The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-12-23
BY Hugo ValIentln.
nca of The Journal. Va.


stockholm, Sweden, Dec. s.-The
not quite as simple nor the outlook
quite as bright for the liberal party as
1t was year ago. 1t is not to be
understood that there can be any
doubt about the ultimate solution of
the franchise question, but the party.
has met with some reverses and when
the riksdag meets in January, few
sert to the conservatives. Add to this
that the social democrats, now fourteen
in number, under certain circumstances
will vote against the liberal party, and
1t will be understood that there is
hard fight in sight for Mr.. Staff, when
next session he takes his place as the
Leader of the opposition in the second
chamber @~'-. -. =
"A few words will suffice to make
clear how this is come about. When
the first chamber threw out the liberal
franchise bill last session and Mr..
STAFF and his colleagues had to resign
on account of the kings refusing to
dissolve parliament, the more radical
spirits in the liberal party and the
whole socialist party insisted that the
moderate franchise proposal Of Mr..
Staaff was done with, that the next
franchise proposal must be of a far
more radical nature and that the most
important change necessary was to
make the first chamber different from
beginning to end, or if possible, better
still, make an end of it. The first
chamber was the enemy.
The Liberal Platform.
don t think that there are many
radicals in this country who would not
willingly and with great pleasure take
part IN the reconstruction or destruc-
ton, of the first chamber, but the prac-
tlcai politicians have to reckon with
possibilities and not wishes. There
fore, Mr.. Staff and his colleagues have
taken as their platform the same fran
chlse proposal which they placed before
the riksdag last session and which then
passed the second chamber with a ma
Jorlty of Al votes and was rejected by
the first chamber by an enormous ma
Yorlty. Mr.. Staff knows the situa-
ton in parliament, which, does not
necessarily or exactly conform to the
feeling in the country, and he knows
that some of the guarantees added to
his proposal were necessary to get the
more moderate spirits of the party to
accept 1t: To make a speedy solution
more difficult by adding such a far
reaching measure as the ending or
mending of the first chamber seemed
TO him unWlSe.
The radical wing of the liberal party
and the socialists also wants to include
present state of thing, make matters
still more difficult The PRINCIPAL
champion of woman suffrage is Mr..
Llndhagen, burgomaster of Stockholm,
a member of the liberal party and a.
very prominent politician. During
the campaign-for there has been a lot
Of speechmaking in the country this
autumn-he has taken decided stand
for woman's rights and also insisted
tnat the he t coming franchise proposal
last. '
,. The socialists have the fundamental
down. 1t is universal suffrage for men
and women of q or over, and such q
Iar-reaching change in the first cham
Der That 1t amounts to making it al
most only a consulting body.
The Lind1nan Proposal.
The present cabinet of Mr.. Lindman,
which took over the government after
Mr.. Staff, is still working hard on it's
solution of the franchise problem. It
Will, OF course, include a system of
proportional representation more or less
intricate and more or less intended to
Noop couIio1 from Cne masses. But, at
the same time, Mr.. Lindman has prom
1ssed to make proposal for changing
the constitution of the first chamber'
This is especially intended to estrange
the, social democrats from the liberals.
doubt, however, that this proposal
Will be of such a radical nature that he
will be able to catch any votes in that
way. If he should try to sacrifice the
power of the first chamber only to be
able to carry thru his measure in the
second chamber, he could not get the
first chamber with him, as one could
not very well expect the senate to sign
its own death warrant.
Liberal Losses in Bye-Elections
My own idea is that it is only bluff
intended to catch votes at bye-elections.