St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-04-23
NORWAY AS A REPUBLIC.
A Popular Uprising to Overthrow an
Unpopular Monarchy.
To the Editor of the Globe.


Unpopular Monarchy.
To the Editor of the Globe.
While, in the United States, different par
ties are struggling for the nomination OF
their candidates for the presidency, while
monarchs of Europe are trembling for fear
that the assassin's poinard or the terrible dY-
Mantle may put an end to their earthly lives.
the kingdom of Norway seems to be on the
verge of a revolution.
1t is well known that Norway has been
passing through a very closely contested
struggle in regard to an absolute veto claim
ed by the king-and other constitutional al
fairs. 1t is also generally known that the
kings council there has been impeached Tor
advising him to rule in opposition to the will
of the people and in a way not vouched for
by the constitution. 1t is also well known
that the council has been adjudged guilty by
the supreme tribunal of the land, have for
feited their offices and have been made to
pay the expenses of the trial. The
king also, though still claim
ing to be in possession of the
absolute veto, has acknowledged, though re-
luctantly, the verdict, but has evaded the ex-
~ecution, in part, by accepting the resigna-
ton of the prime minister, it being rendered
after the verdict had been passed; and he
further showed his disregard for the popular
sentiment by comforting upon him the SCR
der of the Seraphims," the highest honor at
tainable there.
Ever since NORWAY and Sweden were uni
ted, the kings, some more anxiously than
others, have been attempting to restrict
Morse liberty and increase their " power,
by legal or illegal means, at the expense of
the people. Drawing millions of dollars from
the scanty treasury of the country for his
own use, he has insisted On throwing away
vast amounts for a worthless army, and a
host of equally worthless Office holders.
Schools and education have been sadly neg
lected, and the king has shown himself adj
verse to reforms intended to promote the
prosperity of the people. There was a time
when Oscar II. was a popular man, but his
hostility to the popular cause has rendered
him quite the reverse, his remaining sup
porters being chiefly Office holders.
The Morse people, slowly awakening from
their 400 years of political sleep, have risen
to demand their constitutional right-liberty,
not only on paper, but il reality. The king
has felt his thrown shake, and hence has OPP
posed the demands of the people.
The two parties originally erected-the con-
servative and liberal-were at first very I'M
equal, the conservative being the great ma
iority. But the liberal party has been steadi-
ly gaining ground and for several years has
enjoyed an overwhelming majority. Hence
it has been possible to obtain the verdict
against those unprincipled politicians who
occupied seats in the council and who would
have turned traitors to their country to gain
favor with the king.
A new council must now be formed. But
the question is: VIII the king constitute it
of men inclined to work in Norway with the
will of the people and the constitution? 1t is
on his decision on this question that Nor
ways fate hangs. If he chooses men who
will continue the opposition to what is right,
if he seeks further to obstruct the way of
progress and violate the hopes that have
sprung up in the souls of Norway's
popular majority, the result will be his
downfall. This is not a time when people
allow themselves to be trampled under foot.
And the time ought not to be very distant
when all despotism. shall be turned into re-
p~ublicanism. If he, on the other hand,
chooses men VINO VIII carry OuG GnC pOpuldI
and constitutional will, he will for a time at
least, remain on his throne. But the eXpen-
SEES of a royal house are so great as to render
it a wonder that a poor lit e country, like
Norway and Sweden, is willing to bear them.
They have already gone beyond their real
ability. The national debt is very great,
times are hard, and yet the king does not
desist from now and then bringing into the
legislature propositions asking the salary OF
some beloved person of his royal house in
creased.
And how is it possible that such a state OF
things should be endured? | think the
chances are that, howsoever the King man
ages (his popularity now being lost, probably
never to be regained,) Norway at a not very
distant day, will rank among the nations o.
the earth a proud little republic, where popu-
lar intelligence shall be promoted by mean:
of the money now wasted on worthless(? q
no! wose that worthless-injurious, destruc'
tive, corrupt royal Migrants, where the arts and
sciences, the how to lie rather than the how
to die, shall be taught in the public schools
and where the church shall be made to de-
pend on its own inherent energies, and moi
on the state, for its sustenance, and The
priests be changed from royal officers to rea
preachers. Then, if ever, the country vii
be able to survive and flourish. S. G.