Scandinavian American. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1945-1958, 1945-11-01
PAGE FOURTEEN


edtorialy about the trial. conviction and execution of
Quisling:
1.-The dignity of Norwegian justice in dealing with
the traitor Vidkun Quisling conserved from
the of his arrest, throughout proceedings in
court, and in the quiet of his execution in
darkened hours of a recent early morning. There was
of the emotonalism half frenzied and half fatu
ous as kept France in uproar Pierre Laval
Nor there any scrambing for unwrten law and
doubtful precedent, such attends the plans of the
newly organized international court to dispose of other
super-criminals of the -
This is finely and wel-deserved tribute to
outstanding manifestation of the Norsemans of
justice his will act sobery and deliberately in stua
ton which could easily have provoked surrender to passion
must have given the reader SHOCK therefore, to read
in the editorial column, the day, condemnation
of Sweden and her leaders for bringing to BEAR in deter
mining that countys policy of neutrality in the war just
ended the quality of deliberate thought which, DEM
onsrated the adjoining Scandinavian country, evoked
praise from the editorial mind.
The language employed by the Times writer is nsn-
uangy insulting and unfair to the Swedish nation and to
Swedes everywhere that is quoted here, in part for
those who may not have read in the paper from which
the quotation is taken
THE Swedish parliament is Informed by For
egn Minister Oesten Unden, says the editorial, "hat
Sweden is willing to join the world security Organza-
ton and abandon much of her traditional neutrality
policy membership in the United Nations may
qure. Sir John Fastaff is credited with having said,
The better part of valOr is discretion. Sweden has
been very discreet and is not greatly to blame if
discretion has not always seemed part of valOr
To this time, Swedens willingness to join the United
Nations has not been matched by any particular
eagemess to have her join. -
AS concession, suspect, to Swedes who make up
considerable group in the Seattle Times potential reading
public the editorial contained here and there tongue
ncheek saving phrase but the real thoughts and intent
of the writer betrayed in the nsnuatons such the
implication of cowardice in the assertion that Sweden
has been very discreet; and the l-conceaed charge
that Swedens policy of neutrality inspired by greed
and avarce contained in the phrase I'm ways than
one Sweden has profited by keeping out of war;
AS should be the with any nation wisely led many
considerations had to be taken into account in determna
ton of high policy world proportions but with
Sweden the natural and probable deciding factor geog
raphy and the certainty that she would be crushed
Norway, If she made common cause with the Allies. Her
leaders could justify to her people such
than they could have justified in their conscience
policy of military alliance with and combat aid to Ger
many's Nazis.
Sweden did what she had to do in order to survive
maintain her serespect and justify the respect of the
nations which have the This respect grows as
the true story of Swedens wartime struggle becomes
fully revealed.
When the broke Sweden, long conditioned in the
ways of and guided by firm belief in it's desirabty
national working philosophy utterly unprepared
miitarily, to resist aggression.
AS the war progressed and her ornaments became
adequate for her defense, her leaders developed pro-
gressivey Independent policy toward Germany Her
exports to feed Hter machine decreased the
vanishing point German troop movements Swedish
railways were severely curtaed and finally ended the
Swedish people, first, of necessity coverty and later