Sweden and Norway also recognize the necessity of providing a wholesome stimulant for the people, and for more than a hundred and fifty years their respective governments have given attention to the matter. Not long ago patents for the manufacture of ardent spirits, which had long been held among the nobility, were revoked, and an attempt made to secure temperance through the more common use of malt liquors. Mr. George Hayward, then proprietor of the celebrated Lion Brewery at London, England,[15] was engaged by the government to superintend the introduction of improved beer in Sweden, and the experiment proved a thorough success. As beer increased drunkenness diminished, and both government and people have recognized the benefits of malt liquors. According to figures lately furnished by Dr. Ellis Sodenbladh of the Swedish statistical bureau, beer brewing has attained the position of a leading industry in that country. The annual product exceeds twenty-six million gallons, and this result is largely due to an increased tax on spirits and the remission of all taxation on beer, which may now be fairly considered the national beverage. [15] Mr. Hayward died a short time ago at Albany, N. Y. Denmark formerly consumed great quantities of ardent spirits, the amount used in proportion to the population being even greater than in the prohibitory state of Maine. The introduction of the excellent beer made by Jacobsen at Carlsberg brought about an entire change. Beer is now the drink of the country and public feeling is strongly opposed to the use of whisky. The people have become remarkable for quiet and good order, and the police magistrates of the larger cities, as Copenhagen and Elsinore report that for a long time no cases of murder, homicide or theft brought before them have been traced to the influence of strong drink. Arrests for street disorder are very rare and chiefly confined among the foreign seamen. The consumption of beer is about twenty gallons annually to the individual, and this amount seems to produce only favorable effects, as the people are a strong, hardy race with an average longevity far above that of the United States. The advantages of all kinds that have followed the general introduction of beer are very remarkable. In Russia, a commission was some time ago appointed to investigate the question of drunkenness in the empire. The use of strong ardent spirits had been almost universal. Drunkards were not to be reckoned by individuals or even families. Whole districts were plunged in habits of brutal intoxication and this national pest demoralized the armies, filled poor-houses and hospitals, the lunatic asylums and the prisons.