Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1915-01-27

fly, as I warmly hope, may be pres
served. efforts will be required to pro.
tect the country and to mitigate for
the humbled citizens the economic
consequences of the war; -
i. + j.
The government has just issued q
decree strictly forbidding the transit
or forwarding to belligerent powers
Of all kinds of var materials. as we'll
as raw materials essential for their
manufacture. 1t is emphasized that
in no case whatsoever may Swedish
ports and communication serve the
military interest of the belligerent
powers. Z.
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+ NORWAY. +
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Hannah Astrup Larsen, in a recent
article on social Reform Legislation
in Norway" says: One duty now be-
fore our people is the protection Of
the unmarried mothers. Although the
percentage of children born out OF
wedlock is not high in Norway com.
pared with other countries, their
number is certainly sufR cient to war
rant special legislation. The death
rate among these children is appall-
ing, amounting sometimes to as much
as three times the rate among chill
dren born in normal conditions. Un-
der the old Norwegian law 1llegiti-
mate children had the same right
OF Inheritance as those born in we'd
lock, but by more recent legislation
the father is not legally a father at
all. He is required to pay the mother
a small sum, but only on her demand,
and tho burden Of proof rests on her.
She often shrinks from making q
claim; she is perhaps ashamed or she
is afraid of offending the man, and
so losing a possible chance of mar
rage. Sometimes she suffers much
privation before she receives aid, or
she may not receive it at all. In
order to remedy this evil we have
brought in a government proposition
which, in the first place, raises the
amount of the contribution to be paid
by the father, and, in the second
place, provides for It's disbursement
by the municipality in cases where
the father cannot be made to pay.
The most revolutionary provision of
the bill, however, Is that which re-
quires the question of fatherhood-if
not voluntarily admitted-to be es-
tablished by the courts. Anonymous
parenthood must cease, and the faith.
er must assume his share of the du-
ties now borne only by the mother.
Under the present law, the child born
out of wedlock inherits from tho
mother only and bears her name. By
the new bill, which will probably soon
become law, the child will have the
right to bear it's fathers name also
and to inherit from him on an equal
footing with his legitimate children.
This measure has, naturally, aroused
opposition in some quarters; there
are many who think we are merely
preparing cushions for vice. The
same cry was raised In 1892, when
we succeeded in raising somewhat
the amount of the contribution to be
exacted from the father. Our oh.
servation since then, however, does
not show any increase of immortality,
but rather the contrary. It stands to
reason that it should be so, since we
are in no way seeking to lessen re.
sponsibflity, but to fix it more firmly
1t has been said that mans lawful
wife and children would suffer in the
event that such an illegitimate child
should appear and claim it's rights.
That is very true, but we cannot re.
frain from making a man take the
responsibility for, his actions any
more than we could refrain from pun
ishing him for theft because such
punishment would be painful to his
family. Crime and misdemeanor are
always painful in their consequences
!. !. +
The Industrial life of Norway is
developing so fast that it is feared
that foreign labor will be needed to
a large extent in the near future. 1t
is only natural that the Norwegians
prefer Observation-Disclosures If they
can get them, but that is doubtful.
Most of the large industrial concerns
are bound by their contracts with the
state to employ only Norwegian citi
zens. But American citizens are look
ed upon as foreigners, no matter
where they were born, even If they
were born in Norway. Being asked
for Information on this subject the
government answered, however, that
Norwegian-American would be offer
ed the same chance as Norwegian
citizens.
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+ DENMARK. i
j. + j. i. j. j. + j. j. + j. + j. !. !. !. !
Three resolutions were passed
unanimously at the closing session in
Copenhagen of the conference Of So
cialists of neutral countries. The
first resolution declares it to be the
duty of all Socialists to work for the
speedy declaration of peace, the
terms of which shall provide basis
for international disarmament; II
also calls upon the international So
cialist bureau at Berne to convoke q
meeting of all Socialist parties at the
beginning of peace to take an ad
visory part therein. The second res
o1i1kio1a nronoana fhak oil Cooio liai