Grand Forks daily herald. (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1914-1916, 1914-11-23
(By Peer Stromme.)

10Y J. SSA
Christiania, Norway. Nov. st
NAV be confidently prophcsied that
next year there will be a large emigra-
ton from Norway to America. Every
body here is talking about how good
it must be in these times to live over
there in the land Of plenty under the
protecting arm Of the worlds greatest
prince, our own good Uncle Sam.
More than ever 1t is now regarded as
a proud privilege to be an American.
Every day / meet people here who
say that they look forward to acqulr-
ing, as soon as may be, this high dis
tinctiOn.
Food Shortage Feared.
Since the very first days Of III big
war there has been no such feeling OF
uncertainty in Norway, and in the
the present time. In a normal year
Norway produces about 40 per cent of
the grain necessary for home con-
sumption, and the harvest this year
was only about 80 per cent Of the W.
erage yield. Even at the best of times
the food supply would soon be ex-
hausted If importation should cease.
So it will readily be understood
that in the beginning of August, just
after the outbreak of the war. there
was In Norway the fear Of an immi-
nent famine.
Dealers Compelled to Sell.
The dealers and farmers who had a
store of grain or -four on hand refus-
ed to sell. until the government o
hold of the matter and compelled
them to do 1t, and also fixed the maxi
And It is generally admitted that the
government handled the matter with
great good sense.
From that time to the present there
has been no trouble. Grain and other
necessary food supplies have been
bought in large quantities by private
importers, as we'll az by the general
government itself, and by the several
municipal authorities.
Sea Closure Alarms.
But now there Is again something
Of q scare, caused by the u
ment of the British admiralty that all
Of the North sea Is to be regarded as
included in the war zon Before this
letter reaches Minneapolis matters
may have righted themselves, but at
h present writing public feeling in
Norway is running high. There are
heard, and read in the papers, man
expressions Of resentment at what Is
called the high handed action of Eng
land in thus proclaiming her disre-
gard Of the right of neutral countries
to the free use of the seas. The gov
Sk11A1ClLo u Luo Oh
countries have in concert instructed
their representatives in London to de-
mand an explanation n lodge an
emphatic protest against any curtail-
ment of the right of their merchant
ships freely to pass across h ocean.
The Norgenbladet. the leading COZ
sentative paper of Norway, today a
ed%itorially:
Under ever increasing burdens, un-
der ever new and more unreasonable
demands on us. we have observed all
the rules of strict neutrality-plus a
number of new rules made for the oc-
casion either in Germany or in Eng
land-and it would seem that this
neutrality ought to mean something
to lis. and that we cannot allow our
selves to be pushed out Of our posi-
ton without making vigorous resist
ance. The closing Of the North sea
would in Its consequences be a menace
to our neutrality. and we do not pur-
pose going blindly into this danger.
The Swedish government still more
emphatic. 1t protests against the
action Of the British admiralty and
reserves to itself h right to take
such measures as may seem best in
regard to this whole matter"
Ships Seizure Resented.
The feeling in Norway had for some
days beer in a high state of tension
Ny ACooOA VI SAo AOAA-okA4NdA 0I oC1 sci
of the Bergensfjord, one # the two
big passenger steamers Of the Nor
wegian-American line. The steamer
coming from New York with passen-
gers and q full cargo was four days
overdue, and no word had been re-
ceived as to the cause of the delay.
Naturally, then. people guessed that
1t might have struck a mine and gone
down without even time to. send a
wireless message. Then in q rounda-
bout way came the news that it had,
when but three OF four hours from
Bergen, been taken by an English
cruiser and forced to put back to
destroyed. h captain of the Nor
wegian liner was allowed to dictate
q telegram under censorship, but the
telegram was not sent. Not until the
ship was released and on its way to
Bergen raj he at last able to notify
the Office in Christiania and relieve
the anxiety. Then, when 1t became
known that the British authorities had
removed from the ship, as contra
band Of var the cargo Of rubber con-
signed to some Norwegian importers,
there was here much indignation. The
rubber could not have been intended
for final shipment to Germany. as all
is prohibited. The feeling Of resent
ment "a increased by the circum-
stance that on board the Bergensfjord
were three commissioners Of Norway
who had been in the United States
to negotiate a loan for the govern
ment, and that these commissioners
had not been allowed to communicate
with their government. The whole
matter has, for a time at least, caus-
ed a severe strain on the common
Norwegian feeling Of friendship for
England. However, there is not yet
any serious fear that the Scandinavian