Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1904-11-03
NORWAY.
Christiania.

THE Heel of Achilles" the most
vulnerable point OF The Scandinavian
peninsula. is the extreme northern
point. according to Hugo Mowin,hel. 4
writer in Nerdens Gang. He calls IT.
tention to the peculiar boundary ar
rangement made nearly IA hunar d
years ago and shows that this. 10
gether with the complete political and
military incorporation of Finland n
the Russian empire. has made the ter-
r1tory between the Lyngen aud the
Naranger fjords an international pclit-
zeal focus upon which the attention Of
the European cabinets are steadily con-
centrated. 1t is more than naive. il Is
treachery to the country. says the
writer, to imagine that the political
affairs Of the far northern peninsula
have been settled for all time to come.
We must not forget that the horse.
trade style of diplomacy that resulted
from Sweden's loss of Fort Sveahorg
in Finland in such a shameful way on
the ill-starred Goth day Of March. 1900,
is a thing that we must reckon with
in Norway from that day on. This.
the one great diplomatic question in
our politics. has passed slowly throueh
its various stages of evolution, but the
seed of future discord was planted by
the s%agacious Russian diplomats when
by the terms of the peace treaty with
Sweden in 1909 the boundary between
Finland on the n hand. and Sweden
Norway on the other. was established
This boundary line has such q peculiar
form that it may, particularly with
reference TO Norway. he likened 10 4
Cossack lance placed th~reateningly al
the back OF the country. Indeed.
every boundary line may give one pag-
ty or another who SO desires, an op-
p%ortunity to pick q quarrel as a cause
for further political action. But it
would be difficult to find q boundary
line SO carefully designed to provoke
an international dispute as tbat de-
termined in 1909 away MP IN the dis
ta2t north. on the very brow of tbc
world Neither party knows wien
this question may reach am acute
stage when The bic eastern ueichbor
chooses to push his lance into CUR back.
nor Whether the thrust win he directed
northwe est n south.
There is q strong. feeling thraueh.
ont Scandinavia that mutial couee-
si0ns must be made TO preserve The
union between tie two couutries 81
Sweden ara Norway. So essenEii %
their mutual Welfare Sweden rea
onizes the necessity of yieldn1 10
Norway's claims to equality IA the
union as ~instuneed by the fact ttat
the Swedish cabinet has already mo, g
concessions in the CONSULAR que~ti n.
TIE swedish government is NOT lifely
TO ne disappointed in expecting That
Norway VIII I'M return modify It's OK
irene views on tie diplomatic ques
ton aud not insist 81 a s~eparate
Norwegian minister OF foreign affairs
Negotiations are now in progress on
these delicate matters. and II is 20 be
regretted that a small section Of the
press sbould have ever limited that
further negotiations miehtbe dispensed
with IN view of the fact That Russia
Is now SO greatly weakened by tie
var WITH Japan that there can be no
longer any fear Of Museovite as2re
sion against which the mtergrity of
the union IS The chief barrier The
strong protests Of the moderate
Swedish press have entirely d~issipated
these views and the two governments
now hopefully await the result Of the
present negotiations