Aftenposten
- The Victory.
- In Akersgaten.
- In Oslo 120,973, or nearly 75 per cent, have voted.
Aftenposten's front page of 19 October 1926 was dominated by the previous day's national referendum on whether to keep Norway's ban on spirits. A leader written at 2 a.m. declared that prohibition had been 'broken' and was being voted down outright. It traced the swing from the first report from Røra in Nord-Trøndelag through the western counties, where Rogaland and Sogn og Fjordane held out, to Trøndelag and Eastern Norway, and congratulated the people on their 'sound common sense'. A news report described crowds packing Akersgaten outside the paper's offices to watch its election barometer, which set the new figures beside those of 1919. It told of cheers at the first district to swing and of police diverting traffic. A third column gave Oslo's turnout, nearly 75 per cent of 161,673 eligible voters, with figures for each polling place.
Translation
The Victory.
The Victory. [?] Already the first report, [?] which came in yesterday afternoon at [?].30, from Røra in Nord-Trøndelag, clearly showed the turnaround. It was confirmed by all the reports that came in later. Even in the western counties there was a noticeable turnaround, even though Rogaland and Sogn og Fjordane held out stubbornly. In Møre, the record-holder for prohibition in 1919, the trend went, if only weakly, clearly enough against prohibition. However, it was the reports [?] from the Trøndelag counties and especially from Eastern Norway that gave the unequivocal proof that prohibition is [?] broken. For broken it is; there is no getting around that. At the moment these lines are being written, at 2 a.m., prohibition still has a small lead, but it is shrinking minute by minute, and when the results from the big cities, Oslo and Bergen, come in today, the outcome should hardly be in doubt. Prohibition is not only broken, it is plainly and simply voted down. This result exceeds the boldest expectations. A shift, a strong shift, we were prepared for, but a majority against prohibition, which we may now probably count on, few can have expected. But our people's sound common sense has, then, reacted. The result will bring the people as much honour as it will surely bring them benefit. We offer our congratulations on the result! Life in the happy town on the promenade could tear itself away and head for home. Many have surely tonight
In Akersgaten.
See page 4. In Akersgaten. From early yesterday morning one could already notice in Akersgaten that something out of the ordinary was afoot. People stood in large clusters gazing at Aftenposten's big election barometer, which was in place and only waiting for the figures to start streaming in. And when the day began in earnest to wane and darkness settled over town and country, the migration began from every part of the city in toward the centre. It is clear that if any street in the city needs regulating, it is Akersgaten — it must be made twice as wide. If there had been an open square where there is now a large block with the Justice Building, our amiable neighbour the Central Theatre and other institutions wall to wall — then perhaps the mass of people that gradually gathered yesterday outside Aftenposten's windows could have had a little more room. Yesterday one could hardly help thinking of herring in barrels. Already early in the afternoon people began to gather and study the bulletins. The first reports evidently had a somewhat disorienting effect: there was, after all, a prohibition majority in every one of them — but what was this? The prohibitionists' vote had everywhere gone down and the other side's up — did that really mean anything? Could it be —? Oh no, it was surely not as good as that. And to begin with people resigned themselves to the fact that the prohibitionists already had a lead. But they stayed in front of Aftenposten's bulletins, where one learned not only this year's votes but also the votes in 1919. But then came the first report of a victory for reason — a district where the vote had swung round from a clear majority for prohibition to the opposite. The first faint cheers rose — and called more people over. By half past eight it was already difficult to move in Akersgaten outside Aftenposten; an hour later it was almost impossible, and around ten o'clock one had to follow in the wake of the trams to get through. The police had turned out in force to keep order. And it went well. The cars had to be directed to other stre- (Continued on page 2).
In Oslo 120,973, or nearly 75 per cent, have voted.
In Oslo 120,973, or nearly 75 per cent, have voted. The turnout in Oslo at the referendum must be called good. Of 161,673 effective eligible voters, 120,973 have — as the result was tallied last night — cast their vote, or close to 75 per cent. At the prohibition vote in 1919 just over 70 per cent voted. At the municipal election last autumn the turnout was 84 per cent — an extraordinarily high figure. At the election in 1922 the turnout was [?] approx. 75.5 — at the elections in 1919 and 1916 just over 64 per cent. As for the individual polling districts, at Ynglingeforeningen, of 4498 eligible voters, 2816 have voted. In addition, 564 who belonged to other districts of the city. At Ruseløkken School, of 8757, 6129 have voted. In addition, 303 belonging to other districts. At Aars & Voss School, of 9815, 6342 have voted. In addition, 284 from other districts. At Borgerskolen, of 7623, 5011 have voted. In addition, 469 from other districts. At Gamlebyen School, of 5090, 3596 have voted, plus 259 from other districts. At Vaalerengen School, of 6092, 4067 have voted, plus 134 from other districts. At Kampen School, of 5064, 3418 have voted, plus 152 from other districts. At Tøien School, of 6460, 4413 have voted, plus 138 from other districts. At Grønland School, of 7229, 4770 have voted, plus 312 from other districts. At Hersleb School, of 7303, 4872 have voted, plus 248 from other districts. At Sofienberg School, of 7842, 5266 have voted, plus 222 from other districts. At Grünerløkken School, of 6347, 4382 have voted, plus 188 from other districts. At Foss School, of 6626, 4610 have voted, plus 178 from other districts. At Lilleborg School, of 10,820, 7115 have voted, plus 711 from other districts. At Effata, of 7914, 5074 have voted, plus 286 from other districts. At Katedralskolen, of 8784, 6004 have voted, plus 425 from other districts. At Bolteløkken School, of 7168, 4982 have voted, plus 294 from other districts. At Hægdehaugen School, of 6812, 4852 have voted, plus 433 from other districts. At Fagerborg School, of 5652, 3900 have voted, plus 334 from other districts. At Majorstuen School, of 4483, 3136 have voted, plus 228 from other districts. At Uranienborg School, of 7704, 5675 have voted, plus 248 from other districts. At Vestheim School, of 13,585, 9766 have voted, plus 570 from other districts. Photo: Aftenposten.
Context
How the 1926 county results compared with 1919
The leader's tour of the counties matches the official county percentages closely. In 1919 Møre og Romsdal had given 88.0 per cent for prohibition, the highest share of any county, which explains why the paper calls Møre the 1919 'record-holder'; in 1926 it still gave 77.2 per cent to keep the ban. Rogaland (82.1 to 73.1 per cent) and Sogn og Fjordane (79.2 to 71.3) likewise kept large majorities for prohibition, and these are the two western counties the editorial says 'held out stubbornly'. The decisive movement came where the paper looked for it. Sør-Trøndelag fell from 70.0 to 48.1 per cent and so crossed to a majority against, Nord-Trøndelag fell from 77.8 to 59.0, Hedmark from 49.2 to 24.0, and Oslo from 21.0 to only 13.0. Support for prohibition fell in every county, and the ban was overwhelmingly rejected in and around Oslo and in urban Bergen. The editorial's description of Møre's shift as 'weak' fits the county comparison: the final fall there, about eleven points, was of the same order as Rogaland's nine and far smaller than Sør-Trøndelag's twenty-two.
Why Norway voted on prohibition again in 1926
The ban that Aftenposten celebrated as 'broken' had been made permanent only five years earlier. The consultative referendum of 1919 approved prohibition of spirits with 61.6 per cent of the vote, and in autumn 1921 the Storting passed a permanent prohibition law by a narrow majority. The law soon became a trade problem. Wine-producing countries threatened Norway with trade boycotts if it restricted alcohol sales, and Portugal and Spain were especially important markets for Norwegian klippfisk, dried salt cod. Pressure from France, whose exports of alcoholic drinks had fallen, was one of the causes of the 1926 referendum. At home, smuggled spirits, home distilling and inventive ways of getting round the ban grew through the 1920s. Prime Minister Abraham Theodor Berge made repeal a question of confidence in summer 1924 but was voted down in the Storting that July, which left a new popular vote as the route to ending the ban. When the editorial credits the outcome to 'our people's sound common sense', it is stating the anti-prohibition paper's own verdict on these years.
How the vote led to repeal
The editorial's 2 a.m. forecast proved right. At that hour prohibition still led, but the paper treated the lead as temporary because the results from Oslo and Bergen were still to come. The final count gave 531,084 votes, or 55.66 per cent, against continuing prohibition and 423,031, or 44.34 per cent, for it. The 18 October vote was a consultative referendum, as the 1919 vote had been, and the 1919 result had taken effect only when the Storting passed its law in 1921. After the 1926 result the law was abolished and prohibition brought to an end; the ban on spirits was formally repealed in 1927. Vinmonopolet, the central monopoly created in 1922, began selling spirits the year after the vote, with limits on who could buy, so the 'victory' hailed on this page meant legal spirits sold through that monopoly rather than a free market.
What Oslo's turnout figures meant
The Oslo column puts the capital's turnout at nearly 75 per cent, against a little over 70 per cent in 1919. Nationally, only about two-thirds of those entitled to vote had taken part in 1919, so on the paper's own figures Oslo voters turned out more readily than the country as a whole. The capital's participation mattered because Oslo was the most anti-prohibition place in Norway: only 13.0 per cent of its votes in 1926 went to keeping the ban. This explains the confidence of the editorial, which was written before Oslo and Bergen had reported yet treated the outcome as settled while prohibition still led. It also explains the scene in Akersgaten, where Aftenposten's board set each district's 1926 vote beside its 1919 figure so that the crowd could see the swing as it happened.
Original
Seiren.
Seiren. [?] lerede den første melding, [?] om indløp igaar eftermiddag kl. [?]. 30, fra Røra i Nord-Trøndelag, viste tydelig omslaget. Det bekræftedes ved alle de senere indløpne meddelelser. Selv i Vestlandsfylkene var der et paatagelig omslag, selv om Rogaland og Sogn og Fjordane holdt sig haardnakket. I Møre, rekordindehaveren for forbud i 1919, gik tendensen, omend svakt, saa tydelig nok i forbudets disfavør. Imidlertid var det meldingene [?] ra Trøndelag-fylkene og specielt fra Østlandet, som gav det utvetylige bevis for, at forbudet er [?] nækket. For knækket er det, det [?] ommer man ikke forbi. I det øieblik, disse linjer skrives, kl. 2 nat, har forbudet endnu et lite forsprang, men det reduseres fra minut til minut, og naar de store byers resultater, Oslo og Bergen, kommer til idag, skulde vel resultatet ikke være tvilsomt. Forbudet er ikke alene knækket, det er ret og slet nedstemt. Dette resultat overtræffer de dristigste forventninger. En forskyvning, en sterk forskyvning, var vi forberedt paa, men et flertal mot forbud, hvad vi vel nu tør regne med, hadde neppe mange ventet. Men vort folks sunde fornuft har altsaa reagert. Resultatet vil tjene folket til like stor ære som det sikkert vil bli til folkets gavn. Vi lykønsker med resultatet! Livet i den glade by paa strøket kunde løsrive sig og begi sig hjem. Mange har sikkert inat
I Akersgaten.
Se side 4. I Akersgaten. Allerede fra tidlig igaarmorges kunde man i Akersgaten merke, at der var noget ekstra paafærde. Folk blev staaende i store klynger og kikke paa» Aftenposten «s store valgbarometer, som var paa plas, og bare ventet paa, at tallene skulde begynde at strømme ind. Og da dagen for alvor begyndte at helde og mørket la sig over by og land, begyndte folkevandringen fra alle kanter av byen ind mot centrum. Det er tydelig, at hvis nogen gate i byen trænger at reguleres, saa er det Akersgaten - den maa gjøres dobbelt saa bred. Hvis der hadde været en aapen plas der, hvor der nu er et stort kvartal med Justisbygningen, vor elskværdige nabo Centralteatret og andre institutioner væg i væg, - saa vilde kanske den menneskemasse som igaar efterhvert samlet sig utenfor» Aftenposten «s vinduer, kunnet faa litt bedre plas. Igaar maatte man nærmest tænke paa sild i tønder. Allerede tidlig paa eftermiddagen begyndte folk at samle sig og studere opslagene. De første meldinger virket øiensynlig litt desorienterende: Der var jo forbudsflertal paa dem alle sammen - men hvad var det? Forbudsfolkets stemmetal var jo overalt gaat tilbake og den anden parts stemmetal frem - hadde det virkelig noget at bety? Var det -? Aa nei, det var vel ikke saa vel. Og folk slog sig til at begynde med tilro med, at forbudsfolket allerede hadde forsprang. Men de holdt sig foran» Aftenposten «s opslag, hvor man ikke bare fik rede paa aarets stemmer, men ogsaa stemmene i 1919. Men saa kom den første melding om seier for fornuften - en kreds, hvor stemmetallet var svunget rundt fra et tydelig flertal for forbud til det motsatte. De første spæde begeistringsrop hævet sig - og kaldte flere folk til. Da klokken var halv ni var det allerede vanskelig at bevæge sig i Akersgaten utenfor» Aftenposten «, en time senere var det omtrent umulig og ved ti-tiden maatte man følge trikkene i kjølvandet for at komme frem. Politiet var møtt mandsterk frem for at holde orden. Og det gik fint. Bilene maatte henvises til andre ga - (Forts. 2den side).
I Oslo har 120.973 eller henved 75 procent avgit stemme.
I Oslo har 120. 973 eller henved 75 procent avgit stemme. Fremmøtet i Oslo ved folkeavstemningen maa sies at være godt. Av 161, 673 effektive stemmeberettigede har - som resultatet blev opgjort igaar aftes - 120, 973 avgit stemme eller nære ved 75 procent. Ved forbudsavstemningen i 1919 stemte vel 70 procent. Ved kommunevalget ifjor høst var fremmøte-procenten 84, - et ekstraordinært høit tal. Ved valget i 1922 var fremmøte-procenten [?] a. 75. 5, - ved valgene i 1919 og 1916 vel 64 procent. Hvad de enkelte avstemningskredser angaar har i Ynglingeforeningen av 4498 stemmeberettigede 2816 stemt. Dertil 564, som hørte hjemme i andre av byens kredser. I Ruseløkkens skole har av 8757 de 6129 stemt. Dertil 303 hjemmehørende i andre kredser. I Aars & Voss skole har av 9815 de 6342 stemt. Dertil 284 fra andre kredser. I Borgerskolen har av 7623 de 5011 stemt. Dertil 469 fra andre kredser. I Gamlebyens skole har av 5090 de 3596 stemt plus 259 fra andre kredser. I Vaalerengens skole har av 6092 de 4067 stemt plus 134 fra andre kredser. I Kampens skole har av 5064 de 3418 stemt plus 152 fra andre kredser. I Tøien skole har av 6460 de 4413 stemt plus 138 fra andre kredser. I Grønland skole har av 7229 de 4770 stemt plus 312 fra andre kredser. I Herslebs skole har av 7303 de 4872 stemt plus 248 fra andre kredser. I Sofienberg skole har av 7842 de 5266 stemt plus 222 fra andre kredser. I Grünerløkken skole har av 6347 de 4382 stemt plus 188 fra andre kredser. I Foss skole har av 6626 de 4610 stemt plus 178 fra andre kredser. I Lilleborg skole har av 10, 820 de 7115 stemt plus 711 fra andre kredser. I Effata har av 7914 de 5074 stemt plus 286 fra andre kredser. I Katedralskolen har av 8784 de 6004 stemt plus 425 fra andre kredser. I Bolteløkkens skole har av 7168 de 4982 stemt plus 294 fra andre kredser. I Hægdehaugens skole har av 6812 de 4852 stemt plus 433 fra andre kredser. I Fagerborg skole har av 5652 de 3900 stemt plus 334 fra andre kredser. I Majorstuen skole har av 4483 de 3136 stemt plus 228 fra andre kredser. I Uranienborg skole har av 7704 de 5675 stemt plus 248 fra andre kredser. I Vestheim skole har av 13, 585 de 9766 stemt plus 570 fra andre kredser. Fot.» Aftenposten «.