El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-08-15
SWEDEN UNITED
FOR NEUTRALITY
Government and People
Determined To Keep
Out of the War.
~ kARL H. Won WIEGAND.

New York. Aug. 15.-"Is the Amari-
can people expect that sweden can
De forced to break with Germany and
enter the war with all its miseries.
either on the one side or on the oLhl-.
they do not know Sweden-s situation
and viii be disappointed" This is
the statement made 90 me in St1cE-
holm by a high official the day left
for America
Determined TO Keep Out.
1t IS quite impossjb!e-yes quite
impossible" lie said with emphasis
You do not understand the Difficult
ties Of our position between 'svo
frez. issgreed as they may be on
some points. the Swedish people are
in absolute accord and unity TO pee
serve our neutrality to the end OF tie
war and unalterably opposed TO en-
terirg the war. Eran che opposition
OF sor5Iled pro-aly party. whicn IS
very strong in Sweden. does not want
20 enter tile war. and on that point
is I'm accord with the government.
only one Trims can bring Sweden
into this conflict and that is if one
or the other side attacks or iuvales
Us That and that alone.
n were permitted 20 quote the
official by name. the importance OF
the statement would he seen. But re
Insisted that he was talking privately
and not officially 7 touched upcl
Sweden breaking relations with Ger
many or closing her borders TO che
central empires. posSlbLe-qul ie
impossible We are too dependent
upon Germany for certain things. es-
ali
to live"
Scandinavian Agreement Exists
The question. much talked about .u
Europe. whether an absolute agree
ment exists between the three Scauci-
uavian countries TO jointly maintain
neutrality and not 10 act singly, the
official declined 10 discuss That
some such agreement, whether only
q -'geutIemau's agreement, or some
thing more formal. does exist. I was
assured iu well informed circles. Do n
in Copenhagen and in Stockholm
Sweden with an effective army as
large as that Of both Norway ana
Denmark. undoubtedly better equippe ]
and far better supplied with guns -no
ammunition than either, can be sdid
20 practically dominate the Scaual-
navian situation Danish otticla IS
frankly told me that Denmark wolia
last about two weeks II IL entered
the war against Germany even IN The
present stage, without other aaSls-
lance They professed TO believe
that Denmarks entrance in the " ar
could only serve 10 strengthen Ger
many's position stratcElcally ana
help her out greatly in the matter
Has Army OF 100000.
Sweden can put an effective army
Of 500 600 men In the field In oFsah-
ization. drill. discipline, equipmf nt
and appearance. they remind one
strongly Of the Germany army The
Swedish troops make an excellent
impression. In artillery and IN AVA
ton, the Swedish army is so lar
ahead OF the Danes and the Nor|e-
gians. that there is no comparison
it is easy to see why Norway and
Denmark can hardly make so vital
a move as entering the war without
knowing what Sweden would do.
I asked the high government OIL
cial whom I have quoted, to explain
to me Sweden's position He turned
to hts desk and drew out a map or
official data and figures. which is
SxnIsfned and cited in detail. The
following are some OF the official
figures and data given me
What sweden Needs
The chief scarcities in Sweden are
coal. wheat and fodder Sweden re-
oufres 100000 10 S45O.00O tons OF coal
g
Industries running and for other do
nestle purposes Before the war by
far the greater part Of her coal came
from England. Since the war, and
especially after the beginning of sub
marine war, she had TO rely on Ger
many.
In 1911 Sweden imported from Eng
land AIlO.O32 tons of coal and coke
as against only 111,213 tons from
Germany. In 1914 from England
4.6S2.5Ol tons as against 335-lS2 from
Germany. In 1918 Swedeu's coal sup
plv from England had dropped by
one half In that year she imported
2.17S.634 tons OF all varieties Of coal
and coke from England as against
E,SI5.73O tons from Germany In 1916
from England 1,7O7,519 tons as
against s.3SO.596 from Germany. THIS
wear no coal whatever was obtained
from England In the months OF Feb
ruarv and March when the ruthless
submarine campaign began. a small
amount in April and May and little
IN June The present agreement De
tween Sweden and Germany calls for
a minimum Of 150. 600 tons OF coal ner
month. The Germans have fulfilled
their agreement.
Were Sweden not obtaining any
coal from Germany, the street rail-
ways and private railways ia the