Morris tribune., 1910-03-25
Interesting News from Sweden,
Norway and Denmark.
SALE OF LIQUOR IN SWEDEN
Figures Show a Remarkable Consump.
tion of Alcoholic Spirits SWe-
den Has More Liquor Laws
Than Other Countries.
SWEDEN.

Sweden has more liquor laws, regu.
lations and ways of dealing with the
sale of liquors than any other coun'
try, and at the same time it exceeds
| most nations in it's number of inebri.
ates among the working classes, while
a sister kingdom, Denmark, has al
most no laws or regulations upon the
subject and very little drunkenness, as
paradoXical as this condition may
seem. A Swedish paper states that
M. Andre, the able director of the
Gothenburg "bolag," has pointed out
J the remarkable fact that whereas the
consumption of alcoholic spirits in
Sweden amounted to As liters per unit
of population, in Norway to 2.69 and
in Denmark to 1887. The number OF
| those arrested for drunkenness in the
capital of Denmark amount to 1897
or 20 per 1000 inhabitants; in the capi
| tai of Sweden to II, ,232, of 81 per 1,000
and in the capital of Norway to 1908
| or Is per 1000 inhabitants; and yet
LuS OI SOPCA1hoSCh AOA AAAOA
10 per cent of the whole population OF
Denmark, whereas that of Christ1ania
, forms 10 per cent of Norway's and that
of Stockholm's merely 6 per cent of
Sweden's. He explains this by re-
ferring to the different customs and
the national character of the three
countries. There are two kinds of IL
censes to sell spirits in Sweden. The
first is called ''on," where spirits are
served with or without food, and must
be drunk upon the premises. The
second is styled off" where all spirits
are sold in bottles, but not in less
quantities than one liter "a quartz,
and must not be opened in the shop.
The first is a bar license and is used
by the bars in the "bolags," the hotels,
restaurants, and cafes allowed to sell
liquor The second is a retail license
and is used by the shops selling spirits
in bottles. There are many liquor
need no licenses, and as for thousands
of shops, hotels, cafes, etc., serving
and selling beers, of course, there is no
license required, as beer is a free ar
ticle of commerce and thousands of
shops sell it in connection with other
goods. Besides all hotels, cafes, ETC.,
which sell beer there are over 500 "off
beer shops in Gothenburg alone, with
seventy-nine regular beer bars and
also many small beer" places, and
beer is sold all over Sweden just as
tea or coffee, no prohibiting law in any
section affecting beer or wine.
A small pamphlet was recently is
sued in Sweden by one of the COM
mercial clubs which discusses the mat
ter of emigration to other countries
Among other things it gives four rea-
sons as the leading causes of strong
immigration from that country, and it
is rather strange too that the public
schools are blamed. The reasons Civ.
en- are the following: l. That the cur
riculum of studies in the public schools
is not sufficiently practical 2 That
the instruction is not thorough enough, |
too superficial. 3. That the courses
contain hardly anything in national
economics. 4. That the children are
not made to realize that they have a
country worthy of their zeal. We be- !
licVe that there is another reason .
which the people of Sweden have !
learned, but not in their schools, and
that is that their friends and relatives
in other countries acquire dollars
where those in the home country hard
ly acquire cents. We believe that as
soon as people can make more money
in Sweden they will be in better posi-
tion in every respect and then there
will be decided falling off so far as
is concerned. At any rate
the immigration problem is worrying
a good many of the leading men in
Sweden and there is no telling where
it will all end, if people continue to
emigrate at the. rate that they are do
ing at the present time.
Within a short time Sweden has lost
two of her prominent men through
death One was one of twelve bish-
ops of the state church of Sweden.
namely Bishop o. N. T. Ahnfelt. of the
diocese of Lindkoping. He died of
lung trouble last month. He had not
very great age, being only
ifty-fve years old and bishop of the
diocese only since 1907 He was or
1ained to the ministry in 1881, was
professor of theology at the university
n Lund many years, where he taught
he various branches. He is said to
nave been a man of simple and pious
habits, avoiding pomp and show as
much as possible. He was firm in his J
convictions and had nothing In com
non with the modern higher criticism.
The other prominent figure in Swedish Y
circles who recently departed this life |
vas John Borjesson of Stockholm. an {
Lrtist of no mean reputation. He was
lnown as a painter and sculptor.
Among some of his works are ..Tbe G
Boiling Players" "The Sea Nymphs" +
nd "The Fisher Boy at Capri" which 7
we're executed in Rome. Among some t