The searchlight. [volume] (Culbertson, Mont.) 1902-current, 1909-01-29
IN THE SCANDINAVIAN NORTH
Cjsanisss Of Important Nssos Of Nossoay. Ssusdsn
and Denmark, wifh Occasional Con,menes.
By MARTIN w. ODLAND
By MARTIN w. ODLAND.



NORWAY.
Former Premier Nicholson has re.
ceived ~ . gift from Norwegian sea
men on the coast Of China huge sill.
yer goblet. engraved by . Chinese
goldsmith Of Canton. The goblet IL
exceedingly beautiful, and IL an OBJ
ject Of great interest to all who see Il.
A dispatch from Christiania says
that . monumental column was un.
yelled this noon on the grave Of Stats
minister Johannes Steen 1t vor Frel-
sers Gravlund.s The monument n not
large: It Ii q bust placed on . pol
ished pedestal. The bust makes \
beautiful appearance amidst the other
surrounding columns. II Is erected by
the family and friends OF Statsminis.
ter Steen. and Gunnar Utsond has
modelled II.
Michael Alger writes from Chris
tiania that an association has been
formed for the purpose Of reducing
emigration. On the other hand. many
take the opposite view on the matter.
Thus a man 30 prominent M @. Tn.
Meidell. Judge Of the supreme court.
recently said In Z lecture before the
Christiania Commercial association.
that he considered II foolish to adopt
special measures against emigration.
which. in his opinion. has Just as
much good influence ~ bad. He said
It was up to the politicians Of this
country to make living conditions rs
favorable here ~ elsewhere. and emil
grafton would then die natural death
without any special efforts by any.
body. The lecture was on The con-
nict between the national and the In.
ternational." He was strictly In favor
OF the international. and brought forth
many arguments to prove that II was
tho intercourse and good feeling be-
tween the nations that produce most
beneficial results for mankind. and
that the trend OF our time Is for In.
tcrnational unity and good will more
than for individual national pride.
Rjornstjerne Bjornson's principal op-
ponent In the "maalsas" or language
controversy IL Loviand. the former
premier. who. since his retirement.
has been lectur!ng In behalf Of the
Landsmaal or peasant dialect. Bjorn.
son. a. I have frequently stated In
these columns. cannot condemn too Sc
verely the effort to cnthrone the
Landsmaal ~ the oficial and literary
language Of Norway. but his efforts
are, not meeting with success.
This language controversy has be-
come the most acute political issue
In Norway. and tho indications are
that II will occupy moro and more Of
the attention OF the people and the
politicians. In this connection quo
tation from an article by d. Nesdal.
In the Norwegian-American OF North.
field. MIMI. viii be read with inter-
est:
'It II by no means . sinsle-handed
tight between the two distinguished
men (Bjornson andIovland): . crowd
Of coadtutors arc rushing to the stand.
ards on both sides. For reference and
the .Maaikantor'' in Chris.
tiania has prepared ! chart showing
in glowing red the districts which
have adopted thee Landmarks the
chief educational instrument In the
schools. Ut must all the
time be borne In mind that the Law
demands ability to read and under.
stand both "maals,. no matter which
one II the d0miuatinE) From the
chart II appears that large districts
have placed the I4Andsmaal In the seat
Of honor. The "vestland" IL espe.
cially red. Some malicious Riksmaals
men have. however. made the six.
nincant discovery that the red color
ID with great prediction applied TO
and glaciers 10 n to swell
the territory with immunity"
Although the language controversy
has been 10 vividly brought before the
mind OF the public. nevertheless II II
, very delicate problem for the profes.
sional politician to handle. At q pre-
liminary caucus meeting OF the Con-
servative party In Christiania the fol.
lowing wording was adopted concern
Ing this plank In the party platform:
The meeting sees In the Riksmaal
The foundation for the future develop
mont Of our language. The Conserve
live party win support the work for
The growth OF the Riksmaal In nation.
II strength.
sAs We see. the policy II couched
In the mildest and most considerate
terms possible. and yet II Ii doubtful
whether Il viii keep it, place In the
anal platform.
THE Liberal party plans ON q eau.
Gus meeting about Jan. 80. Among
The published question: for consider
alton. Of which to make . platform.
The mail problem does not yet ap.
pear"