, 1874-02-01

it has been proved to be in the prncip11 sites o.
| the German Empire.
NORWAY AND SWEDEN.
To the Editor of The Chicago Tribune:
SIN: There appeared in your issue Of the 29tI
I OF last month article with the above heading,
und credited as correspondence OF the Scientific
! AMERICAN - in which tho writer unjustly com.
parcs Norway with Sweden. He says that never
could moro dissim'lar nations be united under
one Government than Norway and Sweden.
Never before, believe. has the Scientific An,e1i-
can received moro misguiding correspondence
than this one, as it openly shows that the writer
| is quite ignorant Of what he undertakes to write
! about.
In the first p1ncc, it is ridiculous to say the
two nations are dlssimi]ar, ns every one who
knows ever 30 little about them will
| give an opposite opinion. Secondly, t1cy nre
not united under ono Government but under
| one King, who rulcs with very limited powers.
| The one Government act5 III relation to it's do
n1estc aHairs Just as independently Of the other
| as do the Governments of tho United States and
! tho Dominion Of Canada. Each country hns q
| Constitution end Legislative Body Of it's own
! That they have Joint Committee to deal with
foreign affairs is matter Of course, that mi ght
have been understood By anybody, oven il he
did not make q tour through, Or stay IN, said
! countries.
The writer next says that Norway cungs with
the most absurd tenacity to old things and old
advance with tho rest Of the world. To provo his
absurd assertions, he trlea to show - striking
difference" on the line Of Iailroad between tho
two Capitals, !s,-Christiania. in Norway, aud
Stockholm, in sweden,-which. he snys. ls 400
miles long,-10o in Norway and 800 ia Sweden
the trim running through in twenty hours
eight hours for the Norwegian length OF line and
twelve for the Swedish. This is not 60. The
train runs with equal speed from Stockholm to
Christinnia and vice versa, except that it takes
up to tho Swedish boundary, on account OF the
considerable rising OF the ground. 1t takes the
train about eight hours to run from Christiania
to tho City OF Arvics, the only place of any CON
it stops for refreshments. / presume the writer
mistakes this point for. tho boundary.
Dy the way, in building narrow
gauge railways, one OF the lending
vited to visit British Columbia, whero railway
companies have adopted this mode OF structure
TO say Norway does not advance with the rest
Of the world, is not only hallucination, but a
falsehood. TITO historian knows that that coun-
try had been connected with Denmark until 1914
despotical(y by that Kingdoms autocrats- Thess
rulers did not trouble themselves much with
Norway's intellectual and material develop
ments. In fact, wien they had their faithf1l
officers to gather taxes and revenues, that most
ly found their way into the Danish treasury,
they neglected to do good for land aud nation. |
But it is now happily conceded that Norway is |
ono OF tic civilized nations which, in tho |
conspicuous1y in enlightenment, culture, science,
aud art. Her industry has also kept pace with |
tile time, notwithstanding the absence OF raw |
materials. She can frankly refer to the differ |
ent International Expeditions, at which sho has |
honorably competed with other pations in tho |
distribution OF medals and honorable mentions. |
Her Insufficient resources, small home market, I
and Natures capricious treatment on tho worlds /
map, compel her to apply caution in tue adoption |
or Introduction Of ogery conceivable invention |
OF which tho present century is 80 rich. /
Be it admitted, rs the writer Says, that tho |
Swedes are contriving aud mechanical people, |
and in such things ahead Of their neighbours |
attributable, mainly, to their easy access |
known that tho Norwegians arc Indebted
to their neighbors in this or othor fefds Tho |
latter cast and manufacture their own machinery.
etc, aud build their OWN vessels and steamers, |
which visit every port in the world. Norway has !
its own linz 40, Of steamers e. PLYING between this
cosmopolitan telegraph-wire from the British |
coast to her own, and continued i. to the upper
most point OF tbs European continent, North |
Cape, in Il deg. latitude, through sparsely- |
populated md partly-sietilo country. In the !
regions, where the bui1ding of rail- |
way is impracticable, thero is built turnpikes-
almost impossible ground and |
that hayo astouished moro than t
one foreign traveller. In short, 6ho tries to |
improve, aud does progress, in eyory respect
modations wcre not good, foreign travelers-
among which the English arc very humorous
wonld not swarm orcr the country in the sum-
like butterflies.
Contrary to the writer's statement, tho roads
are not under Government care but under care
Of the community they lead through. The very !
carioles, according to his express
sion, are rs serviceable to the nature OF the
ground as some other vehicles to other ground
Tie traveller must bo very poor driver il he |
cannot "push moro than six to seven miles an
hour. |
That tho American Consul in Ch1istiania
does not succeed very well in Introducing
american mowers and roapers is very
much fit for Norway as fifth wheel is for 4
wagon. Still, they arc used in some Of the lower
parts Of tho land, where the ground is somewhat
lat and free from stopc- Tint they are more |
out, to judge from such theory that tho Swedes
ire the best kind Of people America could have.
5 childish. Before man should make such an
assertion. he ought to take trip through tho
settlements Of the different nationalities, see
which are the most prosperous, md compare the
mercantile men, and those in other
occupations OF life. in order to find out who are
he best citizens. O. L. MoLsTAp.
Tho fourth volume OF the :. American Crclo-
MEDIA" las been issued by D. Appleton & Co.
This volume continues the letter G from the
rord "Carmona to 4*Coddington," and in
:ludes moro than 1,500 titles, . considerable
number OF which are entirely new articles. Be-