Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-09-01
'eeks to Appeal to Much Wider Glass
Of Community.
TEMPERANCE VIEW
Differs Materially from Total Absti.
nence Beliefs.
IDEAS TO THE FORE
of Recent Years More and More
IL said Against the Light
Drinks, Ignoring the
Stronger.


the eleventh international congress against
alcoholism, which opened here two weeks
ago with a demonstration of temperance
societies. and brought together representa-
tives Of seventeen different countries, does |
not appear In the Official program at all, !
though it is none the less vital to the char !
acter, and especially to the future. Of these |
biennial gatherings Prince Gustav Adolf |
grandson of the king when opening the
formal business OF the congress, summed !
up the original and primary purposes
thereof when he said that ito fight against
the misuse OF alcohol was one of the most
important social questions of the day"
| Here the word of special significance is
misuse" Strictly speaking. the interna-
| tional congress does not, or should not,
seek to restrict a reasonable use of al
cohol, and In the introduction of this years
program references are made to ''the great
and important science of alcohology," to
alcoholism" and to 1.-THE alcoholic prob
lem," all of which phrases seem to sug-
gest the idea of actual social or physical
evils. and the cure thereof, rather than
the teetotal idea OF absolute abstention, ir-
respective OF whether the individual is an
actual victim to alcoholism" or not. Thus
!
the same standpoint as a national confer
ence Of total abstinence societies. and its
primary object, as thus stated, must ap-
peal to the sympathies OF much wider
class of the community.
Division I'm Ranks.
But ever since tho Inauguration OF these
gatherings there has been a certain divis-
ion in the ranks of the adherents brought
1
not satisfied with seeking to suppress the
evils OF misuse" of alcoholic beverages,
has sought, also, to put down their use
in any shape or form. II is matter of
history that alcoholism" came into exist
enoe with the Introduction of spirits and
did not prevail among those of our fore
fathers, who consumed only beer and
cider; but the extremist section OF the
congress is inclined to draw no distinc-
tion between use and abuse either Of ar
dent spirits or OF wine and beer. This
tendency came into evidence at the inter
national congress OF 1885, held at Antwerp.
In the twenty-one years which have
elapsed since the extremist section of the
international congress has been steadily
increasing In numbers and influence, and
its members claim that they now constitute
|
certainly somewhat uneasy less they may
not, sooner or later. hnd themselves, as
one OF them has expressed II. ''swamped."
To understand the position Alright, how
ever. one must bear in mind that the larger
proportion of the Temperance. societies
on the continent of Europe with which the
International congress has hitherto been
mainly associated) are based on principles
differing essentially from those OF the tee
totnl-temperance societies Of the United
States
Agree to Use of LiEht Beer.
In Scandinavia the leaders OF the tenn
perance movement. anxious In the early
, days thereof to wean the people from the
, spirit drinking which was the curse of
these countries agreed to recognize the
consumption of light beer and In Denmark,
about the year 1904 the brewers were even
asked by sotne OF the temperance societies
,. II they could not produce a beer of prac-
: tically non-srtoxicatinE qualities which
|, would have better keeping qualities than
the so-called white beer" popular IN that
country for generations past This white
beer, made by the experimentation process,
was a very unsatisfactory production. read
!. lily turning sour, but II was not until 1902
that there was finally produced In Copen-
q thin Bavarian beer. which really an
swered the desired, requirements. Since
then one brewery htm alone IN the city
has increased it's outpnt OF this temper
= ance beer to 5000 barrels a year--a figure
not inconsiderable in view ot the fact that
the total production of Denmark is only
b ~ 800 900. and that there are in the country
! no fewer than $50 breweries producing
1 "duty-free'' beer Chat is. baer having lest
i than az per cent weight of alcohol equa
: to about per cent OF proof spirit),
. In Sweden the legal limit of alcohol fol
d "duty-free" beer is 2A per cent in volume
! mot weight. as in DenmArlef, with pei
Il cent OF extract. though brewers who pro
e duoe not only "svagdricka," such beel
A is mostly called. but beers above the sait
) limit. have to pay duty on their tota
consumption Of malt In the breweriee wher,
d. the two varieties are produced. the excis,
- authorities declaring that they canno
!, check the respective quantities, so that thu
- freedom from duty for Temperance haer'
:. applies In Sweden only In the case o.
!, breweries where such beer alone is pro
: dueed.
why MembershiD is Large.
, The fact that the temperance societie.
= OF Sweden, almost without exception, have
hitherto recognized the consumption hS
their members OF beers OF the kind II
d question has. undoubtedly, done much tC
contribute 10 the magnitude OF their mem
= bership, so that the 1000 temperance pso
pie who took part In the procession wer'
not ali ''tsetotalers" Today the produc
70 ton OF Light duty-free beer in swedeI
u has attained to the proportion OF 10000
4 hectolitres the year. and nearly the who'll
sr OF this is consumed by Temperance" peo
& pie. including women and children Reck
p onins. also. beers OF stronger type. ant
N ranging In strength up to about per cen
r OF alcohol. beer represents about three
y tenths OF the total consumption OF alco
- holie beverages In Sweden, the remaining
+ ssven-tsnths being represented mainly b.