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the temperance movement.
277
Consumption of spirits 1 in Sweden.
Liters & 50 % alcohol, yearly per inhabitant. *
allowed to every landowner. The abuse of spirits reached its climax about
1830, when the amount of pure alcohol consumed by each inhabitant is said
to have amounted to at least 20 liters per annum, or about five times the
figure that denotes its present consumption in Sweden. But that war
against the abuse had already set in which since has borne so rich fruit,
and, in the main, constitutes one of the most beautiful aspects in the
history of the Swedish people during the century now drawn to a close.
The war against the abuse of alcohol has a long history in Sweden. The
illustrious Linnaeus (died 1778) was far in advance of his age in regard to
knowledge about the nature and effects of spirits, and proves undoubtedly to have had
an eye for the importance of attacking intemperance, both from a social and moral
point of view. But the temperance movement first assumed a practical import
through Peter Wieselgren (born 1800, died 1877 as Dean of Gothenburg),
unquestionably one of the most influential and successful champions for temperance
that the history of any country presents. In consequence of Wieselgrens
powerful agitation, a great number of Temperance Societies were formed all over
Sweden, which, in 1837, focused in the Swedish Temperance Society; and
through his magnificent work as a popular lecturer and writer was created the
public opinion which, previous to legislative changes, produced a considerable
diminution of drunkenness and finally, after an incessant war of nearly 30 years’
duration, led to the reforms of 1855, which represent the greatest victory of
the temperance movement in Sweden. — Among the champions supporting
Wieselgren, mention must be made of the great chemist Berzelius, but more particularly
still of Magnus Huss (1807/90), the author of the worldrenowned work
»Alcobolis-mus chronicus», which in 1854 gained the prize of the French Academy of Science.
The Liquor laws of 1855, which, though with rather considerable
alterations, form the basis of Swedish legislation on the subject even at
the present day, contemplated the suppression of drunkenness by
restriction with regard to distillation as well as sale of intoxicating liquors.
With regard to the distillation, the aim was to transform this
into a trade carried on exclusively on a large scale. For this purpose
1 Intoxicating liqnors of 25 % alcohol or more. — * A liter = 0’22 imp. gallon =
0264 winch, gallon. — 2 Approximative evaluation, posBibly low. — * In 1896/1900
somewhat higher, or 8 04 liters; see p. 284.
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