The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-27 00:00:00

SWEDEN AND NORWAY

It might have been imagined that, as Scandina-
vian interests had suffered so severely in the late
Danish war, the Swedes would have been disposed
to suspend, if not to abandon, all those measures
for attack or defence with which they had pre-
viously been so busily engaged. This, however, is
so far from being the case that the Government
and the people appear alike to be determined to
avail themselves of the respite which the pacific
turn affairs have taken in this quarter to make
themselves more than ever ready for the conflict
by sea and land in which they fancy they may
ere long be called upon to take a part ; and
on that account not only is the whole system
of education pursued in the military schools under-
going a thorough revision and reform, but
there has recently been brought forward a scheme
for the reorganisation of the navy, which the
King has already so far sanctioned as to have
given authority to the Minister of Marine to take,
with the least possible delay, the steps that may be
necessary for having it practically adopted. Accord-
ing to this plan, the navy is in future to be divided
into two independent classes—the one to consist of
such vessels as can be sent to sea, and the other to
be composed of a marine artillery, the special pro-
vince of which is to bethe defence of the archipelago,
of the capital, and of the internal lakes and rivers
of the kingdom. When carried into effect many
important advantages are anticipated to be the re-
sult of this change, not the least of which would be
the reduction of the number of officers and men
employed, as well as a considerable diminution of
the expenditure which has hitherto been incurred in
that department.
Whilst from this and other reasons the atten-
tion of the public has been directed to these
matters, the appearance of a pamphlet, which is
said to have issued from the very highest source,
has given an increased importance to this question
of military preparation. Its title is " Some
Thoughts on the Organisation of the Swedish
Army ;" and it is strange, although the pamphlet
has been read and commented upon by almost every
one, no critical remarks upon it have hitherto ap-
peared in any of the journals or reviews of which
the press of this city provides so constant and abun-
dant a supply. This silence cannot be attributed
to any fear that may be entertained as to prosecu-
tions which might follow the expression of an opi-
nion at variance with that of the anonymous author
of this production, for the press is as free here as it
is in any country in the world ; and it may there-
fore be concluded that the views set forth are gene-
rally those which are approved of, and such as will,
in the main, be sanctioned by the competent autho-
rities when they may be regularly and officially
explained to them.

But perhaps the strongest evid enco that can be
adduced of the military enthusiasm which now pre-
vails here is the perfection to which the volunteer
movement has been brought. Following the ex-
ample which was set to them in England, the young
men of this city, of Gothenburg, and of other
places and towns of importance, hastened some
time ago to have themselves enrolled as members
of the different corps of volunteer riflemen, and
they have in many,. or rather in most, instances
been so regular in their attendance at drill, and so
zealous in their acquisition of military knowledge
and habits, that, when called out to take their part
in the annual exercise of the Bevaring, a very large
proportion of them have been reported to be so
well acquainted with their duties as to be entitled
to claim exemption from the performance of those
services as soldiers which they were then, according
to custom, called upon to discharge ; and this will
be admitted by those who have had any experience
of such service to be a boon which will go far to ren-
der the volunteer force still more popular than it might
otherwise have been, and at the same time tend to
maintain its numbers at a figure which, when first
started, it never was expected they could have reached. li
The Swedes have indeed reason to be proud of their
volunteers, for when those of this city and suburbs
were passed in review by Prince Oscar on Monday,
they went through their manoeuvres in a manner which
would have done credit to regular troops, and obtained
for them the commendation of his royal highness
who expressed himself in terms which were not only
gratifying to the volunteers themselves, but were ap-
proved of by the vast crowd of military men and civi-
lians who were present on that interesting occasion.
Before adverting to other than military matters it
may be mentioned that experiments have been made
by Lieut. Skott, of the Danish army, to ascertain
how far nitro-glycerine could be made use of as am-
munition in actual warfare. These experiments have
been most successful, more especially as to shells and
grenades, and it is therefore by no means improba-
ble that the same revolution will ere long be produced
as to the use of that article for military purposes, as
has already been accomplished in its application to
mines, in which it is now so extensively and advan-
tageously made use of.

In Norway they continue to deprecate the extent
to which emigration from that country to America
is still carried on. The departure of her stalwart
sons from a country so thinly populated is natu-
rally regarded as a great calamity ; but though this
expatriation of her people had been going on for
some time, it was not until 1819 that it had assumed
such proportions as to excite alarm, and yet since
that time it has been steadily on the increase, having
in 1853 reached 6,050 persons, in 1857 the number
having risen to 6,560, and having in 1861 attained
its maximum of 8,850. It may be satisfactory to
Englishmen to know that of these at least two-
thirds embarked for Canada, while only one-third
went to the United States, though there is reason
to fear that many of those who intended to go to
the British provinces had their destination after-
wards changed, and that consequently many have
fallen victims in the late war. It appears, how-
ever, that war has not been the only cause of mor-
tality in such cases, for, according to a Norwegian
author who has examined the subject most minutely,
it has been ascertained that the proportion of
those who have died on board of te emigrant
ships has been seventeen times greahter than if
those who embarked had remained at home ; but
even this does not check
for esreason or, another,
have made up their minds to try to better their for-
tunes in the " land of promise." It should be re-
marked, however, that neither in Sweden nor in
ent Denmarkas has emigration been carried to the same
x
in Norway, for, whilst it is known that
et
in a period of 28 years the number of emigrants from
Norweigian ports had reached 73,355, it has been
ascertained that the emigration from Denmark had
not in4o years exceeded 5,530 persons ; and although
since the abolition of the passport system in Sweden
no correct returns of those who have emigrated can
be obtained, there is good reason to believe that the
average number who have embarked from Swedish
for transatlantic ports has not annually exceeded
1,500, which, when compared with the number of
those who are known to have sailed from the less
populous kingdom of Norway, affords convincing
proof of the greater degree of contentment which
prevails in this than in that portion of this united
kingdom.—Letter from Stockholm.

A fire occurred three nights since at Lahey-court
(Meuse), which destroyed 14 houses with their barns
and other outbuildings in little more than an hour.
Twenty-seven families are left homeless by this dis-
aster. The loss is estimated at 140,000 fr., but
most of the sufferers are insured, though not to
the full extent of their losses.

The Court of Orleans has given a decision in con-
formity with the jurisprudence of the Court of Cas-
eation in the affair of the correspondence of MM. de
St. Cheren and de Clairbois, that is, that news con-
veyed in a private letter to a journal cannot be
considered illegal until published.
Mr. Stapleton, a surgeon, of Trowbridge, says
that the servant of Mrs. Kent, Elizabeth Gough, has for
five years been shut out from profitable domestic employ-
ment under a social ban. It is now proposed that a small
annuity shall be purchased for her by a fund raised by
subscriptions, limited to ono guinea each, an account
being opened by a committee of gentlemen appointed for
the purpose with the bank of Messrs. Dimsdale and
Fowler, of London, and with the North Wilts Bank,
Trowbridge. •