Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-05-17

lie was obliged to renOunce his claim
to the Norwegian crown, and then re.
quested them to accept the Swedish
king as their ruler. The action of the
Danish king incensed the Norwegians
They protested that while q king
might absolve a people from further
allegiance to himself, he had no
right to dispose of an en,ire kingdom
without the consent of the people Of
the kingdom. The attitude and posi-
ton taken by the Norwegians was
borne out by International Law They
refused to be battered as so much
chattel; they decided to take decisive
action at once.
Meeting Of Delegates.
!. A meeting of delegates. was caleld
to meet, forthwith, at Eidsvold, near
Christiania. The delegates came from
all over the land They came from the
far north, from the ships resting in
the fjiords, from the rocky Businesses
of the mountains, from the peasant
huts in the valleys and from the cit
les. They were met for a common
purpose. After thorough discussion
of the problem that confronted the
nation, cons titution, embodying the
features of the American, French
1791) and the Spanish (1S12) con-
situations, was framed and unani-
mously adopted on the 18th of May
1914. The Norwegians had crossed
their Rubicon"-had declared their
freedom. The action of the Eidsvold
delegates was enthusiastically prais-
ed and commended by all Norwegians
/ Invade Country.
Hearing of the action taken by the
refractory nation, that they had
hoped to annex without bl0odshed,
the Sweues under BernadOtte immed-
lately invaded the country. After two
weeks of hospitality, in which there
was but little actual warfare, Bern
adotte opened negotiations it'll Nor
way. A united conference and peace
convention was thereupon held at
Moss. Following this an extraordinary
session of the Norwegian Parliament
was held at Christiania, where on
November 4th 1874 Norway was de-
clared to be "a free, Independent and
indivisible kingdom united with Swe-
den under one king" The question of
unificatiOn was thereafter embodied
in a referendum to the peoples of the !;
two nations and was adopted as the
"Act OF Union" in 1915. The pream-
Bile of this "Act of Union" states that
the union was accomplished mot by
force of arms, but by free conviction"
Says one writer: "The Union thus
concluded was really an offensive and
defensive alliance under common
king, each country retaining its own
government, parliament, army, navy
and customs" Thus did Norway be-
come an independent nation.
Berth Of a Nation.
There is no need to burden this
sketch with recital of Norway's la
ter history, such as the accounts Of
the adjustment of the nobility, the
determination to celebrate the Sew
enteenth of May in the face of Swed,
ish opOsit on, the complete entrance
into politics of the common people,
the establishment of National flag,
the adjustment of the Swedish Vice
roy, the turmoil over the customs
and the final dissolution of the Union
by Norway on June z, 1905. Most
everybody is familiar with the fact
that Norway granted national suf-
frage to women in 1907, and that
Norway was the first nation to do
this.
Thousands Pay Tribute.
The thousands of Norwegians in
the, Northwest who are today honor,
ing the Seventeenth of May and the
one hundred years of peace in the
"Fatherland' bear in mind the fact
that Norway has progressed wonder.
fully in the past century. They may
take well grounded pride in the
achievements of her sons and daugh.
tiers. Nansen, Of North Pole fame,
and Amundsen, the discoverer Of the
South Pole, have literally carried the
colors of the Nation to the ends of
the earth. The music of Greig is de-
lighting millions of music lovers the
world over. In literature rich mine
Is found in the writings of the theo-
logist, mans Nielsen Hauge; the
creator of Norwegian literature:
Henrik Wergeland, the "proofreader
Of human lives;" the damatist Henrik
lbsen, and the popular novelist Bior-
nstjerne Bjornsen. The country is
now Wealthy-the result of the de-
Velopment of her wonderful natural
resources. The Centennial Celebra-
ton" at Christiania this year sets
forth all this as well as the achieve.
ments of Norway Abroad particu-
larly the Norwegians in North Da-
kota and Minnesota. All honor then
OF that courageous band of patriots
who enlancipated a nation from poll
teal thralldom on that memorable
occasion at .Eldsvold one hundred
years ago today. -.
MASONIC NOTICE,
There will be be a meeting of the
Masonic lodge in the temple in this
city on Monday evening, beginning at
8 o'clock. Work in the degrees.
BITTEN BY HORSE.
Richard, the little son Of Mr.. and
Mrs. James Fcgarty, of the Tribune.
had narrow escape from losing his
left arm while PLAYING with horso,