Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1907-05-09
NEWS OF SCANDINAVIA
Recent Occurrences Of Interest
in Sweden, Norway and
Denmark.
DARING ROBBERY ON TRAIN
Work Is Believed to Have Been Done
by Members OF a Gang ri
Young Socialists.
SWEDEN.
Stock holm

II Is indeed very seldom that one
reads or hears OF any train robiperieS
in Sweden, but the following account
by a Stockholm correspondent goes 10
show that it will happen there too:
"A few days ago a local train in south
ern Sweden was the object of a sue
cessful attack on the mails. Two
masked men. who were passengers on
the train or rather two p~assengeis on
the train, who put on masks on the
platform outside the post van, entered
this, fired some revolver shots at the
officer in charge, wounding him rather
seriously, snatched some bags with
money letters and jumped off the
train. For several days the police were
unable to find any trace of them, but
at last they We're caught In Malmo.
Altogether four men We're implicated.
but only two took any active part in
the affair. 1t is said, and so far as
| know il Is a fact, that all belong
to the ultra-revolutionary gang OF
young socialists, that is. the anarchistic
group of the labor movement. They
profess that they committed the crime
with the intent of handing over the
proceeds to a fund to be employed for
the purchase Of revolvers for a gen
eral strike which they hope to start In
a couple of years or course. the
parliamentary section of the socialist
party, to which this revolutionary sec
ton is In decided opposition, has
nothing TO do with this dirty business.
and | fancy that the revolutionary
section itself will also deny having any
connection with them beyond that
their names are inscribed on the rolls.
Nor do | believe that there Is any d.
rect connection between the two, al
though the criminals have taken adj
vantage Of the doctrines preached
from the anarchistic pulpit to make
themselves more interesting while
posing as enemies of society for the
good of all, instead Of being enemies
to individuals for their own private
profit. AS far as Is known, they have
used part of the proceeds for their
own amusement and the contribution
to the strike fund had not reached Its
destination when its would-be bene-
factors were arrested"
House rents continue soaring In
| Stockholm, although a great many
new houses have been erected during
the last year or two. The difficulty
of getting a moderately comfortable
fat at a not too exorbitant price seems
to be on the increase. The greater
part OF the Stockholm population live
in flats that sometimes, when they are
supplied with all the modern inven-
tIons for comfort and luxury, are let
at prices that would astonish people.
even in America. To pay 500 or even
GOO crowns pei room Is nothing ex-
t%raordinary I'm that expensive city.
Flats which command lower rents.
say $50 or 400 crowns per room, have
very little to boast of I'm the way of
comfort, and in such cases bathrooms
are an exception. For a workman,
who has to be satisfied with a room
and a kitchen for himself and family
Of -four or five, to pay 400 crowns I'm
a tenement house on the outskirts of
the town Is very hard, when wages
even now have not risen in compari-
son. The enormous rise I'm rents,
must, of course, be attributed to the
high prices OF land in and around
Stockholm, which In Its turn must be
referred to the somewhat unwlse land
policy OF the municipal representa-
tives. but it can also be ascribed to
the general boom that has taken place
during the last year, which has made
all values run up. For every time
q house changes owners the rents go
up by leaps and bounds.
The very inadequate rem law, which
makes a contract between landlord
and tenant lapse when the house
changes ownership, makes 1t possible
for a new owner to raise rents all
around at once, without waiting for
the contracts to run out. This law,
however, Is now to be altered. The
declared war on the landlords. Sew
eral large enthusiastic meetings with
leading citizens on the platform, have
taken place to discuss the dire posi-
ton Of the inhabitants OF Stockholm
in this respect and steps have been
taken to found a large and strong
union Of tenants, so that the land.
lords shall not have II all their own
way. 1t will be very interesting to
sec how matters will develop. There
Is one thing which Is difficult to un-
derstand and that is how the union
Of tenants will be able to declare a
strike. They will have to use other
means, as for instance strong pressure
on the municipal authorities. There
is plenty Of land belonging to the city
IL the city only could put 1t on the
market for sale or lease. Then. per-
haps, the house jobbers and spectators
would have to climb down a fiat or
two.
Prior to leaving Sweden for his new
post MI. Lagerkrantz was given a fare
well dinner by the Swedish-American
society, Gustaf Gullberg, editor Of the
Stockholm Tfdning, being master of
ceremonies. Among those present were
Prince Wilhelm, the second son OF the
erownprince. and the whole AFFAIR