The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-08-04
The Prospects Of an Agreement Be-
tween Norway and Sweden.

tween Norway and Sweden.
Although the new Swedish Ministry is
headed by Herr CHRISTIAN LUNDEBURG.
who presided over the special committee
of the Riksdag which formulated the
conditions on which alone Sweden would
consent to dissolution of the union
with Norway, many Of his colleagues
are liberals, and consequently peace
full settlement of the questions at issue
between the kingdoms is deemed prob
able. There is also reason to believe
that the German Emperor's influence,
which just now is backed in the Baltic
by seven battleships and eight armored
cruisers, has been successfully exerted
to avert the outbreak Of hoetilities in
Scandinavia.
Among the demands framed by the
committee and sanctioned by the Riks-
dag were the following: The Norwegian
frontier fortresses must be dismantled,
the ordinance Of secession passed by the
Storthing must be reaffirmed by two
successive Storthings. and an agree
mont satisfactory to both parties must
be made with reference to their trade
relations. 1t was also taken for granted
In the course Of the debate in the Riksdag
that il these conditions should be COM
piled with and the dissolution Of the.
union should be accepted by Sweden,
an agreement to refer to arbitration
all future controversies between the
two countries and treaty Of alliance
for common defense against foreign
aggression would eventually be con-
cluded. .s.+r.' ID. ..
To an onlooker there seems to be moth
ing inadmissible in these demands.
II the Norwegians are sincere in their
professed wish to live on terms Of the
most Intimate friendship with the Swedes
they can have only sentimental motive,
based on historical associations, for
unwillingness to evacuate frontier
fortress. To the ratification of the
ordinance of secession by at least one
plebiscite there could be no reasonable
objection, and the Storthing itself has
ordered one such appeal to the electors.
Some difficulty may be experienced in
adjusting trade relations, because Sweden
il a protectionist and Norway free
trade country, and the Swedish pro-
tectionists would naturally dislike to
seS foreign manufactures intended for
the Swedish market imported into Nor
way, and thence transferred, duty free,
across the Swedish frontier. With
little good will on both sides, however,
compromise could doubtless be ef-
fected.
That the good will exists may be in
ferred from an article in the August
number Of the North American Review,
In which the ideas Of fairninded Swedes
are expressed by Herr KARL STAFF, a
we'll known advocate at the Swedish
bar and conspicuous member Of the
Liberal party in the Swedish Parlia-
ment. Mr.. SrAAFF deplores the disso-
luton Of the union from the point Of view
of general Scandinavian interests, but
declares that, since it has taken place,
the desire Of farseeing persons in beth
countries is that the chasm between the
two nations may not be irremediably
widened II being the destiny of the
two people to live on the same peninsula,
they should obviously try to remain
friendlv, for should the GOODNESS and
bitterness provoked by recent events
prove unextinguishable Mr.. STAFF looks
upon the fate OF both peoples as sealed.
Il we may ttlust Telegram from Copen-
hagen. the German Empsror's cruise in
tho Baltic was prompted by no other
puspcse than to allsy the threatened
trouble in Scandinavia The solution
Of tho problem which at first commended
itself to him is said to have been the
acceptance by King OSCAR of Norway's
original offer to make q prince OF the
house Of Bernadotte her King. Since
hA interview with King OSCAR, how
evcr, and since his requirement Of fuller
suHrvvNsx iou OOpcoru;uu tho xy;or-u ond