Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1908-04-22
NORWAY.

of the Norwegian army has been cred
tied with the mission of seeking to
attract Observation-Disclosures back to
their homes, where their means and
their American spirit would mean con-
siderable for the economic welfare
of the country. But after having
spent some time in this country he
has come to the conclusion that he
cannot accomplish much. america
is magnificent country, and the more
l see of it the more I am impressed
with its greatness" he said in dis
cussing the conditions of the Norwe-
gians in this country. Il have met
large numbers of my countrymen
since I landed here last September,
and everywhere I found them in easy
or prosperous circumstances. 1t would
be nice to have a large influx of that
kind of people in Norway, but it is
out of the question. The problem be-
fore US is to keep the people we al
ready have, and this is the question
l am trying in part to solve"
A Bit Of History.-Mr. Vraa, men,
Der OF the storting, recently expressed
himself rather freely on the condition
of the Norwegian navy at the time of
the rupture of the union of Norway
and Sweden, in June, 1905. The re.
marks made by Mr.. Vraa brought out
a semi-of1icial statement by Admiral
Sporre, whose position made him
familiar with the situation during the
union crisis. The admiral said in
part: 'The whole navy was ready
for war in 1905. 1t was ascertained
that the defects were very few. Ev-
erybody knew that we were inferior to
the Swedes as to the number of large
war-craft. But on the other hand
we had fully as many torpedo boats
as the Swedes, and I believe that all
our big and small vessels were in
complete order. Considering that we
were facing a defensive war, I think
we were prepared to maintain our
position so that the enemy could not
have inflicted sufficient injury TO
jeopardize our independence-that is,
provided our command had been able
to take advantage of the situation.
AS l have said, our navy was ready,
the outfit was complete in every par
ticular, the necessary supplies and
ammunition had been provided at q
pretty early date, the men were in
fine spirits,
Two noted gatherings of entirely
different kinds took place in the Nor
wegian capitol few evenings ago.
The inauguration of the Knudsen cab
met was accompanied by the great So
cial event of the season, namely "the
palace ball." The other gathering
took place in "Folkets Hus" or what
is called labor temple in America.
Both were joyous gatherings, and the
attendance was about 1900 at each
place. The occasion of the palace
ball. has already been mentioned, and
the ball represented whatever Nor
way has of wealth and of social, po-
litical and military prestige. 1t was
an affair of silk and gold and glitter
ing diamonds, and of rivulets Of cham
payne. To explain the gathering at
"Falkets Illus" Qiterally, the peoples
house') will require a little more
space. Last fall visionary named
Elnar Ii was imprisoned because he
refused point blank to perform the
military service which the laws of
Norway require. He was hurried to
prison just before he was to defend
his course in a public lecture, and
this summary treatment was strong
~ resented by a large part of the
public. Einar Ii had just been set
free, and the gathering at "Falkets
Hus' was gotten up in order to give
him a chance to give the lecture
which had been announced just be-
fore he was put into JAIL His lecture
lasted for about an hour, and it was
of purely "academical' nature. But
towards the close he INDUCED in most
sensational personalities. He assert
ed that the commanding general, who
at that very moment was dancing
with the king and the queen in the
illuminated palace hall, ought to have
been in the penitentiary on account
OF a circular which he had prepared
contrary to the constitution, and the
speaker wound up this assault by a
scathing denunciation of those who
are controlling the military affairs
of Norway. A careful student of law
as he Is, Einar Ii worded his charges
so carefully and based them so firmly
on ascertainable facts that the mil
itary authorities are left in an en-
viable position; If they prosecute the
speaker they are too apt to be beaten,
and If they leave him alone public
opinion will stigmatize them as self
confessed delinquents. Another
speaker, Mr.. Vraa, a member of the
storting, made the sarcastic remark
that Einar Lis liberation was cele-
brated at the palace at the same time.
but the great burden of his address
was, that Social Democracy must
teach the big stick" Norwegians and
the big stick Swedes to keep the
military expenses Of the two coun-
tries within reasonable bounds.
The Inglewood, which was CARRYING
cargo of Illuminating oils, exploded
in the harbor Of Mandal, and twelve
members of its crew were drowned or
burned to death. The harbor around
the ship was soon turned into a roar
ing sea Of flames, which occasionally
rose far above the mastheads.
The houses at Hegseth, a tavern in
Selbu, near Trondhjem, were totally
destroyed by fire. Some of the stock
was burned to death.