UEV. WM. BANCROFT HILL. 19 



licenses-which hitherto had^been disposed of by auction- 

 should be handed over to a company organized for the 

 purpose of diminishing the existing evils. This company 

 was to provide light, clean and roomy premises for their 

 traffic ; was to sell no liquor on credit or for pawn-tickets ; 

 was to have eating houses with lighter drinks in connec- 

 tion with their saloons ; and (most important of all) was 

 to hand over to the city or devote to the interests of the 

 working classes all the profits of their business beyond 

 the ordinary rate of interest upon capital actually in- 

 vested. This, in brief, is the G-othenburg system ; I will 

 describe it more minutely later on. The example of 

 Gothenburg was followed by other towns. But five 

 years later the distillers, who after a manner we are fa- 

 miliar with had practically owned the saloons but could 

 get no control over these new companies, and^now, were 

 finding their sales rapidly diminishing, began a tremen- 

 dous opposition to this new state of things, led by a 

 certain Smith who was "the brandy king of Sweden." 

 Every ill that slander could devise was charged against 

 the companies, and every agency that money could set 

 in motion was used to overthrow them. The fight lasted 

 fifteen years ; and it ended in 1885 with the complete 

 victory of the Gothenburg system. It is only since then, 

 therefore, that the system in Sweeden has had a chance 

 to show fully what it can do ; and the prolonged opposi- 

 tion has hindered it from reaching as yet its full measure 

 of usefulness. 



From Sweden in 1871 the Gothenburg system passed 

 over into Norway. In that country it had less hostility 

 to encounter, and could develop more fully. Moreover, 

 from the outset Norway guarded against certain evils 

 possible to the Swedish system. For example, it 

 abolished all clan distinctions, and provided that the 

 profits should go to objects of public utility in order that 

 the taxpayer might be less tempted to encourage the 



