Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1914-03-19
SCANDINAVIAN NEWS
SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT HAP.
PENINGs IN FAR OFF
NORTHWEST.
ITEMS FROM THE OLD HOME
Resume Of the Most Important Events
In Sweden, Norway and Denmark
OF Interest to the scandlnavians
In America.
SWEDEN.

Many ,of the 10000 farmers that
went to Stockholm we're abused and
ridicuied by the Socialists while pass
ing through cities on their way to the
capital. AS a sturdy farmer passed
through Ludvika he was accosted by
a young fellow, who asked him wheth
er he could explain why he made @
trip to Stockholm. The farmer an.
swered, in substance, as follows: Yes
sir, l know quite well what this trip
means, And ! wish to tell you that
II you had plot of ground to protect
you would also be a member of this
expedition to Stockholm. And in or
der to give you a chance to prove
what you amount to, l promise you
In the presence of many witnesses
that you may have from me, as a free
gift, IL acres of first-class farm land
You may have it without encum
brances, and you may choose your
farm at Nyed, Brutjarn or Lidfors
Varmland. You may take II at any
time. But on condition that you make
living on the ground. And to prove
that | mean business, here you have
my hand. Write down my name. II
is NJ. Carlson Lidfors, and | stand
by my promise" The young man
wrote down the name, but there was
an end to his abuse. The train
started. The farmer politely raised
his hat, and so did the young man,
who had run up against an experience
OF which he had never dreamed.
King Gustaf started a great consti
tutional controversy by making a
speech In which he committed him.
self to the policy of speedy strength
ening Of the defenses before he con.
suited his cabinet on that subject
Nearly every prominent man In the
country now feels called upon to ex
press himself on this question. Among
those who defend the course of the
king is Henning Won Melsted, who is a
radical in politics. He voices the sen
tment of a large number of his coun'
trymen in the following: 1T is un'
reasonable that the king should be the
only human being in the country not
permitted to speak out his opinion In
public. Such view must offend our
Swedish sense of Justice, We demand
the right for every one, high or low,
to express his convictions within the
limits staked out by law. The mon
arch chose to give his opinion public
ly, thereby following the course OF all
progress in our countryside royal
highway Of free, untrammeled speech
Wort Land, Danish newspaper, sup
ports King Gustaf as follows: king
Gustaf has answered the question,
What is a king? by maintaining that
he is something else and more than a
formality; that he is also a man who
is entitled to speak freely. Is the
king the only man in the country who
has no right to express that which
fills his heart, his burning zeal to see
his country protected and its indie
pendence guaranteed? II this is not
the right of the king as well as that
Of every other citizen, what right
does he have, anyway? And when the
king, in the struggle for this right
proves to be brave and fearless man.
that sympathy is intensified which his
countrymen extend to him; and every
one who is capable of enthusiasm and
who can appreciate mans word and
a mans action will felicitate Sweden
upon its having a free and dauntless
king"