New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-12-27

the efforts of Miss Gina Krog who Mr. CurtI
. calls the Susan B. Anthony of Norway. Undet
her leadership 4 woman suffrage movement, set
on foot IN 1881. was crowned with success in
1901. Yet women, a whole, appear to have
/ anything but pleasant lot in the country which
has given them the right to vote. Mr. Curtis
observes:
It is a wholesome experience for a American
to bring his wife Norway and let her see how
women can work. The Norwegian woman usual
F ~ carries a little more than her share OF the
load and can support a husband without diff
Guilty If he insists upon it. There is nothing so
admirable IN this world as a useful woman, par
ICuIarIy II she IS married to a man inclined TO
leisure and loafing. IN Norway and other coun-
tries Of Northern Europe the ballad Il love to
/ see my dear old mother work. is something
| more than an affectiopate sentiment. 1t has a
practical significance. end is frequently found in
/ husbands as We'll sons.
Race suicide, the writer afirms. is an absent
quantity in Norway, where, although life is in
/ many respects hard, living is cheap. In detail
he scans the occupations of the people, their
husbandry, their numbering and fishing indus
tries, and finds that. taken all in ALL and despite
the constant emigration of ambitious young
| Norwegtans, eager to make their fortunes in the
| far distant country across the Atlantic Norway
| is developing along the highest lines, and that
| the tendency of the people, socially and indus
! trially. in culture and in wealth. Is upward TN
all public movements. in all social, intellectual
| and commercial activities, in art. science and
| literature, in wealth and prosperity. Norway
| stands abreast of the most advanced nations OF
Europe; but its progress is not won without
| greater effort than any other people put forth
| and the application of thrift and industry else
| where unknown, but which is required in ell
| mate so bleak and inhospitable and by a soil
| so wild and rocky" The fact that the State as
sists the people in many of their occupations is
| commented is he OF hat uob
an income tax imposed upon all wage earners as
well all capitalists, every citizen shares the
| expense OF supporting the government Com
paratively few people, it is asserted, are de-
pendent upon charity. and there are no poor
houses outside the large cities.
In Sweden a similar condition is found. and
we informed that, with the exception OF
Switzerland there are probably fewer poor
people in King Oscars realm than in any other
European country. AS in the case Of Norway
and Denmark. the Swedish letters deal largely
with the life and customs of the people OF
course. Mr.. Curtis does not forget the famous
Swedish gymnastics" practised by rich and
poor alike, and acclaimed as a preventative OF
the ills to which flesh is heir. In the letter deal
ing with this subject he draws attention to the
curious custom prevailing among doctors OF
never sending bills to their patients. but leaving
the question of remuneration entirely to their
generosity. Each family has an attending
physician, who expects them to pay him by
the year for his services, according to their
wealth and the amount of attention they have
| received. Ten dollars year in our money IS
a good fee. One hundred dollars a year is
princely"
With the cost Of living equally low, and the
Swedes the happy, contented. progressive. pleas
ure loving people this writer depicts them. it
would appear difficult to account for the heavy
emigration. Mr.. Curtis declares that there are
at least million Swedes in the United States
alone and ascribes this outflow chiefly 10 the
fact that the one great ambition Of every Sweda
is to own his farm, his ancestors have done
before him There are limits to farm lands in
Sweden, however, hence the exodus Of a people
whose national characteristics. again quoting
from Mr.. Curtis. love Of labor. devotion TO
duty, temperate habits and submission to laws"
make them valuable citizens of the country Of
their adoption.
Among other interesting portions of the work
which we can but mention here are the account
of the trip from TTOndhjem in Norway to the
North Cape in quest of the midnight sum- which,
the author Indignantly prRlaims, is a snare and
a deIusiOn, being visible from the Top of the
World" not more than four times in year;
the description OF the workings Of the Norwegian
Storthing and the Swedish Rikstag; the pen pic
lures of democratic King Oscar. his family and
eminent living and dead Swedes; the study Of
4 tho 6sbarias of Pargen. the review of the Goth