400 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences^ ArtSj and Letters. 



have licenses granted to private individuals, but, except in a few 

 instances, thev hold aloof from both. There are two hundred 

 and eighty-one districts out of four hundred and seventy-eight 

 in which there is no liquor traffic whatever. In four hundred 

 and thirty-five out of four hundred and seventy-eight, drunken- 

 ness has been markedly decreasing within the last years; in 

 thirty, observations seem to indicate no change; while drunken- 

 ness seems to be increasing in only ten. 



Having now surveyed, in a general way, the liquor traffic both 

 in the country and in the cities, necessarily in a cursory manner, 

 however, we pass to a consideration of a few particular phases 

 of the problem which are especially interesting and significant 

 as being products of recent developments. 



The first, though perhaps not the most interesting of these 

 phases is the so-called "Ladde traffic." This has aroused con- 

 siderable excitement and has been the source of much trouble. 

 The ^^Ladde traffic" is the importation and sale of a cheap kind 

 of wine. It has been largely imported from France and Ger- 

 many. As to its nature I find among m.y various reports the 

 following description: "It is sweet and delicious but made of 

 poor material and has none of the genuine characteristics of 

 good wine." The fact remains, however, that this wine has 

 won much popularity with the Norwegian people, both on ac- 

 count of its cheapness and its taste. While a bottle of brandy 

 containing thirty-six per cent, alcohol costs 1.20 kr., a bottle of 

 the same size filled with "Ladde vin" that contains twenty-one 

 per cent, alcohol costs only .40 to .50 kr. (40 to 50 ore). That it 

 can be sold at so low a price is due to the fact that, being desig- 

 nated as wine, there is in the first place only a very small tariff 

 on its importation, and in the second place, practically no license 

 for its sale. It may be and is sold by nearly every local mer- 

 chant — thus it is made easily accessible. That this is a detri- 

 ment to a struggling movement towards sobriety is evident. Of 

 what account is it to bind samlags or any other organizations by 

 strict rules if private individuals are left free or are given extra- 

 ordinary privileges for working towards results directly con- 

 trary to such rules ? The importation and consumption of wine 

 has greatly increased. To show the extent as well as the recency 



