GOTHENBURG SYSTEM. The system of regulating the liquor traffic at Gothenburg or Goteborg, in Sweden, put in operation in 1865. In 1864 a committee on pauperism proposed as a remedy that the sale of the national drink —brandy—should, under the law of 1855, be bonded over to a company to carry on the trade for the benefit of the working classes. The gen eral features of the system are as follows: The company is granted a monopoly for which it pays a tax; the shareholders, who are usually prominent citizens, cannot receive a dividend beyond six per cent. (five per cent. in Norway) ; the additional profits of the company are shared between the town, the agricultural society of the province, and the general Government (in Nor way by educational and charitable institutions) ; the well-kept bars are placed in the hands of managers who receive a salary, who maintain eating houses with cheap, well-cooked food, and who can sell coffee, mineral waters, and cigars for their own profit. The policy of the company
has been that of strict control, a reduction of the number of drinking places, and the raising of the price of brandy. Some of the results are the diminishing of the temptation to drink, the divorce of liquor from politics, the sale of pure spirits, and better rules as to minors and hours. The disadvantages are that the law does not go far enough, beer-drinking is increasing, and an undue importance is given to the system as a means of revenue. The system with varia tions has been widely adopted in other Swedish and Norwegian towns, and also in Finland. Con sult Fifth Special Report of the United States Commissioner of Labor (1893) ; Atlantic (Oc tober, 1893). See TEMPERANCE.