Morris tribune., 1914-07-31
DISCUSSES DEFENSE QUESTION

Norwegian PubIicist Urges Union of
Scandinavian countries-King Gus
tave Of Sweden Benefited by His
Stay at acknowledgements Society
of Denmark Formed in Copenhagen.
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i. NORWAY. \
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By invitation of Stockholm's high
school students DR.. Sigurd Ibsen of
Christiania delivered an address on
the defense question in Stockholm on
July l. He said in part: in an
eventual Scandinavian crisis many
! NorWegians would expect to find in
England their natural ally It is true
that England would unwillingly see
Russia in possession of a Scandina-
Wan port. Russia already has the
largest army in the world and should
/
situation would be threatening
enough for England. Such situa-
ton might arise if the Russians oc-
cupied the north of Norway, and Eng
land, therefore, may be assumed to
have every interest to protect Rus
sias advance. England, however,
cannot absolutely prevent this. The
most that can be hoped for is that
there will be diplomatic representa-,
lions from that quarter, followed per-
haps by naval demonstrations in the
Baltic The result of this might not
/ be decisive, however, since, Russia
can evade Sweden by land But it is
not probable that Russia will attack
Sweden under generally peaceful po-
litical circumstances. On the other
hand, an attack is quite probable in
the event of a European war. Should
England and Russia be allies, if Eu-
rope should be embroiled in warfare,
England would not protest against
Russian occupation of Scandinavia.
Sweden regards Germany as it's
friend, but with a general war Ger
many would be unable to aid Sweden
J with troops. In this all clear sighted
Germans agree. A great and respect
ed Berlin paper wrote several weeks
ago, We cannot assure Sweden
against Russia Sweden and Nor
way have nothing to depend on ex-
cept the defense they can obtain
against themselves. In order to Sc
cure greater strength I would recon-
mend union of defense between the
countries. / do not understand why
it should be more difficult for Sweden
1 and Norway to conclude such an al.
J lance than for other countries. II
appears to me the advantages would
be greater than in other countries
Sweden and Norway occupy the same
peninsula and are united by racial
. ties. 1t is true that both set their
er hand, great powers enter into such
compacts without affecting their SOW
ereignty in any degree. 1t might be
possible that such an alliance would
: result in several difficulties, but these
: mean nothing in comparison with diff
J fculties which both countries would
experience if some day they are com
PEELED to defend each other and have
failed to make their mutual arrange
:. ments in time" In both the Norwe
gian and Swedish press generally the
discussion over Mr.. Ibsen's speech
has shown that in neither country is
there desire to bring about such &
e union, because it is felt that it would
q be difficult to arrange. Nevertheless
it is generally agreed that nothing
should be neglected that can strength
en- the mutual understanding between
the two countries, because they boil
know what resources they have tt
rely on in case of need.
X j. 4
The Mission Society of Norwa!
fifty years ago chartered a ship il
!. Bergen and dedicated it to mission
purposes. Pastor Daniels performeC
the dedicatory service amid larg,
: crowd of people on board the ship
For twenty-nine years, until 1884, tn,
, bark sailed back and forth carrying
missionaries and their wares to dill
ferent ports in home and foreigl
countries. After twenty. years sery