The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1905-06-17

raul morton, the present Secretary Of
the Navy, is to be chairman of the
board of directors will not add any
assurance of honesty of purpose
When Mr.. Morton was acting for the
stockholders of the Santa Fe railroad
he violated the Anti-Rebate law. II
will not be difficult for such man to
violate the insurance laws as we'll.
| SWEDEN AND NORWAY.
The trouble between Norway and
Sweden and its cause is not new. 1t
is not found in King Oscars refusal to
grant separate consular service to
Norway nor in the petty national diff.
ferences between the two peoples. To
find the real difficulty we must go
back more than ninety years to the
time when in 1913 the Swedish
kiksdag offered to Napoleon's Field.
Marshal Bernadotte the crown of
Sweden. When that powerful general
accepted the crown it was with the
understanding that he would soon add
Norway to the Swedish crown. In
stead, however, of acquiring Norway
Bernadotte succeeded only in forming
! union and this is the union which
has existed up to the present time.
The union has been more or less COM
pulsory on the part of Norway. Prior
to 1914 Denmark ruled. over Norway
and in 1914 Denmark made Norway
over to Sweden by a treaty. The
Norwegians rebelled and their Stor-
thing raised the Danish Prince
Christian Frederick to the throne.
This rebellion was promptly put
down by Bernadotte and since
that time Bernadotte and his de-
scendants have ruled over the two
countries. They have been on the
whole powerful and just rulers, but
they have found it difficult to satisfy
both countries. The king who tried
to satisfy Norway was not considered
good king in Sweden and it must
not be forgotten that the difference
in the character of the two people has
accentuated their political differences.
The Swedes are naturally aristocratic;
that is the ruling classes, and
even up to the present time the
mobiles of Sweden are the chief
power. The Norwegians are in
tensely democratic and despise
things connected with the nobility. In
Sweden suffrage is limited to those
possessed of a relatively high income
while in Norway every adult man and
adult woman having an income of 300
kroner or more possesses the fran
chise. In this connection it must be
remembered that Bernadotte was him.
self the son of plain people. Before
his time the throne was controlled by
the ancient families of the nobility.
The Bernadottes have now ruled for
81 years and had the great Marshall
Bernadotte been of royal or even
noble blood it would have been much
easier for him and his successors to
gain the friendship of the ruling
classes. Preceding the house of the
present king reigned the House OF
Holstein- Gottorp IS years and before
that the House of Hesse 81 years and
before that the House OF Pfaltz Ga
years and that was preceded by the
ancient and famous House of Wasa
which ruled Ill years. In point of
time the Bernadottes appear as we'll
established as any of the ancient
houses except the first, but yet there
is a faction in the Swedish nobility
that cannot forget the Plebeian par
entage of Bernadotte.
There is an economic difference be-
tween the two countries that increas-
es the present difficulties. Sweden has
been a protectionist country while
Norway has chung persistently to free
trade. This far reaching disagreement
is emphasized in the case of Norway
because she does large amount of
the worlds carrying trade, having a
merchant marine of considerable i'm
portance.
The result of the difficulty will prob
ably be the peaceable establishment
of either an independent kingdom or
a republic for Norway. 1t has been
enormously stated that the crown was
rendered to Prince Gustaf who will be
the next king of Sweden. If the Nor.
wegian Storthing did make such an
offer it was undoubtedly with the
knowledge that the Prince could not
accept because of the condition that
no Swedish Prince elected to Nor.
ways crown must ever aspire to that
of Sweden also. Should the trouble
lead to war, Sweden would, of course,
have the advantage for her population
is more than double that of Norway,
and her army far larger, and her navy
stronger. 1t is probable, however,
that the difficulty will not be allowed
to take on such serious aspect. The
present king of Sweden is one of the
most scholarly and cultured men now
ruling, If indeed he is not the most
accomplished. The Bernadottes have
all shown an aptitude for constitu.