The Cook County news-herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Cook County, Minn.) 1909-current, 1917-01-24

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT HAP.
- OPENINGS IN FAR OFF
4 NoRTHLAND.
ITEMS FROM The OLD HOME
Resume Of the Most Important Events
in Sweden, Norway and Denmark
Of Interest to the Scandinavians
In America.
NORWAY.

A German writes from Norway:
'The conditions in Christiania today
| IRE very much as they were in Buehar-
| est before Rou>aania entered the war;"
he says. "Gold flows in streams and
| fortunes beyond the dreams of avarice
are made in few days. Men who six
months or a year ago did not own the
clothing on their backs and hardly
knew where their next meal would
| come f|om, now roll in wealth. All
Norway is in the midst of an insane,
| fantastic adventure and has but one
thought-to make money and still more
money. The 'goulash barons,' as the
| spectators furnishing foodstuffs apd
other necessarfes to the belligerents are
| called, are in evidence everywhere.
| Their luxurious automobiles make the
| streets of the capital unsafe and their
| princely steam and motor yachts cruise
in the fjords and bays. Palaces rival
! ing those of Paris, London, Berlin and
| Vienna are growing out of the earth.
1.-THE cafe Of the Grand hotel has be-
| come kind of an annex to the stock
| exchange. Day and night the place is
crowded with Norwegian, Danish and
i Swedish spectators and agents of for
eign governments. Around the little
! tables, loaded down with champagne
bottles and delicacies from all parts of
| the world, deals amounting to hundreds
| Of millions are made daily. Everybody
talks in millions. '"That is one side of
the medal, but the other looks different:
The cost Of living has become so high
| in Christiania that not only the poor,
but also the middle classes suffer Sc
| verely. Money is too. plentiful, and
has lost it's buying power. The result
Is that the prices Of all foods and 9TH
er necessaries have risen so enormous
y that only the wealthy can pay them.
Rent, food, clothing and fuel are
| much cheaper in 'half-starved' Ger
many than in Norway, although the
| latter country is at peace with all the
! world and piles gold upon gold"
| In connection with the hundredth an
| FNAhodA VI IAAC U11 Ill VI JO11du OtcIu-
rup, the Norwegian statesman, Prof.
Halvdan Koht, in an article in the III
| dens Tegn, says: Henrik Wergeland,
Johan Sverirup, Bjornstjerne Bjorn-
son, no names appeal more strongly to
the Norwegian nation than these three.
Wergeland, the spring gale sweeping
ever our national new land,' the Nor
wegian flag over our new-found lib
erty; Bjornson, the bard Of the people
In the midsummer of our national
strength; and between these two ra-
liant figures, their equal Johan Sverd-
rup, the statesman who put into action
what the ether two had preached and
sung the steady shining light in our
tight for political freedom. His life is
the political history of Norway in more
than one generation. Nobody consoli-
dated and organized the cropping hopes
and longings Of our people and shaped
their future, our present day, as he
did,
Senator Knutc Nelson spent the hol-
lday recess translating the Norwegian
law relating to compulsory arbitration,
which just has been printed as a SEN
ate document. The Norwegian law pro-
vides for the appointment Of a tribunal
Of five to adjust disputes between en-
/ ployers and employees the chairman
and two other members to be appointed
by the king. One Of the two other men,
bers is to be appointed by the national
labor organization whose members are
wegian Employers association. The
Norwegian act provides that the king
may forbid any labor suspension by
either side during the arbitration pro-
ceedings, and labor and wage condi-
ions are to continue as they were when
the dispute arose until judgment is rem
dered, or unless the parties otherwise
agree. ANY person who participates in
lockout or strike while the arbitra-
ton tribunal board is considering the
dispute, is subject to a fine of from
$1.34 to $1,000.
A Copenhagen dispatch says most of
the Norwegian papers have attacked
the British minister in Christiania in
connection with the embargo on coal
proclaimed by Great Britain. The
Norske Intelligenszdler reports that the
Norwegian reply has been handed the
British representative and leaves no
doubt that Norway is loyalty maintain
ing the export prohibitions regarding
fish and other goods. The Gazette says
that there is q great quantity of coal
in Norway and no prospect of short
age.
! Announcement that Great Britain
had prohibited the expectation of coal
to Norway brought expression Of grave
fears in Scandinavian legations in
Washington that the economic and
commercial crises in the Scandinavian
countries were nearing danger points.
Norwegian newspapers, as quoted in
an Exchange Telegraph dispatch from
Copenhagen, say the British govern
ment has prohibited the expectation of