The Minneapolis journal., 1905-07-04
THE BIG STICK
READY IN NORW 4! AY
Continued from First Page.

$3.50 :; ,.ht g. = ~ onn aoruat tive or
liberal party. And this miracle has
MOTTO say blindness sof Swedish states
meR. In spite sof Eall warnings they
have worked most strenuously into the
hands Of the Norwegian separatists;.
Only two years ago after violent
struggle which broke UP many long ess
tablished friendships, Che. majority OF
cepting the friendly hand which, the
Swedish government seemed to be hold
ing out in. the recognition Of the right
Of Norway to establish their own con,
sulor service. Those, who prophesied
that the proposed negotiations would
lead to nothing, that Swedish recogni-
ton of Norwegian rights was not seri-
ously meant and that matters had bet
ter be brought to head at once, even
utterly routed. The friends Of Sweden
and Of the Union We're triumphant, and
the Swedish politicians themselves
seemed to be seriously bent on doing
the fair thing by. Norway. The con-
snlar committee went to work under
the best auspices; an era of unparal-
Ileled good feeling, between the two ma
tions began; military and civilian
bodies from. one country went visit
exchange Of the. most enthusiastic good
will; the long separated brothers had
found each other at last; the millennium
seemed to be breaking. Then rumors
began to spread that the Swedish gov
ernment was commencing to find diff
culties which seemed to threaten the
overthrow Of the whole agreement.
We refused to believe them; they could
not be true; the Swedes could not de-
RI tNrIyo hro1 Il = i 49, j
the old strifel -
But they were true. Mr.. Bostrom and
his colleagues brought forward claims
On the control of the proposed Nor
Weglan consular service on the part of
the Swedish foreign department. which
would reduce Norway to mere de-
pendency of Sweden and leave her at a
greater disadvantage than she had been
| before the measure was taken up.
| MIR. Bostrom,s Work. :
So the work of, the. committee from
which we had expected lasting set
Element OF the principal difficulties of
the union came to naught. Mr.. Bostrom
had nobly come to&the rescue of the
| Norwegian separatists when their case
seemed to gbe utterly lost. Now they
had their innings; now they could tri-
| umphantly say ~ Didn't we tell you
SO? Now you can see for yourselves
whether advances~or promises made by
which practically rules Sweden, are to
be trusted. Now YOU see how willing
they are to recognize their dear Nor.
wegian brothers as. equals in the
union. Those who ihad worked and
argued and fought in defense of the
union have. become laughingstock and
a mockery. Human nature could stand
no more. The whole nnion-loying, con
>servatiye majority Of the Norwegian
! saying, this thing must end here and
4 now. The time for talk has ceased, the
time for action has come.
Thus, for the first time since 1914
the whole Norwegian people stand al
one man and the man who has worked
i the miracle is MrsaBestrom the creator
Itofs United Norway, ,&thea destroyer5of the
union between Norway and Sweden!
! Tho sswedes cannot claim ignoranc'
sna sTSn aga}a sat sEs SsrRea tlB 8
fRa hshs SsuR assa PaElsan a4nins Sllt
he knew thaeSsif fKS refused his assen
to the consular bill hescould get n
Norwegian to take the constitutions
responsibility for such action. But h
IL
right to act according to his own bes
| judgment, and in spite. of the unanimou
advice of his Norwegian cabinet he re
!. solved to set aside the will Of the er
tire Norwegian people, expressed thr
bill passed by unanimous vote by ou
parliament. !, - ~ Ed
Not Expected in Sweden.
:. Parliament acted promptly, decla
! %lo
offered it to a prince of tn Bernadott
dynasty. The Swedes, it seems, wei
utterly surprised. They never for a m,
ment had imagined the Norwegians c;
! pable Of such prompt and decisive a
tional altho the Swedes themselves hay
time and again suggested the dissoll
tion Of the union-have insisted that tt
! the Norwegians only were benefited b
it. Now they are angry because tt
Norwegians had forestalled their a
tion; what would be all right for the
Ito do was all wrong when done by tt
Norwegians. &And7 curiously enoug
when the decisive step had been take
it seemed as if all hard feelings hs
;, utterly vanished in Norway. It wou
be hard to find. in our papers since Jul
t z a single harsh utterance against Sw
t den. After the first hot wave Of ang
i and resentment had passed away, no OF
s blamed the old king. It was only t.
), apparent to all unprejudiced. observe
e that he had no choice in the matter,
8 rather that he had to choose betwe,
losing Sweden and losing Norway, al
e Eno Norwegian would blame him for pr
i. ferring his own native country. Al
>; there was no strong resentment iowa
/ the Swedish, people, because everYbot
9 felt that the Swedish people had hi
I, precious little to say in the matter.
g was felt to be the, work of the sms
e but powerful coterie Of great famili
): Of ancient lineage and great wealth. WI
l practically rule Sweden. king and a
e The great Swedish middle class ha,
g been working eating and drinking: al