The American issue. [volume] (Westerville, Ohio) 1912-19??, 1921-09-09
DRY LAW enforcement ENCOUNTERS SAME
OBSTACLES IN FINLAND AS IN THE U. S.
Booeggers Busy Some Sections and Raise Cry That Law
Can't be Some Strengthening Provisions
in Law; Parliament Dry--People Favor Enforcement
ostund Stockholm Sweden Special Correspondent 1ssu

pecial Correspondent American 1ssue)
temperance and Prohibition this
League during 1920 spent about
100000 marks. As a rule the demo-
cratic spirit is the prevailing factor
in it. 1t is by democratic principles
the country got its Prohibition law.
1t is the peoples law, and therefore
they naturally rally to its mainte-
nance.
Community Commissions
One great factor Tor preserving the
dry law is the establishing OF conf
munity commission wherever it Is
deemed necessary to work. specially
for law enforcement. 1t is a free
matter left with the communities,
whether they will constitute such
commissions or not. But they have
the same authority to enforce the
law as the police has. Sixty per cent
Of the communities III Finland have
constituted such commissions. They
have accomplished much. They have
closed illegal distilleries, warned neg
ligent officers and constrained them
to do their duty. They have taught
teachers who would not teach their
schools about the harmful effects OF
alcohol and brought such teachers to
actively support enforcement They
have arranged for temperance lee
lures and distributed literature in
favor Of Prohibition and its enforce
ment.
Temperance Department of the Social
Ministry
! The Temperance Department OF the
! Social Ministry OF Finland co-operates
with the community commissions by
eleven consulents, of which nine are
working in the Finnish and two III the
Swedish language. They lecture on
Prohibition and law enforcement and
help the commissions and the police
in every way They deliver weekly
reports to the government They arc
also working with temperance socie
ties. IN fact, all the work for tenn
perance and Prohibition is under the
supervision and leadership Of the
Temperance Department of the So
cial Ministry The temperance de
partment keeps in touch with dry
work not only in Finland, but in
other countries as we'll It manages
and controls such fabrication, inn
port and sale of alcohol, that is al
lowed by law. The appropriation
from the state to the temperance de-
partfuent reaches the sum of 100000
Finnish marks, or about 10000 dol
lars. Nearly half OF that sum is given
over to the temperance organizations
for law enforcement. some of il also
for educational purposes.
/ The government is very anxious to
see the dry law enforced. During the
last few months several things have
been done in order to. strengthen the
enforcement.
Prescription Abuses
When the Parliament i'll 1919
adopted several changes in the Pro-
hibtion law, i'll order to make it more
effective, one important thing was left
undone. Ii was regarding prescrip-
tions of alcohol as medicine. Stronger
rules could then have been set as the
Prohibition friends in the Parliament
were land still are) in absolute ma
jority. The changes made during
1910 were adopted in the Parliament
/ by l12 votes against 80. Four-fifths
OF the Parliament is for Prohibition
All political parties have declared for
Prohibition except one: the Swedish
National Party. consisting of 10 mem
bers in the Parliament.
The reason why strong regulations
concerning uOClofS prescriptions Oh
alcohol were not embodied i'll the law
was that the late DR.. Helenius-Sep
pala did not think it necessary; him
self being physician. he believed
that the medical profession of Fin
land would consider it a matter of
honor to keep the general principles
OF Prohibition in their practice. The
! time since 1910 has not insti6ed the