28 THE GOTHENBUEG SYSTEM OF LIQUOR TRAFFIC. 



reputable. The investigator sent over by the Massachu- 

 setts commission asked the public inspector why it was 

 that certain persons seemed embarrassed at being 

 discovered in a bar-room, "Oh," was the answer, 

 "they simply hate to be seen here; it isn't thought 

 respectable." 



3. Elaborate statistics concerning tlie number of ar- 

 rests for drunkenness, the cases of delirium tremens, the 

 deaths from chronic alcoholism, the number of paupers, 

 and the amounts deposited in savings banks during the 

 past twenty years, are to be found in the United States 

 report. But local conditions — for example, the alacrity 

 of the police in arresting drunken persons, or the finan- 

 cial prosperity of the country as influencing poverty and 

 savings — so largely affect these statistics, that it is not 

 safe to draw conclusions from them without careful dis- 

 criminations. A much simpler question is, How far 

 has the consumption of liquor been diminished ? Sweden 

 in eighteen years has brought it down from over 14 

 quarts per inhabitant to less than 6 quarts. During this 

 time, however, the consumption of malt liquors nearly 

 doubled. But in Norway, without at all increasing the 

 amount of malt liquors, the consumption of distilled 

 liquors has been reduced from 6,8 quarts to 3.3 quarts 

 per inhabitant. This should be contrasted with the con- 

 sumption in the neighboring kingdom of Denmark, where 

 it is over 17 quarts per inhabitant. Norway to-day is 

 one of the most sober countries in Christendom. 



4. The verdict of public opinion is generally pretty 

 true in a matter of this sort. And public opinion in the 

 Scandinavian peninsula, though at the outset decidedly 

 doubtful or opposed, now with remarkable unanimity en- 

 dorses the Gothenburg system. Not a single community 

 that once has tried the system has been willing to 

 abandon it. The police say that it makes their duties 

 much lighter ; the prohibitionists believe that it is ad- 



