Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 14.djvu/541

 TEMPERANCE

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TEMPERANCE

licious drink"; thus the lircwiiifi; iiuliistry was encour- aged. It was thought tlial jioisonovis siihstaiices existed only in dislilli'd s]iiii(s. cdnsefiurntly nolhiuR was said of rombaliiiK alcohol, liut ahvays distilled spirits, and this through abstinence. The earlier movement is better characterized by calling it the era of naive enthusiasm, supported especially by religious ideas. Drunkenness was regarded chiefly as a vice to be overcome by strong rehgious senti- ments. Clergj'men were the principal leaders of the movement, and the plcflge was its highest attainment.

The new movement is more dis))assionate; its funda- mental ideas are largely hygienic and social. The nature of alcoholic beverages has been more thor- oughly investigated and the danger of habitual mod- erate drinking, which merely avoids intoxication, has been recognized. Intemperance is no longer gener- allj' regarded as a matter of individual morality, but as a menace to the public health (because of its effects on the offspring) and as a danger to national welfare (inasmuch as it promotes criminality and immorality, while lessening mental and economic productivitj'). The present movement is promoted by physicians, sociologists, and government officials; its final aim is rather to do away with the drinking of alcohol either by national prohibition or by local option. Still, of late, the religious side of the movement has shown re- newed vigour, especially in rescue work for drunkards; and strong rehgious organizations have sprung up, especially among the Catholics of Germany and Hol- land. It is entirely in keeping with the social charac- ter of the movement that the effort is made to in- fluence children and young people also (as in the "Bands of Hope") and that even the schools are called on to co-operate by means of special instruction.

The first traces of an organized temperance move- ment in Europe are found in the union formed at Viixjo, Sweden, in 1S19, bj' a mmiber of pupils at a gymnasium under the guidance of Per Wieselgren (1800-77), who afterwards became famous as the father of the Swedish temperance agitation. The members of the union pledged themselves to abstain from all harmful .spirituous beverages. However, impulses from America ("American Temperance Society", 1826) first led to the foundation of regular societies — almost immediatelv in Ireland (New Ross, 1829; by 1830, (30 societies'); Scotland (Greenock, 1829; the "Scottish Temperance Society", a central organization, founded in 1831, soon had 300 branches); England (Bradford, 1830; by the end of 1830, 30 local societies; the "British and Foreign Temperance Society", 1831) ; Sweden (Stockholm, 1830; the "Swed- ish Temperance Society", a central organization, founded in 1837, had 100,000 members by 184.5). The movement spread most rapidly in Ireland, where from 1834 Father Mat hew (q. v.), probably the greatest preacher of temperance of all times, laboured with extraordinarv success; bv 1844 he had secured nearly f),.iOO,000 adherents. Iii Dubhn alone 180,000 took the pledge from him; later he went to England, gain- ing fiO,000 in London, then to Scotland and -Vmerica. In 18.58 the "Irish Temperance League", now the most important abstinence organization in Ireland, was founded. As in Sweden, the first movement in Norway and Germany was also an independent one, but it did not attain in either country much impor- tance until it came into contact with the American and English movements. In Norway, Kjell Andresen established throughout the country numerous socie- ties which, in 1845, he united into a central organi- zation, "Den norske vercning modbraendevinsdrik- ken", an as.sociation that received at once consider- able financial aid from the State.

The camjiaign was opened in Germany about 1800 by a number of tnedical treatises, esi)ccially those of Hufeland (Die Brannlweinv2, through iMiglish iMlluence. About 1S33 Frederick William 111 asked the American Government for information concerning the temper- ance movement. In answer to this request Robert Baird, author of the epoch-making "History of the Temperance Societies in the LInited States", was sent to Europe in 1835. At Berlin Baird gave the French version of his work to the king, who had it translated immediately into German, and 30,000 copies distrib- uted. The movement was now carried on with great zeal, mainly by the different Churches. The chief work- ers among the Catholics were: Father Seling (1792- 1860) in the Diocese of Osnabriick; the Archpriest Fitzek and Father Schaffranek in Silesia; the mis- sioned Hillebrandt in Westphalia; Father Ketterer and other Jesuits in Ermland; much influence was also exerted by the writings of the popular author Alban Stolz. Father Mathew's work was taken as the model of the movement, but an effort was made to secure greater permanence by forming temperance confraternities; these still exist in the east of Germany. The work was carried on among Protestants by Pastor Bottcher of Hanover (also active as a writer) and by Freiherr von Seld, who covered much territory lecturing on temperance. The result of these labours was that when the first temperance congress was held (Hamburg, 1843) there were already over 450 tem- perance societies in Northern Germany, and 1702 when the second congress was held (Berlin, 1845). At the same date the total number of abstainers in Germany was stated to be 1,650,000^ of whom over 500,000 were in Upper Silesia. This was the cul- minating point of the movement, which rapidly declined after the Revolution of 1848. Besides the countries already mentioned, the early movement attained prominence only in Holland and Denmark, although the American influence was felt in other countries also. In 1842 the "Nederlandsche Vereen- iging tot abschaffing van sterken drank" was formed at Leyden; its membership rose to over 20,000 and then declined. Baird spent 1840 in Denmark; 40 societies were quickly formed there, and, in 1845, were united into a national a.ssociation with its own newspaper, the " Folkevennen ". In Denmark also the conflict between the temperance and total absti- nence advocates ended the entire movement.

With the exception of England, where the High Church AngUcans founded (18(j2) the "Church of Eng- land Temperance Society", which quickly attained great success, little jirogress was made in Europe from 1860 to 1870. Pastor Bottcher, it is true, succeeded in organizing another continental congress at Han- over in 1863, but the interest in temperance had died out. Nearly twenty years afterwards begins the later movement, which in most countries was distinctly influenced by the "Order of Good Templars", and in Switzerland and adjacent countries also by the society of the "Blue Cross", founded by Pa.stor Rochat at Geneva in 1877 as a society for the rescue of drunkards. In 1868 the "Independent Order of (iood Teinjilars" extended from .\nierica to England, where, at first, internal dissensions occasioned an acute crisis. About ten years later the order was established in Scandi- navia (Norway, 1877; Sweden, 1S79; Denmark, 1880). In these countries it proved more successful than any- where else, particularly in Sweden, where, owing to the exert ions of Oscar Ekiuiid and Kdvard Wavrinsky, its membership in 1S87 was over (iO.OOO. It must be acknowledged that here also internal discords had to be overcome. In 1S83 the order entered Germany, appearing first at Hadersleben in the Danish-speaking district, and in 1SS7 the first German lodge was es- tablished at Flensburg. The main strength of the order is still in Schleswig-Ilolstein and Hamburg. In