The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-07-28
BREAK TRACED TO
SWEDISH POLITICS
Norway's Act of Disunion and
the Causes Which Led
Up to It.
NORWEGIAN QUESTION
LONG A SIDE ISSUE
Too Late the Conservatives Took
Up a Plan to Avert the ,
Separation.


BY. w. B. CHAMBERLAIN,
Managing Editor of The journal.
Copyright, 1905, by The Minneapolis Journal.
Stockholm, Sweden, July. IL have
secured from one of the most prominent
journalists in Stockholm, a close OBJ
server Of political events in both Nor
way and Sweden, a most interesting
review Of the events leading up to the
union crisis and an analysis Of the pres
bulent stream. I give this statement
in its entirety, just as it was made to
me, in order that you may get an inside
view from liberal standpoint Of Scan-
dinavian affairs:
The great political causes that have
arc re- fhf IN If
the peninsula. Indeed, comparatively
few public men in Sweden apparently
| have clear idea Of the forces at work
beneath the surface that have brought
about the present tension nor Of the
forces that will eventually work out it's
settlement.
Two Great Parties. -,
There ara two great parties in Sweden
the conservative and the liberal. The
principal issue between them, when the
Norwegian question is eliminated, is the
question of suffrage. Suffrage in Swe-
den is very much restricted-so much
| so that out of 100000 men over 81
years Of age in the country, only about
100000 have the right to vote. This is
And as the right to vote rests ON the
payment Of taxes on an annual income
4 Of 800 kronor ($214.40) or over, it is
clear that the property qualification is
so high as to shut out all Of the lower
classes and many Of the middle classes
from any practical participation in the
government. The liberal party demands
the reduction of this qualification to !; q
point where most Swedish citizens will
They are willing that the voting age
should be raised to % years, but they
want every taxpayer given the right to
vote A. constitutional change Of this
kind is. very. difficult to bring about.
Two successive riksdags must pass such
of three years, it would take at least
six years before such suffrage law
could be effectuated, supposing that a
majority of the 100000 qualified cleo
tors voted for it at the elections the
coming autumn.
} Extension of Suffrage.
The conservative party has bitterly
opposed the extension Of the suffrage.
But when. it pushed thru the new mill
, tary law in 1891, by the terms Of which
, iengthened from ninety days to eight
, months in all, there was so much opPo-
, sition among the peasants and liberals
against this step toward militarism that
!: the conservatives were 0bllged to make
, certain concessions looking toward
wider suffrage. But these promises
have never been! kept.
The Norwegian question has been a
! sort Of side issue in Swedish politics,
l and the parties have used it as an aid
= to vote-getting or lodged it as an IN
. pleasant riddle, the answer to which
. there was no time to seek; The conserv,
= atives especially have played fast and
loose with Norway, and now they are
reaping the fruits Of their policy OF
vacillation and timeserving.
To get a. clear understanding Of the
e present condition Of affairs, it is neces
: sary to 90 back bit and trace the
t history Of the Norwegian separatist
n agitation.
Terms of Original Union.
i Whether the original union was E
e voluntary agreement on the part Of
l. both nations, as the Norwegians claim
W or whether it was in the nature of {
& treaty of peace in which Norway wa'
e the conquered and Sweden the con
Re queror, as some Swedish authorities
v argue-there is nothing in the doeu
l. ment itself to show that both partle
n did not enter it on an equal footing
r Each retained it's sovereignty and it
le independence, but agreed to have al
" ways the same king. The Norwegian
.. have successfully resisted all the sub
a. sequent efforts Of the throne to chang
the terms Of the union agreement an
have even succeeded in charging thei
own rights.
It is to be noted, however, that tn
the two Kingdoms is left BY the ssriki
G akt'-as the union agreement
~ called-entirely with the king. I
neither kingdom had the idea Of a mil
istry responsible to the people deve
ry seem advisable to restrict. the king
On conduct of foreign affairs in any wa.
r. The king advised with his ministers, n
m doubt, but he formed his own foreig
policy. AS the idea Unpopular govern
g, ment grew, however, there was grow
be ing restiveness under this state Of a
e. Seeds of Discomfort.
st Finally. in 1885, there came = cha ms
en- held responsible to the riksdag for h
ny acts. If the riksdag disapproved Of h
re- policy, it was held that he must T
NV sign. Herein lay the seeds of No
at ways discomfort. How could to
it eign minister who represented bo
,al, kingdoms be subject to the will of tt
Swedish diet alone, and be always
he Swedish subiecta And yet, on. t
os- other hand, how could a free and ind
nd pendent people like the Norwegian
al consent to permit the king alone to ma
en- age it's relations with the world al
nd not be in any way accountable for b
acts9 Either horn Of the dilemn
seemed impossible. The act of uni
thus contained within itself the fat
/, a defect that meant it's ultimate deaf
,nI Far-Sighted Leader.
in There was in the riksdag at tn
It, to time farsighted leader, the create
OH, ork man in the liberal party--Adolf HEIDI
by many considered Sweden's create
parliamentarian. He is still in the ril
dag, by the way. In the polite
by heavens he read the portent Of t
Jay coming storm and he advised his COT
ted ted trymen to prepare for it in the on