British 'Gothenburg' experiments and public-house trusts / by Joseph Rowntree & Arthur Sherwell.

  • Joseph Rowntree
Date:
1901
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: British 'Gothenburg' experiments and public-house trusts / by Joseph Rowntree & Arthur Sherwell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    of the Trust Companies. It is often assumed that the problem to he solved is solely one of intemperance, by which we mean flagrant and manifest excess, and that apart from this the normal consumption of alcohol calls for no special attention on the part of statesmen and temperance reformers. But surely this view of the problem is inadequate, if on no other grounds, certainly on this, that it leaves out of consideration the serious economic danger that results from the present average expenditure upon alcohol! The present writers have elsewhere^ conclusively shown that the average famil}' expenditure of the working classes in this country upon drink cannot be less than six shillings per week—a sum that is probably more than one-sixth of their average family income. This expenditure clearly leaves no sufficient margin for the maintenance of that standard of physical and mental efficiency which is now seen to be of primary importance in the industrial competition of nations. In \dew of this fact it would seem to be self-evident that no experiment could be considered really “ successful” that did not bring about a substantial reduction in the normal expenditure upon drink. With this preamble we may consider what in Norway and Sweden have been found to be the conditions of success in company management. 1. The elimination of 'private pn'ojit from the sale of drink. This principle carries us further than is sometimes seen. Not only must the actual dispenser of the drink have no pecuniary interest in the amount of liquor sold, but the manager of a company who
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