The age-herald., 1897-11-21


 ways glorious perfod, her golden age, during which she grew to be one of the great kingdoms of Europe. known and respected all over Christendom. Her
 kings alone of all the crowned heads of
 Western Europe remained independent,
 and did not allow themselves to become
 vassals of the had of the then all-poW- erful Roman church It was during that
 period that Norway's grand old litera
 ture was written, a literature superior
 not only to that of any single country,
 but superior to those of all the countries
 of Europe combined during those cen
 turIes
 When the Crowns Were United
 But in 1919 Haakon ", the last king of
 the house of Haarfagre, died. He had
 no sons. but two daughters. The older of these, Ingeborg, was married to a Sws dish duke Erik Magnussoa. Their
 son. Magnu5 Eiriksscn, became king of Sweden in 1919. According to the Nor
 wegian laws of succession he was the
 nearest heir also to the crown of that
 country. So when his grandfather,
 Haakon ", di5d he also became king of
 Norway. and thus the crowns of Norway
 and Sweden became united under one
 king for the first time. The Norwegians
 however, soon became dissatisfied with
 the union, as their country was neglected
 and suffered much from an invasion by
 the Russians in the north. So in 1343 they compelled Magnus to lst his second
 son, Haakon become king of Norway, while his first son. Erik, should become
 king of Sweden. But in 1859 Erik d.ed and .Haakcn became also king of Sweden and thus ths two countries became again united. This second union lasted only four years, as the Swedes in 1863 deposed | Haakon.
 1 Haakon was married to Princess Mar l grete, daughter of King valdemar At
 tsrdag of Denmark. Valdemar had no | son. So when he died his daughters | son, the Crown Prince of Norway, Olov
 Haakansson, became king of Denmark | When Haakon Magnusson died in 1880 | Olav became also king of Norway, winch | thus for the third time in a little over a l half century became united with an | other country. This union with Dem | mark lasted 434 years, from 1880 to 1874. i During part of this time, from 1889 to 1923. Sweden was also in the union, as
 in 1889 the king of Norway and Of Dsn- mark was chosen king also of the third | Scandinavian kingdom. Norway's Centuries of Gloom
 Those four centuries constitute the dark and gloomy period in Norways his- tory, "the night of four centuries" as it has been called It was a psriod of decline, at least the first half of it, as the cannon king felt more Dane than a Norwegian. Norway was neglected,
 and, more than that, she was dragged into the many wars Denmark had with Sweden, but although her armies were always victorious she had nevertheless to be along with Denmark in paying war ind mnities. as the Danish armies
 were generally beaten. Thus Norway
 lost three of her counties. Baahus,
 Jaemtland and Herjsdalen. The com
 mon univ. rsity was in Denmark, and
 thither went most of Norways literary
 treasures, her priceless manuscripts.
 But one thing the Norwegians retained,
 and that was their democratic spirit and
 love of liberty Thus the so-called feu-
 cnl system which invaded all the rest
 of Europe never could enter Norway. During the Napoleonic wars Fredr-k ", king of Denmark and Norway, sided with Napoleon. Whsn Napoleon had been banished to Elba Fredrlk V. was compelled by the powers of Europe in the treaty at Kiel, the 14th of January, 1874, to ren5unca for himself and hers
 the crown of Norway in favor Of the
 king of Sweden, who was to receive Nor
 way for services rendered in the wars against Napoleon and as comp nsa-
 tion for Finland which Sweden had lost in the war with Russia in 1908. As stated in a former letter, the Norwe- gians. when they heard of his bargain, resented it. They held that when the king had renourced the crown the power to give the country a constitution ana
 elect new king had returned to the Norws gian people themselves. They therefore elected the constitutional con vention which framed the present con st1tution of Norway, and which elected
 Prince Kristian Fredrlk king in defiance of Sweden and the powers Ths led to war with Sweden. But Karl Johan, the Swedish crown prince, soon found 1t inn possible to conquer Norway, and there fore offered to compromise. He would swear to the new Norwegian constitution if King Kristian Fredrik would convene the storthing in extraordinary sessaon and then resign This Kristian Fredrik did, and left Norway. The Norwegian storthing elected the king of Sweden king or Norway, and he took the oath Of the constitution. The following year the "rigsakt," or common contract, was
 subscribed to by the Norw; gan stoIth- ing and the Swedish body correspond -ng to the storthing. This ''rigsakt' states
 that 'as the union has been established,
 not by the power of arms, but by frSs- and deliberate conviction, 1t must and shall be maintained only. by mutual rec ognition of constitutional rights of the people, in defense of the common
 crowns" Thus the union of the two crowns was established.
 The Present Point of Friction
 According to this "rigsakt' the two countries are, each and individually, equally frse and independent sovereign states, with only crowns united under one king. They have their separate in- stitutons and governments. separate legislatures and cabinets, separate armies ana ndNleS, SSpdl.ele tdiHl ldWS, separate schools, separate languages, etc. There is one institution, however that they up to this time have had in
 common, which is not put down as such
 in the "rfgsakt,'' and which is the causa
 of the present conflict. The Norwe-
 gians have be; using the Swedish diplo-
 matic and consular service, but now they
 want to establish a separate service.
 This the Norwegians say they have a
 right to do as a sovereign state; that -.--I.k 4 a.s<~n ,I~k3
 which puts the office of the king down
 as the only institution they are to have
 in common with Sweden, and, further
 that both the spirit and the wording of
 the Norwegian constitution demand sep
 arate diplomatic and consular service.
 The Swedes, on the other hand, hold this
 to be contrary to the spirt of the rig
 sakt," and incompatible with the union.
 Such is the union today.
 Thus it will be seen that the Norwe-
 gians have over 400 years experience
 of union with other countries, and dear
 ly acquired experience, too AS they