The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1909-05-27


as between men of the same blood.
A trifle that would not arouse even
notice from a stranger will sometimes
lead to the disruption of families, and
in this universally human trait nations
are like families. Never were two ma
tons more closely bound together by
every natural tie than the Swedes and
NorWeglans. Yet never has weaker
brother chafed more restlessly under
the dominion of stronger than Nor
way chafed against the throne of Swe-
den. When at last the Norwegians
declared their independence, in 1905.
klng Oscar, a gentleman and noble
soul, yielded to their claims for the
sake Of peace. Perhaps among no 9TH
er than these blond-haired peoples of
northern Europe could such thing
have been accomplished without
bloodshed. 9rt the Swedish king was
man Of peace, and Norway was al
lowed to take its way wits. its boon.
But there remains no balm: in Swe-
den. The separation left the bitter
ness in the Swedes which the union
had nurtured in Norway before. Re-
Gently Haakon VII, wishing to honor
some of the Swedish diplomats with a
mission from Gustavus. To the amaze
ment of European courts, where such
request from one sovereign to an
other is invariably granted, the Swed-
ish king replied that he wished no Of
ficer or citizen of Sweden to wear a
Norwegian decoration. It. was tact
less thing to do, and revealed pet
~ nature in king. Oscar would
have been far more wise and as
courteous as he was wise. Now Swe-
denis churlishness will be matched by
Norway's resentment, and the breach
between the two will grow wider.
Luckily their land lies high up under
the northern stars, where the blood
is slow and heads are kept cool. King
dOms have gone to war for such trifles,
ere now, and in southern country the
spark so enkindled would expand un-
der the heat of fancy and furious
pride until it would burst into a flame.
What sorry sight to see the two
most democratic people of Europe
brought near to blows over bauble,
through the blunder of king" The
above is from the Washington Post.
We publish it. to show what mislead-
ing information even a great paper
like the Washington Post can get a
hold of once in Il while. There is alb
solutely no sign of any trouble be-
tween these two countries today and
if it should come, there will be great
er things at stake than the mere ex-
change of "a: bit of ribbon Since
the dissolution of the union, Sweden
and Norway both have been making
splendid progress and neither the
Swedish nor the Norwegian Press is
very billigerent, at present. The.
fact that Sweden refuses to recognize
decorations from the Norwegian ST.
Olaf Order and other Norwegian or
ders. does not necessarily mean that
she is willing to go to war about it.
Den syttnde Maj was periodically
celebrated all over Norway and all
over the northwest and Canada, in fact
wherever the Norwegians have settled
the day was observed. May II is the
Norwegian Fourth of July, Norway's
independence day, and it is the one
day in the year when it is pretty Ger
tain that every Norwegian will take
the day off and proceed to enjoy him
self In Christiania, Throndhjem and
Bergen there were great civic parades
and thousands of people focked to
these cities from the surrounding
country districts. Men, women and
children by the thousands turned out
in their holiday attire, listening to
speeches, music and songs. Since the
dissolution of the union the character
of these celebrations have grown
more patriotic from year to year and
even in America. especially in the
northwest, where so many Norwegians
have located. the 18th of May is OBJ