The Morning herald., 1875-12-13
THE BEAM IN IT'S OWN EYES.

V THE BEAM IN ITS OWN EYES.
-.l To the second assertion that Sweden
second in Education, is more thoroughl
debauehed than any other Christian coun
try in the world" we need hardly presen
more than precise denial. There are NJ
statistics that show any such thing. Th
debauched nations are those of the South
Scandinavia's simplicity Of life is proverb
ial. What everybody knows we need no
proceed to prove. If the Morning Heral.
believes its own assertion, let us see som,
evidence Of its truth.-Commercial.
If the above paragraph is to be taken a.
asample of the Commercials education
or rather Of its information, its readers
will never be made much wiser than they
are. We will not use the Jenksonian ad.
jectives, which pock-mark the leaders Of
the Commercial, but accept the invitation
to give some evidence of the truth of our
charge against Sweden. We will not take
our facts from any other author of the de-
nomination the Commercial m;scalls
"Romanists." Full many time has the
Commercial fired off peppery:-some
times ponderous sentences against the i'll
hammered people, who called its party
Radicals, Black Republicans, etc. The
beam is in its own eye now. But to Sweden.
Open the New American Cyclopedia, arti-
Gle Sweden, the following passage is to be
found, relative to "Scandinavia's prover-
bal simplicity Of life," as our neighbor
puts it.
"unchastity, or at least Indifference to
marital obligations prevailed to such an ex-
tent that in lS49, in Stockholm, the proper
tion of illegitimate to legitimate births, was
as to l.27 in other towns. as to 5 in the
whole kingdom l to 11.''
This is in the most favorable statement we
can find in any work upon Sweden. Surely
a writer ought to have looked into a Cv-
elopedia before venturing upon such a
statement as we copy from the Coma.rcid.
We beg to refer our neiehbor to Tour in
Sweden comprising observation on the
moral political and economical state of the
Swedish nation, by Samuel Laing, ESQ"
1t is we'll known book, possibly in the
Wilmington Library. Mr.. Laing is a
Scotch Presbyterian.
On the moral condition of Sweden. Mr..
Laing throws considerable light. He OBJ
serves
ut is singular and embarrassing fact
that the Swedish nation, isolated from the
mass OF European people, and almost entire
(y agricultural Or pastoral, having. in about
',oOO,OOO of individuals, only 1895 en-
ployed in manufactures, and these not con-
sregated in one or two places. but scattered
'mong POST factories, having no great stand
ng army, or navy, no extended commerce
10 af1lux Of strangers, no considerable CITY
'ut one, and having schools and uniyersi-
les in fair proportion, and powerful and
complete church establishment, undisturbed
Its labours by sect or schism, is, notwith-
tanding, in more demoralized state than
ny nation in Europe demoralized
han any equal portion ofthe dense manu-
acturing population OF Great Britain i
According to the official returns pub
sh i in the Swedish State Gazette. in
iarch, 1887, the number of persons prose-
ated for criminal offences. before all the
wedish Courts in the year 1885, was 28,-
IS, of whom 81 ,262 were convicted. 49l5
cquitted, and 9S remained under examina-
on. In 1885, the total population of
weden was 1888, IA individuals. In this
ear, therefore, person of every ia of the
hole nation had been accused, and | in |
Fery 14O convicted of some criminal Of
'nce. BY the same official returns. it ap-
ears that in the five years from 1880 to 1884 |
lclusive, person in every 40 of the inhab-
ants Of the towns, and in every 176 of
1e rural population, had, on an average.
cen punished each year for criminal Of
noes. In 1895 the number Of persons tried I
'r criminal offences in all the courts of the
ingdom, was &c, ,925, of whom 90, 292 were .
'ndemned, S6ss acquitted, and 9l5 under
ial or committal. The criminal lists of
lis year are stated to be unusually light,
et they give result of persen in every
l2S of the whole population accused, and
in about every 134 convicted of criminal
Fence; and, taking the population of the
owns, and the rural population separately,
person in every 4G individuals of the for
'er, and in every ia of the latter. have
cen convicted within the year 1886 for
'iminal offence. There is no rebellion in i
le land, nor resistance to obnoxious laws, C
in Ireland to the tithe laws. nor oro arti :