the United States.
 The system has also been introduced into Norway and Finland, where 1t has met with equal success. The police of- ficials in all three of the Scandinavian countries give their unqualified testl- mony in it's support There is no dues- tion that Sweden. Norway and Finland have improved in an extraordinary manner so far as drunkenness poVer- ty and crime are concerned since tNe adoption of the Gothenburg system, and the opponents of that system generally admit that it is responsible for the inn provement. For example, In Sweden during the five years before the Goth enburg system was adopted there was an average of 5,392 persons in the pris- ons under sentence, or m average or 1922 per 1 GOO inhabitants. During the last five years the average has been only 3,159 annually in a population Of 5,01O. 900. CT 631 per 1000 inhabitants. Similar statistics are furnished by the officials in charge of the poor. |,
 Before the adoption of the system there was an average of 2l6 saloons for every 100, 900 inhabitants in Sweden. in cluding both both the cities and the country. Now there is an average Of eighty-f four places where liquor can be bought for each 100000 inhabitants.
 The profits from the sale of liquor were at first employed in public works, especially those that directly benefited the working classes, but of late they have been turned directly into the gen eral treasury and used for the payment of ordinary municipal expenses. In some of the cities and towns they are still used as a fund for the relief of the poor The total revenue annually