THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT IN EUROPE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7567, 20 February 1886, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT IN EUROPE.

■ THE ESTABLISHMENT OP COFFEE- • HOUSES. Hitherto the great attraction to the poorer class of Great Britain and the Continent to publichouses and saloons was the handsome appointments of the well-lighted rooms thai contrasted so vividly with the wretched condition of their own homes. The opponents of spirituous liquors have, however, taken a leaf from the books of the publicans, and some large coffee saloons, fitted out in the most comfortable manner, have been opened in the most populous districts of London and of other large English cities. At these establishments a large roll and a cup of good coffee are served for a penny, and a good substantial meal can be had for 2£d. The places are well lighted and heated, and are supplied with all the leading periodicals, and have proved to be such a success that the excise returns on malt and spirituous liquors show a steady. and gradual decrease. The system has now spread to Germany and in all the mediumsized towns and, what is more, at weekly and annual fairs the workmen and peasants. frequent the coffee kitchens largely and in increasing numbers. A benevolent citizen residing in the neighbourhood of Jena has recently put a sort of "flying kitchen" on the high road, where hot coffee may be had at all hoars during the day at 7£ mills, or ' less than id, a cup. During the three years following the revival of temperance work in Germany, there has been a great deal of talking, arguing, and preparing for work, but of actual work very little has been done. Now at last it seems as if the time for organised action has come, and one large town after the other has in the course of the last month or two seen the opening of coffee-houses on the same principles as those in England, The largest of these " publichouses of the future,' as a German writer has called them, has' recently been opened at Hamburg, and the success has been such that notwithstanding the great expenses which naturally attend the beginning of such an undertaking, there has been a small profit even at the end of the first month. This is the more encouraging as the articles of food are sold at prices which to as must appear ridiculously low. Thus, a large cup of coffee, with milk and sugar— the latter a luxury generally only indulged in by the well-to do—is charged a halfpenny, while a cup of tea, chocolate, or beef tea costs a penny. That Hamburgh, the German Liverpool, takes the initiative in the temperance movement is highly gratifying. and the success of the first German coffee-house of this kind will no doubt be a great stimulus to other large towns to follow suit.