Scandinavian American. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1945-1958, 1950-06-21

liz 1o"ii@oeio1i e1loe "e1e
nation at peace is the
travellers most striking i'm
preston when he reaches SWe-
den after long stay in
Western Europe.
You feel peace in the air as you
walk along the streets of Stock
holm where rkness sets in
shortly after 3 PM. and a light
veil of mist wraps the city and it's
strollers in coy cloud of isola-
ton. You feel it, too, in the friendly
conduct of the people, in their
eagerness to help visitors without
being obsequious or reaching out
for a tip.
The absence of extremes is ap-
parent everywhere. Whether they
stride along the clean sidewalks or
ride in their middle-aged, Ameri-
can-made cars, the Swedes look
neither very rich nor terribly poor
l have seen no one who looked
hungry or cold; no one who seemed
inadequately clad. Here is honest
comfort-no luxury, but satisfac-
ton and security.
Eighteen years of Social Democ-
racy and 135 years of peace add
up to most of the explanation.
Sweden is not a naturally rich
country nor a land enjoying the
blessings of good climate and
friendly neighborhood. The size of
Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois
together, Sweden has only the pop
ulation of Illinois. The seven mil
lion inhabitants have to concede
one-half of their 1900 square
miles to the forest and one-fith to
the mountains. What is left makes
for hard work.
There is a great deal of differ
ence between the forms of Social
ism in England and Sweden. The
Swedish regime, having benefited
from a longer period of power,
without an opposition as deter
mined as that faced by English
Labor, is now acting more like the
good-natured Daddy" of the ma
ton than its stern Father. The
state is easy-going, up to a point,
in its relations with the people, and
while it collects huge taxes from
the very rich, it is careful to re-
main on good terms with the big
trusts and monopolies, for the lat
ter underwrite the cost of the So
cialist experiment, whether they
like it or not.
A SWede with an income of 1OO.-
600 crowns year will leave 10000
in the hands of the state and the
city. But modest wage-earners
have little to pay. It is hard to
evade taxation because each year
there is book published which is
the taxpayers Who's Who, giving
in great detail the amount of in
come and taxes of each individual.
II
I have met some Swedes, mostly
AL lhS AhSAcI vi dChclS, WHO were
bitterly opposed to Socialism, and
some who were fanactically in IA
vor of it. But no one is Indifferent
to what the Socialist Government
is trying to achieve. Much has
been done already, as evidenced by
the clearance of slums in Kungs-
holm Island, Vasa and Solder, the
sections of Greater Stockholm
where most of the manual workers
live.
NJ O d ern apartment buildings
with large windows, terraces, and
balconies, surrounded with green
cry, and with central heating and
bathrooms, have sprung up
throughout the city. Much remains
to be done. In Stockholm alone,
where women outnumber men by
1000, and where most homes are
for single people or childless
couples, $4,000 new homes must be
built before 1862. The president of
the Municipal Council, Karl Albert
Anderson, a blond giant with a
soft heart, told me that Stockholm
will be $40 million kronor higl