Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/727

 NOTES AND ABSTRACTS.

The Temperance Movement in the Nineteenth Century. Though from the earliest times wise legislators have frowned upon the inordinate use of intoxi- cating liquor, the nineteenth century first developed active attack upon the habit from the side of legislation and social endeavor. Such attack was due to the fact that by the beginning of this century the evil had attained unprecedented proportions. The much-valued "spirits of wine" came to be used as a remedy and preventive i~>r all sorts of ills ; then it was employed as a stimulant ; later it became a regular article of diet ; and finally it sank into the comon means of intoxication. Soldiers accustomed to its use in the wars brought home with them the habit of drinking. And thus the use of liquor was introduced into the family. The making of brandy from fruits and vegetables was rapidly learned, and soon a small still became an article of furniture in almost every farmer's household. Small beer, which had been the favorite beverage of the people, gave place to the stronger spirits. The evil spread to a shocking extent throughout the states of northern Europe and America. The importation of rum into the United States, and the fabrication of whisky and gin, made drunkenness a national vice in this country.

The effects of such general misuse of alcoholic liquors began to show in diseases of body and mind. So that now physicians and moralists began to lift their voices against the evil. The state took steps to reduce the quantity of liquor produced by forbidding private stills. It further limited the retailing of liquor by subjecting the dealers to license regulations. Both these measures have had a good effect, especially the latter. For, despite the objections to the license system, it is a fact that the fewer places there are for dispensing liquor, the fewer men there are who are likely to go for it.

Many plans for the suppression of the traffic have been tried. Thus Maine has had a system of total prohibition since 1851. The making and selling of spirituous liquors for beverages are interdicted, and their use as medicine and in the arts is strictly supervised by state license. The strenuousness of the law, however, leads to various abuses and evasions. The rich drink in clubs and hotels ; the poor get the worst sort of stuff in low tap-houses. Less radical is the " local-option" plan. This has been tried with varying success in the United States and Norway. The great defect of the system is that it reduces the policy to be pursued to the level of a political move, to be used for the advantage of the popular party. In some countries the government has monopolized the liquor traffic. Thus since 1893 Russia has made the sale of liquor a monopoly of the various states, and has restricted the retail trade to legal- ized dealers. The result of this experiment has been to greatly reduce the number of taverns. Also in South Carolina since 1892 there has been a commissioner who buys up the liquor from the breweries and distilleries in the state, and hands it over to single local agents. The liquor must be pure and up to standard. It is sold under certain restrictions to the consumer in single sealed packages. In Switzerland since 1886 the government has had control of the wholesale liquor trade. Its agents pur- chase a certain amount of standard qualities, and supply the taverns. The result of the plan has been that many inferior distilleries have been shut up, and the drink habit has decreased. In Sweden the anti-saloon company reduced the number of saloons from 308 in 1878-9 (or I to 12,626 inhabitants) to 155 in 1895-6 (or I to every 25,307 inhabitants). The company began in 1865 by the union of a number of phil- anthropists, who proceeded to buy up all the saloons and license privileges. The society has spread all over Norway, Sweden, and Finland. The plan is not a money- making one. A great part of the saloons are shut up, and the hours for selling liquor at the others are shortened. In 1881 a measure was passed in Holland limiting the number of saloons to I for every 500 inhabitants in cities of over 50,000 ; I to every

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