Morris tribune., 1911-12-01

Prerocative and Dissolve the First
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Line
of Steamers Again Nearing Real
ity-Darish Minister of War and
Army Officers in Dispute.
j. :. J. !. = :. !. !. + " !. X X + 4 J. =
j. SWEDEN. =
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King Gustaf of Sweden has finally
decided 20 use his royal prerogatiVe to
dissolve the First chamber of the rlks-
dag and call for new elections long
before the regular terms Of its mem
bers have expired. Members of the
upDcr house of the Swedish parlia-
ment are elected by the twenty-five
county and five city councils Of the
realm for terms Of nine years. They
serve without pay and must possess
property appraised at not less than
So 300, or have paid taxes on an in
come of not less than $1,000 year.
Elected by local bodies, whose men,
bership is based on a property Qualii-
cation. the First chamber has long
been the stronghold Of aristocracy
and privilege The Conservatives have
always controlled it and have thus
been able to checkmate the Liberals
of the Second chamber. But when the
Law granting manhood suffrage was
TO. ID on the Conservatives there be-
Fr,1 %TnHnN
toward G4aocracy. The step the king
hae now ra'sen was practically forced
upOn him Uy the Liberals, following
their sWeering victory in the first
election held under the new suffrage
law. Gust4E, however, has shown the
sort Of political discretion that char
acterized the policy of his father, the
benign Oscar, and has chosen to range
the throne on the side of the people
rather than On that of the aristocracy.
No Swedish king had ever dissolved
the First chamber in this way before,
although the constitution gives the
king this power. The peaceful revolu-
ton which began with the suffrage
victory is making great strides. The
king ard the commons are together.
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Anders Zcrn, the famous painter,
courtier ard sportsman, says a Stock
holm correspondent, is back again in
his Swedish home after his visit to
the United States, to paint a president
and number Of millionaires. His
views, as expressed to his Swedish
friends, are more than usually inter
esting, for he knows the whole range
of social grades, and though the friend
of princes and presidents he is still
at Ncart the Dalecarlian peasant with
OF ny snobbery or affectation what
eve. "President Taft" says Zorn,
sis fat, but he is intellectual and gen
ial 1t was Colonel Roosevelt who in
troduced NE to him, while the big
stick man was boss at the White
House. What their present relations
are l don't know. President Taft was
a good sitter and we got along very
well, indeed I used to joke with him
and point out the likeness to other
presidents as each new stroke of the
brush suggested it. But he never
spoke of Roosevelt. Life in America
is generally superficial. The upper
ten are recruited from self-mades-
the parvenus and those who are neith-
er. The first are pretty much alike
all over the world. and so, for the mat
ter of that, are those who have in
herited fortunes. Luxury is carried to
extremes and they live incredibly eX-
trevagant. Their constant cry is for
pleasure and sensation"
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An American v no recently visited
Upsala, the Swedish university city,
makes the following reference to Swe-
dish women: "a cab was in waiting
for me and Dr.. Braune, general su-
perintendent from Rudelstadt, Ger
many, and We were soon dOmiciled il
a fine apartment house where we
spent four delightful days under the
royal care of our hostess and her two
daughters, the husband and father be-
ing absent in the country. Our hostess
surprised me not little when she ad-
dressed me in English, but the sur
prise vanished when | was informed
that she had received a part of her
education in England Both daughters
were unusually bright and intelligent,
the elder of the two having attended
schools in Germany and France.
Added to their intelligence was a mod
esty and WinsOmeness, a simplicity
and naturalness, in striking contrast
with the pretentiousness and affecta-
tion of many an American girl enjoying
similar advantages. The contrast i'm
pressed itself deeply on my mind, and
the reader will pardon me if I cast
my vote N favor of the Swedish type
of educated girlhood and womanhood.
though | am not unmirdful of the
virtues of our great American girls,
nor Of the danger of drawing general
conclusions from specific cases"
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Farmers in Sweden have their