Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1906-06-09
NORWAY.


Says the Chicago Daily News
regarding Ibsen's death: with the
death of Henrik Ibsen there passes
one of the Titans of literature, a
writer whose work has become a iy-
ing. persistent force in the worlds iIl-
tellectuaI life, whose first concern was
not with literary art but with man
and with actualities. He was a
philosopher, moralist, sociologist and
social critic, as we'll as poet and play
wright, but it would be useless to at
tempt to classify him under any of
these titles. Primarily a thinker, he
was one of the men who by the force
conventions and force progress toward
new ideals. His influence upon the
modern drama has been in itself
momentous. AS playwright he
brought to his art a skill in crafts
manship and realism in treatment
that made him the distinctive
dramatist of his time and brought
about a revolution in dramatic writing.
His plays, too, are real plays-vertible
studies of human life and not merely
sermons in the form of plays. But 1t
is not to their technical excellence nor
to the keen insight into human life
which they reveal that their profound
influence is due. The authors refusal
to accept esta blished conventions his
refnorseless exposure of the hollow
ness of cherished ideals. political or so
cial, his ruthless sincerity in testing
all our social standards over again by
new ideals and under new light
these are the qualities which have
given his work it's great importance.
That a thinker working along such
radical lines and so merciless in his
criticism should have aroused violent
anita gonism was inevitable. On the
one hand he has been called cynical,
extreme, immoral and destructive. On
the other, he has been as eXtrayag CANT
ly praised as genius whose work, If
not constructive, was useful in sweep.
ing away false notions and preparing
the world for better era. How
posterity will rank him can only be
coniectM-ed, but one fact may be af-
fir1med with confidence. In the deluge
of criticism and comment which will
follow his death there will be nowhere
denial that he was one of the great
geniuses who forced the intellectual
world of his time to break away from
esta blished ideas and to think for it,
self. Even that part of his work
which seems to consist chiefly of de-
structive criticism of life has this
merit. that it compels original think
ing. In this alone his service to So
ciety has been incalculable.'
All eyes are turned on Trondhjem,
and although the coronation is still
three weeks away the city is filing
up with strangers. There have been
lots of inquiries for accommodations
that the city will be unable to care
for the big throngs and provide for
any degree of comfort. Most of the
inquiries have come from England
and Denmark. but also considerable
number from Germany, France and
Italy. Unquestionably there will be
many Americans attending, especially
Norwegian Americans, who are at this
time departing for Norway in large
numbers The various steamship lines
report a heavier booking of Nor
wegian- Americans this year then ever
before and Trondhjem's population will
grow to large proportions all of sud
den.
Per O. Stromme will be the Chicago
Daily News staff correspondent at the
coronation festivities in Trondhiem.
Mr.. Stromme will also write a series
of letters for the Decorah Posten.