The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1898-06-01
early date 1t was abolished by relig-

an early date 1t was abolished by a relig-
ious council of the nation.
1t is also to the distinguished honor Of
the Norwegians that at a time when the
common people of nearly all Europe lay
PROSTATE under the hoofs Of the feudal
system they would have nothing to do with
an aristocracy. And one of the first acts
OF the people. after the establishment Of
celebrate, on the 18th of May
1914, was to pass by the
storthing, in 1915. resolution abolishing all
titles of nobility in the country The king
vetoes the act, but the next two storthngs
re-enacted it, notwithstanding an appeal Of
the king in person, and strong military
demonstration to Overawe the multitude
and then it became the law of the land.
The Norwegians thus proved that they
were the most democratic people in Europe
this great republic there are thousands who
would be glad to see titles of nobility estab-
lished on the ruins Of liberty. The disgrace
full efforts of our female American aristoc-
racy to wed the wretched remnants of Eu-
ropean nobility is conclusive upon this point
Norway is in some respects more pro-
gressive than our own country.
The judges of their courts have not yet
| usurped, as here the right to set aside the
Verdicts of the juries and constitute them
selves sole judges of law and fact. Here
they are omnipotent and can even nulify an
act of congress There they are liable in
damages for their decisions
Here we have been abridging the right Of
the people to make laws by abolishing an
nual sessions of the legislature and substi-
tuting bannual sessions There thew
abolished the sessions Of the storthing,
once In three years, and it meets now an
nually. Even the king cannot dissolve that
BODY until 1t has been three months in ses-
SION. AND his veto can be overruled by the
action of three successive storthings IF
PRESIDENT Mckinley vetoes an act of con-
gress it cannot become a law unless passed
over his veto by a two-thrd vote.
In Norway the people own the railroads
and telegraph lines. Here the railroads and
telegraph lines own the people; and can tax
them and appropriate their earnings to any
extent they may see fit.
The Norwegians believe in the public
school system; and there are fewer among
them who cannot read and write than in
any other part of the world. Education ia
compulsory and all children are obliged to
attend school from to IA years of age.
Each parish has its schoolmaster who is
paid by small tax levied upon stockhold-
crs.
Most of the land is the property of the
cultivators. The number of landed estates
in 1869 was 147,453, of which 131 $50 were Gull
tivated by owners"
In this country the land is rapidly con-
centrating in the hands of money-lenders,
because miSgovernment robS industry of its
rewards, and forces the cultivator to mort
gage his home.
Here we have a continent, reaching from
the Atlantic to the Pacific and extending
from the lakes to the gulf. The Norwegians
nave little slice OF rocky territory
bounded on the north by the eternal cold, on
the east by mountains, and on the west
by the flashing waves of the most tenn
pestuous sea in the world. But they have,
by wise laws and industry made this I'M
promising territory a garden of prosperity;
while we, in the possession of a paradise,
have permitted, by evil laws, three-one-
hundreths Of one per cent of the population
to own one-fifth Of all the wealth OF the
country. Nine per cent of our people own
Il per cent of the entire wealth; while 81
per cent own but % per cent. While our
population increased, from 1880 to 1890 Is
per cent and our wealth increased As per
cent, the mortgage Indebtedness increased
156 per cent and the tenantry 401a per cent
The minds Of our people are filled with an
prehensions as 10 our future. and men ask
each other anxousy: Can this republic
erd ':e,' The sun Of the 18th century
threatens to set in the blooi-rcd clouds Cf
bankruptcy and revolution; while the
Scandinavian peninsula, that seed-plot Of
the nations, and colonizer of the continents
strong in its simple honesty, looks out from
its rocky Businesses, serene in the con-
sciousnoss Of its love OF liberty end its
patient devotion to duty.