Sweden. Report on the working of the Gothenburg licensing system since the year 1876.

Date:
1890
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Sweden. Report on the working of the Gothenburg licensing system since the year 1876. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    coa3i(lers that the lower orders feel a certain constraint in the light, well-ordered, and respectably-frequented premises of the company, and are ashamed to conduct themselves otherwise than properly in the midst of such surroundings. They could, of course, drink in their own houses, and it was at one time thought that thU would be u danger attendant on the methods ymrsued by these patriotic associations, but in practice these fears do not seem to have been justiHeJ. In addition to the restraining influence exerted, in the case of married men, by the presence of their families, must be added the fact that the monopoly enjoyed by the company has had the effect of raising the average price of brandy from 0-H9 kronor (lO^d) to 1'4 kroner {Is. '2d.) per litre. For brandy consumed on the premises the price now charged is I'GOkrouor {Is. 9^d.) per litre, as against 1*I5 kronor (Is. 3^(Z.j, at which it stood previously to 1887. It is generally considered that the early hours of closing enjoined by the statutes of the Stockholm Company have had much to do with the diminution of drunkenness. When the new system was first introduced the public-houses were closed every night at 10 o'clock, and on Sundays and holidays they were shut up for 7| hours during the day. But in 1883, in compliance with a petition signed by some 10,000 men of the working classes, a reform was introduced. On January 30 of that year an order was issued that in future no liquor should be served out Sunday or holidays unless food were taken at the same time, and that on Saturday evenings, after the workmen iiad received their week's wages, the public-houses should be closed at 6 P.M. The same early hour of closing was also to be observed on the days preceding holidays. It seems needless to occupy space by giving separate tables of statistics showing the decrease in the quantity of spirits con- sumed in Stockholm, and in the number of persons fined for drunkenness proportionately to the number of iniiabitants, inasmuch as they would be almost a repetition of those already given for the town of Gothenburg, the rate of improvement having been nearly tiie same in the two instances. It should be observed, however, that the returns published of the cases of delii'ium tremens and chronic alcoholism are not so favourable for Stockholm as they are for Gothenburg. In order to make the evidence with regard to the working of the Gothenburg; system as complete a;? possible. Her Majesty's Consuls at Stockholm and Gotiienburg were requested to obtain returns from the Vice-Consuls within their respective districts. Replies have been received from 22 A^ice-Consuls in all, and are without exception favourable to the new system. In every case, except one, where statistical information has been supplied, the fiiTures show a decrease in the quantity of spirits consumed and in the number of fines for drunkenness, never less and often greater than is the case for Gothenburg. This seems to be of importance in showing that the scheme works quite as well when applied on a small scale as it does for such considernMe towns as