THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7661, 17 January 1901, Page 4

THE TEMPERANCE PROBLEM.

(By CANTAB.),

THE SCANDINAVIAN 'EXPERIMENTS.

NORWAY

" The licensing system in Norway has been conducted. under conditions: of population and economic development similar to those which- ihaye obtained! in Sweden. Seventy-four per cent of. the population in 1896 was rural, while .there was a large amount of peasant proprietorship. Each country was faced by the same- evils of free distillation, while each adopted local option in rural districts and the controlling system in the towns. ' In 1816 everyone in Norway was granted the right to distil brandy from grain or potatoes raised on his own land. This brought the country into a terrible state, even the women, giving way to drunkenness, and the country at last got alarmed. , By ,1840 the number of distilleries was reduced to 1387 (from 9727 in 1833); and by the law of 1848 the number was shortly brought down to 40. At the present time there are | only 21 distilleries in Norway. By the Act I of 1846 the number of licenses in the rural i" districts was largely reduced', and even this restricted number was subject to a local ,yeto, and .the whole traffic placed under a looai governing, body.

THE "COMPANY SYSTEM" IN NOR-

WAY,

" ' The introduction of the "Company System" in Norway, authorised by the Act of May 3, 1871, was due to the example afforded by Gothenburg in 1865.. Norway, however, profited by the mistakes of Sweden. Las administration, was guarded against,' and the appropriation of profits to local rates was avoided. The law expressly provides that the net profits of the " Samlags " should be devoted to objects of public utility— other than those whidn the municipalities are .bound to support. Ohtistiansand was the first town; to adopt the company system, and! others followed ; until at length 51 out of s> total of 59 towns possessed a licensing authority, with 'a power of ' local option *at their discretion. With regard to the amount of spirits &***- vih," consumed in Norway per head of the population, the estimated quantity in 1855 was 16.0 litres; in 1843 this was reduced to- 10.0 litres (as a result of tlie sweeping legislation concerning distilleries) ; in 1.855 the amount was only" 6.3 litres per head. After this followed a period of more than twenty years, when the consumption was almost stationary ; and it was not until the "Samlags" (companies) were formed, and a material portion of the trade had *been brought under their control, . that amy further reduction was effected. By 1898 the amount consumed was only 2.6 litres per head. . - , Let us now examine the working ot.tne system in the town of 'Bergen, whidhr is the chief port and the second city an Norway, and which is the usual place of arrival and departure for English and American tra-vellere in the Norwegian tour. The controlling society commenced operations in January, 1877, and the following reforms were effected by the company : — (1) A very great reduction was made in the number of houses for the sale of spirits ; (2) the spirit bars were closed ifrora Saturday, at 1 p.m., till Monday, at 8 a.m. j while on the days before the great festivals they were closed all day ; as also on election days, and whenever the, Chief of Police required. They were, moreover, ■ closed every week day from 12 noon to 1.30, to protect the working men from the temptation of dram-drinking duriDg the dinner hour— a striking^ reversal of the ordinary English idea. , _ It is important to notice that, as in. Sweden, so, in Norway, the character of the drink-shops is made very unattractive, and quite unlike the 'ordinary publichouse. Consequently, there is no temptation to loifer in them. In Norway, . however, they have coi*rectedl one of the mistakes of Sweden, as the system of- sub-licensing hotels and 1 restaurants (such es exists in Sweden) is here kept within narrow limits, and thus many evils are avoided. A special police officer, too, is paid by the 'Bergen 'Samlag' to guard against violations of.its by-laws. for the contr^ of the traffic. Other regulations are also in force, one of which is. that no ored^t is given by any of the companies, while no female at-: tendants are allowed! to serve in any of tftteir shops, either bar or retail. The importance of these two regulations can hardly be overestimated. Finally", a good feature of the Bengen Society's adiministoa*ion is the four waiting rooms for workmen, in no way connected with the shops, which, a-re warmed, and supplied with, newspapers, while smoking is allowed. On inquiirng into the results of this system, we find that there has been an immense reductions; in the bar sale of spirits in Bergen-^ reduction of no less than. 44.9 per cent between, 1877 and) 1895: The number of arrests for drunkenness, which at first largely decreased, has latterly "increased again, owing to the intrc*duction of an adulterated wine called "ladidtevin;," the sale of which, unfortunately, does not come undter <tlie control of the "Samlag." The: profits :of.' the com-, pany have' been devo'tedi to' a large, variety of objects, including hospitals, refuges a«d homes, museums, libraries and exhibitions,, tree-planting, public baths and- recreation grounds, various educational institutes, etc. A change of opinion, however, has taken, place as to the advisability of devoting so rauoh of the profits to some of these objects, which really should be *he care of the municipality, and the temperance reformers, drafted a Bill, July 24, 1894, under which 6j per cent of the profits will go in future to the State. Lastly, the sysI tern claims our attention! by its iihoroughI ness, the reality of its control, and! enforcement of regulations, such as is quite imposunder line system! of private licenses. The Norwegian law of July, 1894, is an evidtence "of the growth of the temperance movement in Norway. Its object was to forbid 1 the sale of casks of 40 litres by distillers, or wholesale dealers, which had hitherto been allowed, and had been obtained by persons clubbing together, and then dividing the cask among themselves in private. This was stopped "by making j the minimum quantity 250 litres. The law also tried to extinguish), ajl private lipensed

to " Samlags," wit)h' a local option, as to the, existence even of these. By this local option (exercised during: the last six year.'* the "Samlags" were abolished in twentyfive towns, to give place to total prohibition, but this is generally voted) to have been a mistake, as the usual evils arising from, rprohibition have shown themselves. The support of charities^ etc., by profits of the traffic, was abolished by the Act of 1894, as this system was looked upon, as likely to increase the local trade/ by the anxiety to give a good' support to hospitals, etc. A new method of division was, therefore, introduced, by which (in the course 'of five years), "65; -per. cent of the profits were to be given- annually to the State, '20 per cent to' the Sam Jag, and 15 per cent to the -muni'cipaiity, the lastnamed being, in lieu of \ th& imiah Barger sums the mundcjpality previously derived from the license tax, now 'abolished). That which is -paid into the State exchequer, it ib generally assumed^ wiE- be .^ ultimately applied to a scheme for old age jpaniaons. It Ts significant tb note that, under Ih' e company system 1 in Norway, the immenisft municipal and political influence of the liquor .*rade (such as is a menace to the Constitution of England) is completely abolished. .

Unfortunately, ■however, it is. only. the spirit traffic -which .has, up tiUt now, 'been touched, while the beer traffic and tne wine trade still exercise a powerful control over hotels, restaurants and 1 inns; The leading temperance reformer in Norway suggests tihat, as a remedy, been and wine shall also be placed under the . control : of thb "Samlags," a testimony to the good accomplish-, ed by these companies . mv dealing with spirits.. And now,, having .examined into, the working of the " company ". syeten*, let us sum up its defects and the" advantages which Shave been apparent in either "country. .■ ...-..; .-. •;....■• ."■. . ■ DEfIFEGTS OF THE <r OOMiPANY „;.._ . . -. , : . SYSIEBM.'V. , : ; . ./. ■. (1) In Sweden, the weak; point tndouDtedly has Deen the appropriation of the profits to the relief of 'rates/ ' : "vj ■ - (2) In Noinway; where this error has been ■* avoided, there is not. sufficient recognition of the necessity of prioyiding.. counter attractions. . .

(3) In Sweden; again, the ihethod of is; suing sub-licenses to the -keepers of hotels; restaurants, etc., goes, far to'ro&utralise the restrictive influence of the" company in its 'pwo.dhopisi ? " .■ •' ■'"',■

(4) The greatest mistake of all.'in both coTintiries, has ■ ; been the aion-mclhsion, of beer and wine, which forms a serious obstacle to the companies in their efforts to combat' intemperance. . Both countries are now awake to, this defect,, and we may, tnerefore, hope to see it shortly remedied. :

advantages: of the 'company SYSTEM. .

' While the defects .of • the system, just enumerated, are all due to errors- in the practical working of it which, can be per^ fectly well remedied in the course of time, the advantages which have resulted belong, as it were, to the essence of the system. Chief among its many advantages, two immediately present themselves, which aie of incalculable value. . '

(1) It divorces politics from the drink traffic, and thus paves the way for the at.tention of politicians beinjg turned towards temperance reforms. * (2) The vast 'monopoly of profits by private individuals Js swept away, and the provision of counter attractions on a large scale is rendered .possible, while the system enlists the active co-operation of leading citizens. ■ ■

'Invaddition to these two fundamental reforms, w« claim that, under this system,' an -effective control over the traffic ibecomes possible, and that reforms keep pace with the, temperance sentiment of ttie locality. Also, the -number of liosn&fed houses is reduced 1 to the lowest possible limit; the sale of liquor on credit, ■which is a fruitful source of evil, is altogether abolished, together with all the usual at- : tractions of the , publichouse. i^inally, gambling and immoral accessories ,ai;e done away with, and -by -Jaws . are easily enforced.

We will-only that-, in our opinion, a careful study of this question cannot but lead us to an agreement with the authors of tihe " Temper>ance Problem," who come to tike following concluslonis : — {I) The trade shouldl be taken altpgetiher out of priva-te Hands. (2) Tihen worked locally, not by tihe State, except for a general State supervision, to secure proper and careful administration of the conditions determined 'by statutory law, under which the localities carry on the traffic. . .