22 THE GOTHENBURG SYSTEM OF LIQUOR TRAFFIC. 



charge of it, — call him bartender, if you please, — receives 

 a fixed salary. If he wishes to retain his position, he 

 must strive to keep his place orderly, must keep out 

 minors, intoxicated persons, and immoral influences. 

 The less liquor he sells, the better satisfaction he will 

 give. This last is such a paradoxical position for a bar- 

 tender to stand in, that bartenders trained under the old 

 regime could not conform to it. In Gothenburg at the 

 outset they retained the old bartenders ; but it was found 

 impossible to break them of their former habit of urging 

 people to drink ; so new ones had to be substituted. 

 While care is taken that the liquors furnished should be 

 pure, there is no attempt to make them also cheap. On 

 the contrary the price has been constantly raised, and 

 the percentage of alcohol at the same time diminished. 

 Everything is done to prevent drunkenness. Only a cer- 

 tain amount of liquor can be sold to one person ; and if 

 he is guilty of a misdemeanor in any barroom, he may 

 be refused admission to all bars for a certain period. 

 The saloons are closed on Sunday and holidays, and at 

 a specially early hour on the days preceding ; in Gothen - 

 burg the common bars are always closed at six in winter 

 and at seven in summer. Minors are not allowed in 

 saloons, neither are habitual drunkards nor persons de- 

 pendent upon the public for support ; and lingering in a 

 saloon after a diink has been obtained is forbidden. But 

 these are matters of detail which vary in different places. 

 They are simply regulations which the local company 

 thinks will tend to discourage drinking. In Sweden 

 restaurants are connected with the saloons ; and the pro- 

 fits rising from the sale of food and temperance drinks 

 go to the proprietor. But in Norway this is forbidden ; 

 there is no inducement to enter the saloon except the 

 desire to get a drink ; the place is not a comfortable or 

 commodious one, smoking is forbidden, and the customer 

 sees before him a placard inviting him to depart as soon 



