Show THE temperance PROBLEM the fifth special report of the halted states commissioner of labor to la now published it treats on the Got gothenberg gothenburg henburg system of regulating the liquor traffic and seems to be a carefully prepared document valus valuable ble tor for the detailed and reliable information it contains on the subject the report briefly sketches the history of the liquor leiis legislation lation i sweden and sets forth the conditions of the people lea leading aing to the various liquor laws and finally to the celebrated Got rothenburg gothenburg henburg system it then follows the adoption or of this system by the norwegian people and investigates the results as seen in the principal localities of the two countries the Got rothenburg gothenburg henburg system of regulating the liquor tauffic has on previous occasions been explained in these columns dumns its promoters take it for granted that the evil with which they deal cannot be entirely eradicated at lisana not at once their efforts are thue thre fore directed towards the minimizing of it in every possible po Belble way by depriving the sellers of intoxicating drinks of every pecuniary interest la Is the sale and by restricting the saloons aloon to certain hours of the day and others other wise wine as well as by donating the profits profit to public benevolent institutions the object to is sought to be obtained one merit of the system is that under it the saloons have no political power whatever the stockholders in the company are as aa a rule eminent men ot of all parties and the saloon keepers are but paid servants whose positions are not dependent on the poli political fica undulations this feature alone is one ot of great importance A noticeable fact is that no community na unity that has tried the system has baa afterwards abandoned it it seems to give perfect satisfaction this is all the mure more significant because sweden in particular was once a country drenched in liquor and cursed with all the concomitant evils only fifty years ago a deluge of brandy was flow ing over the country about forty million gallons were annually consumed by a population of about four millions the very marrow of nation poisoned and degradation physical and moral was the result woke up to the seriousness of the situation and set bet to work to t stem the awful tide today they can look back upon a successful work if the general results are considered the victory of temperance in sweden Is ie encouraging to the workers iu iti that thab cause in every country and should gouid prove that the means employed are worth while testing jn in other places the commissioner justly say that the system is perfect no one will be sanguine enough to maintain but that it represents the best means which have yet jet been devised for the control of the liquor traffic where lice licensing neing in ift permitted at all few who understand its true character onara oter and have studied ite operation will be bold enough to todeuz deny fa |