New Britain herald., 1916-07-14

In the negotiation of the North Sea- l Baltic treaty in 1908, Russia promised | her present allies, Great Britain and 1 France, out of consideration for Swe- 1 den, not to fortify the Aland islands, l The Swedish people are unit in re-
 garding as a threat and a menace any 1 permanent military works on this l archipelago. But they now have the
 assurance of both France and Great 1 Britain as we'll as Russia that the
 works nearing completion are not of
 that character and will all be taken ! away when the present war is ended. l Professor Steffens, author of the 1 Alands interpolation, has declared i such promises are worthless, that the
 present war has shown that diplo-
 matic notes and promises are indeed l but scraps of paper" not to be re- 1 garded when conflicting with the in terest of a belligerent.
 But the renewed assurances from l the Entente Powers appear to have completely satisfied the government and the leaders of the three great parties And so came the agreement, dramatically staged in the Parliament On May 17, when the Foreign Minister, MT. Wallenberg, speaking for the king and government, said he was in 6 position to reaffirm the solemn declarations of neutrality previously 1 proclaimed He said the governme | regarded the question of the fortifica- ton of the Aland Islands as one of vital importance of Sweden, but he as | snred the Riksdag and the people of Sweden that the government would l neglect nothing to preserve her rights l and interests of Sweden. Sweden, he added, would always maintain her right of self-determination but in the | face of a very difficult situation she 1 already had shown her steadfast desire 1 to fulfill the demands of strict and | impartial neutrality as well as an | eager desire not to be drawn into any warlike entangleme
 The proceedings in the Riksdag, or Swedish Parliament, had all been ar ranged in advance, and Mr. Wallen- 1 berg had scarcely taken his seat in l the second chamber when the leaders l of the three parties in turn arose and l indorsed all that he had said. This | same plan then was carried out in the 1 first chamber and thers was rejoicing | through all of Sweden that a serious crisis had been safely passed.
 The Activists, however, chose an effective weapon when they took up the Alands question. They had at teMpLoQ rom tune to tune to arouse the people against England because of the blockade, but the response to this appeal was meagre Ever since the loss of Finland, however, Russia has been a traditional enemy of Sweden in the minds of many of the Swedish people and it has been comparatively easy to arouse their fears.
 The wholesome fear on the part ! of Liberals and Socialists that the Activist campaign might force a con- dition which would lead to war, was based partly upon the significant events in Sweden whih immediately preceded the outbreak of the Euro pean war. During the winter of 1913-14 the agitation against Russia and in favor of military preparedness in Sweden had been carried on to such an extent that on February 6, 1914, 3O, 900 Swedish farmers, organ ized in what was called a "Bondetag' or ''yeomans' march, came to Stock holm, marched to the Royal Palace and addressing the king, assured him of their willingness to bear any added taxation required for the national de- fense
 The agitation at this time was participated in by the Conservative party. The government, however, was Liberal and had taken an inter- mediate position between the Conser- vatives, who urged every sort of sac rifice to increase the army and navy, and the Socialists who claimed it was foolish for small country like Sweden to attempt to keep pace with the ornaments of the larger powers of Europe. The address Of the yeo- men, coming as a climax to the pro- 1,9p n69 of
 out the country, stirred King Gustave to a reply which immediately brought about a ministerial and political crisis.
 No king of those who before me have worn the crown of Sweden" he said, "has in the same manner as I
 heen allowed the privilege of standing
 on this spot, face to face, with the
 Commoners of Sweden and listening to their voices. The knowledge of l your unshakable confidence in your king invests my royal duty with a l doubled responsibility, but at the same time makes it easier of fulflment and 1 I promise that I will not fail you. You may be assured that I will never l
 compromise with my conviction in 1 the question of what I regard right l and necessary in order to guard the | independence of our fatherland The 1 standards for readiness of service and | preparation for war formulated by l
 experts within my army I will not re- cede from. You all know that this 1 l ID neans an extended time of military service for citizens, especially with re-
 gard to winter training. In order to l
 perform the great tasks before it my navy must be not only maintained but very considerably increased" King Rises to Emergency. ! Thus the king spoke without pre-