The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1902-12-05
THE BATTELL BILL.
Opening Speech on House Bill 4l8,
by Joseph BattelI Of Middlebury.
Author Of "The Vermont Sys-
TEN" of Regulating the
Sale of Liquors Adj
dresses the House.

on House Bill 49, entitled San act to
regulate and license the sale of intoxicat-
ing liquors in towns and cities so voting
guaranteeing the purity thereof; and pro-
yiding for the distribution of the profits Of
such sales" and known as the "Batten
Bill" was made by oseph Battell, member
from Middlebury, and chairman Of the
House Committee on Temperance, before
the Vermont House Of Representatives,
November 81, 1902 Mr.. Battell spoke as
follows:
Mr. Speaker:-The evils arising from the
excessive use of liquor are among the
greatest that mankind has to contend with.
In the wake of intemperance always follow
poverty, wretchedness and crime; and
therefore the reduction Of the sale OF liquor
to a minimum becomes a matter OF the
greatest Importance to the happiness and
prosperity of state. In the introduction
of this bill it has been, first, the intention
to accomplish this result; and, second to
divert to the people the profits OF that
minimum, whatever it may be.
And right here let us consider the enor-
nous profits from the sale of liquor. Want
OF time forbids me to enter largely into
this subject, but 9, few statistics Will abun-
The total expenditure upon intoxicants in
Great Britain and Ireland in 1899 was
fI62 1853, 474, or about $S10,S17, $40, of which
GAG i96, 1888 was expended on spirits, $685.
47O908 on beer, and FIG, 495, 77S on wine.
The net profits as estimated by Mr. Cham
berlain, the Colonial Secretary of England,
at 20 per cent, considered low estimate,
amount to about $162, 1884, or about "a
In the United States in 1898 the con-
sumption Of spirits was .92 Of gallon % per r
capita; in Great Britain and Irelahd 81 OF
a gallon. The consumption of beer the
same year was 319 gallons per capita In
Great Britain and Ireland and IL gallons In
the United States. AS the population of
the United States is more than double the
total amount of profits, as estimated from
these you'd ee p agOGa
In 1897 the share of the profits from the
sale of liquors of the Gothenburg Sweden
not less than $1S4, 200, an amount equal to
81 per cent of the total municipal revenue
raised by taxation.
The profits Of the Bergen, Norway, com oac
years averaged $35, 900 year.
The statistics Of the South Carolina dis,
pensary system show shat in the I'VE S am1
one half years ending December 81, 1898,
the net profits from the sale of liquors with
ninety-two dlspensaries were, 8, $50 OOo:
For the first half of that period the yearly
second half about 1910, 900. In 1892, prior
to the establishment Of the state monopoly,
South Carolina had 613 barrooms, the year
ly revenue from which In licenses was
S210,O 900. The profits in Sweden and Nor
way for thirty-ive years, with the sales re-
duced to a minimum under the Scandina-
Wan system, were over SlOOO,OOO yOdts
These figures are enough to show the
great profits resulting from the sale OF
liquors; and the question comes at once TO
the front, why should not TINS Pr99nt, g 10 to
and those the least interested In the pubic
Under Liquor Laws the British Encyclo-
padia in substance says: Liquor laws may
be divided into three great systems OF Tree
trade, restriction and prohibition. Free
trade means that either no license Is re-
uuired, or that the licensing authority Is
bound to grant a license whenever certain
conditions are complied with Wherever
on the other hand, theT law distinctly az
firms an absolute discretion in the magis-
trate, or lays down a positive principle,
such as the normal number or the fixed
proportion between public houses and pop
ulatiOn, the system Is properly described
as restriction, or monopoly. This system,
again in its extreme form, tends to pass
into one Of prohibition. Under one Of the
licensing law Of 1855, generally known as
the Gothenburg plan, the municipality be-
gins by the partial. and advances to the
total prohibition OF liquor tratiic, except by
servants Of the municipality; and this plan
is sometimes advocated merely as step
towards the suppression of all trade In
liquor.
trade carried on in public houses has sub
jected them to much more rigorous po-
lice supervision than ordinary. trades All
trades. however. must be carried on under
the conditions required by the public com
FORT and safety; and to give unlimited IL
cense in such matters to inn-keepers would
be to violate social rights not Inferior to
freedom of industry and t.ade."
As Is well known, the bill under consld
Grafton is based upon the Scandinavian
system, the bottom principle Of which Is
the elimination of private gain in the sale
Of liquor, which may be done where either
liquors are sold by a company who under
take to do 1t, or are required by law to do
II, without gain, or where the sale Is con-
Quoted by municipalities, the State or Ma
tion.
This system was first tried In Sweden
and soon after in Norway, whence 1t Is
called the Scandinavian system. 1.-The
Temperance Problem and Social Reform"
published in London, 1899, passing through
Six editions in eight months, and which is
not the ablest, works yet published on this
subject, In a chapter on the Scandinavian
Experiment" says:
'eThe liquor legislation Of Sweden and
Norway during the past hundred years af-
fords a remarkable Illustration of the pow
or Of law both to stimulate and to lessen
the consumption Of alcoholic drinks
amidst much that is subject to contro-
Versy In connection with the Scandinavian
liquor laws, the broad facts are not dis
puted that In Sweden the consumption Of
spirits per head Of the population is little
more than a third Of what It was in 1850;
and that in Norway the annual consump.
tion Of spirits is only one-half Of what 1t
was in 1876 and probably little more than
q fifth what It was in 1888. Norway is, In
deed, now the most temperate country in
Europe"
A table follows Of the consumption Of alb
solute alcohol In the different countries,
based upon the latest official figures, from
an average Of I'VE years:
English gallons