eneral law, it may be noticed, had some of the clauses which are
commonly supposed to attach to the later local laws that have been put
into operation. It contained a permissive clause which allowed of the
formation of companies to control the spirit-sale in towns. One company
may take the whole of the licenses allotted to any town, guaranteeing a
certain income to the town from such sale of spirits. In Gothenburg, the
chief port of Sweden, such a company was formed at the suggestion of a
committee appointed in 1865 to inquire into the cause of the constant
increase of pauperism and insanity there, which it charged largely on
the sale of spirits, especially in dark, unhealthy places. This company,
which was called the "Goteborg Utskankings Bolag," began operations in
October, 1865, with forty licenses, and acquired by 1868 the whole of
the public-house licenses for the sale of spirits, with the exception of
about a dozen, the owners of which had life-licenses. The Bolag, or
company, had, with these exceptions, a monopoly of the sale of spirits
in the town in places for consumption on the premises, and a monopoly to
that extent only. It weeded out some of the worst of these
public-houses: it improved the condition of the rest, appointing
salaried managers, who had in addition the profit on the sale of food
and all drinks except spirits, the sale of the latter being under very
stringent regulations for the profit only of the Bolag. The managers
were compelled to sell food, "cooked and hot" if needed; to give no
credit; to keep orderly, clean and well-ventilated houses; to allow no
drunkenness; and not to sell spirits to those "overloaded." In the first
ten years of its existence the Bolag met with opposition, not only from
spirit-sellers who sold for non-consumption on the premises, but also
from the many sellers of ale and porter, who were permitted to sell
those drinks unnoticed by the law. It is claimed that in spite of this
competition the working of the company materially contributed to the
sobriety of the town; and it may be worth while to test this by the
facts.

When the Bolag began in 1865 there were, for the police year, 2070 cases
of drunkenness; in 1866 there were only 1424; and there was a decrease
in the next year, and again in 1868, when the number was 1320, which has
proved the minimum. From that period there has been an increase, until
in 1876--the latest year for which the facts are procurable--the number