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Show DANISH PEOPLE HATE XALL THINGS GERMAN AND FEAR KAISER Gerard Warns Americans to Watch Closely What Is Happening Nowadays in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. "FACE TO FACE WITH KAISERISM" By JAMES W. GERARD, American Ambassador at the Germa.n Imperial Court, July 23 1913 to February i, 1917. ' Author of "My Four Years In Germany." i CHAPTER XXII. L'ST as I had the opportunity to T stud; conditions in Austria, so also I came in contact with the j4j politics and diplomacy of tho " nations contiguous to Germany on the north. My grandfather, Benjamin F. Alice! was American minister to Sweden and Norway, and on leaving received from the kins the order ol St Olaf. I have always taken a deep Interest in Scandinavian affairs, and It behooves the American people to regard closely what Is happening nowadays in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. 1 The outbreak of the European war in 19H served to brlns the three northern nations close .together. Their kings met In conference, and a peace monument was erected on the boundary bound-ary of Norway and Sweden, as if to proclaim to the world that in spite of their recent separation Norway and Sweden were sister countries. All of Same Blood. The people of these three countries are of the same blood and their languages are somewhat similar. Norwegian and Danish written are virtually the same, but there Is ciuite a difference in pronunciation. Swedish is more like German and the Denunciation is not so difficult to learn as that of Norwegian and Danish. In Norway there are older dialects differing from the Danish, and there has lately been a great movement in favor of a more national language. Many Norwegians regard the official Danish-Norwegian as a reminder of old subjection to Denmark Den-mark and not at all fitted for the new Independent Norwegian kingdom. king-dom. The new national language is called "Landsmaal." How Germany Got Kiel. Sweden and Norway were both under one king from 1814 to 190o. In that year, after a peaceful secession, Prince Charles of Denmark, the son of the king of Denmark, was made jlfie king of Norway, with the title of Haakon VII. Although both have kings, Denmark and Norway may be termed democratic countries. Copenhagen Is lively since the war. P The population of Denmark is only 2 500 000 and the whole country Is -. only 14 S20 square miles, which means an area about the size of Maryland. The country was once larger, but in . 1864 Prussia went to war with Denmark, Den-mark, and finally, after the war with Austria In 1S66, added to the crown -of Prussia the two Danish duchies of Schleswlg and Holstein. As the city and port of Kiel were included in this territory annexed, it is easy to see why the Germans engaged in this enterprise against Denmark. Terror of Viking Ships. Denmark possesses the Faro inlands, which He far to the north or Scotland, the great island of Iceland and Greenland, relics of the times when the Viking ships brought such tenor to tho other countries of Europe Eu-rope that the Litany used to read: "From plague, resilience and famine, from battle and murder, from sudden death and from the fury of the Northmen, good Lord deliver us." In Christianla we saw on our trip out two graceful Viking ships dug out of the clay shore of the coast in a fair stalo of preservation. One of them was a princess's ship, on which it was easy to imagine some blonde princess of the north, her long braids of golden hair flying In the wind, urging on her Scandinavian oarsmen. Denmark's Independent Women. The Danes are a sturdy race, the women being more independent than those of other countries. On the Frederick VIII, when we sailed from Denmark. September 23. 1'JIB. for the United States, were two handsome girls. 13 and 21 years of age, the daughters of the proprietor of the largest department store in Copenhagen. Copen-hagen. Tliev were going to America to llnd employment in department stores In the different cities of the country, traveling entirely alone, and expected to return to Denmark after a year's experience In America with many new ideas of management and advertising for their lather in Copen-W Copen-W hagen. These girls were wonderfully T. educated, speaking, in addition to V Danish, French. German and English, with hardly a truce of accent. ac-cent. They llvod a short distance out of Copenhagen and told me that every ev-ery morning of the year they jumped inio the sua ut 6:30. something that 1 should not care to do even in August Au-gust in that cold northern , land. Danes Expert Farmers. Danish farmers learned early that In order to be prosperous they must practice Intensive farming. I believe Hint Denmark, which even before the war enjoyed a high degree of prosperity, pros-perity, Is the only country in the world where there are pigsties steam heated a'ld electric lighted, while tho farmer himself does not have these luxuries. Our fanners have much to learn from the farmers of Denmark, both In agricultural methods and in cooperation co-operation for the marketing of products. prod-ucts. The reclamation of the Danish moors in Jutland lias made surprising surpris-ing progress; it is in Jutland that a park has been preserved In its primeval pri-meval state the Danish-American nark, bought with money subscribed ay Danish emigrants to America who prospered In their adopted land. F.ver since the conquest of Don-mark Don-mark by Germany there has been a deep hatred of all things German in Denmark on account of tho treatment treat-ment of those Danes, numbering between be-tween lilO.ll" and 200.000. who were living in Schleswig and Holstein and won unfortunate enough to be turned ov(ir as property to the king of Prussia. Danes Hurt Germans. I found the Danes agreeablo people. peo-ple. Of the same race as the Ger-living Ger-living like them in the dark north, this difference in behavior is Perhaps accounted for bv tho fact that the Danes arc free, while tho Germans are oppressed by tho weight cf nn ever-present autocracy. While the lJanish people hate tho Germans, ofhYiully Denmark is rare-hit rare-hit to conceal this bate and even, ap-ircntly, ap-ircntly, to lean toward tho German ulo, through fear of the (Senium troops, which ecu; Id easilv overrun r Denmark in thirlv hours. Denmark during the war received oil cuke from America, whirh wan fed to cattle lator sold to Germany. A I great tonnage of fish has also been sent from Denmark to Germany, while salt and potash have been imported. im-ported. Therd is no quesion that supplies of all kinds and in great quantities have lound their way across the Danish border. Prosper by War. And the Danes have prospered enormously enor-mously since the war. Many persons have become millionaires through the sale of food and other supplies to the Germans. A great deal of this food supply was sent in the form of canned meat, popularly known as goulash, and so today whenever an automobile automo-bile passes on a Danish road the small boys call out "Goulash Baron," in the belief that the occupant is a new-made new-made millionaire, enriched by trade with Germany. It is hard for us to realize how far north the Scandinavian countries lie. Christianla, the capital of Norway and in Its southern part, is in the same latitude as the south point of Greenland; and is it not difficult to imagine a modern city situated In Greenlnnd? In Christianla it is not fairly daylight day-light in December until 10 in the morning and dark early in the afternoon. after-noon. The ample waterpower of Norway Nor-way and Sweden furnishes electric light, a godsend in the short, dreary winter days. Advance Civilization. Norway in many respects is one of the most advanced countries in the world. Having, been ruled - by Denmark Den-mark for 400 years, it was united to Sweden by the treaty of Kiel in 1S14, with the approval of all the powers, but against the inclinations of the Norwegians, who knew that they were given to Sweden to compensate that country for the loss of Finland, annexed to Russia. The ambitious Bernadotte arranged to govern Norway as king of that country, which was theoretically to retain its independence and be united to Sweden only through the personal rule of the one monarch. At this time the Norwegian constitution consti-tution provided that no more personal privileges should be granted, and since then the progress of Norway toward a real democracy has been rapid. It was the conflict over the right demanded by the Norwegians to establish a separate consular service ser-vice that led to the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905, Norway voting for separation 363.211 to 1S4. There are now no nobles In Norway. Shortly after the union it was decided de-cided that those who had titles of nobilitv could hold them for life, but that their descendants could not inherit. in-herit. Legislation for the protection of child workers, women, for insurance, etc., is of an advanced character. For instance, no child under 14 is permitted per-mitted to work and no woman for six weeks after her confinement women receiving full sick-benefit pay during this period. Many of the railways are state-owned. Norway With Allies, Norway is (a land of little farms; the shipping and fishing industries occupy oc-cupy many men, but with -the exception ex-ception of the waterpower-driven nitrate ni-trate plants on the coast and the wood-pulp factories, there is little man ufacturing. The mass of the people are with the allies. Last winter, when it was proposed pro-posed that a German concert troupe should play ond sing in Christiania, the people threatened to burn the theater If the performance was permitted. per-mitted. ' But, as in Sweden, the German propagandists are at work in Norway. Nor-way. Here again, unless we present our case, the people may be turned from the allies. King Gustave V, who occupies today to-day the throne of Sweden, has a GeF-man GeF-man wife. All the sympathies of the court, which copies the little courts of Germany, of the aristocracy and of t'ne army are strongly with Germany. In Sweden, although the king has not much more power than the kings of Denmark and Norway, there is an aristocracy which inclines to imitate the manners of the German aristocracy and to seize, if possible, the privileges en.ioyerl by that body, the officers in the army in Sweden are devoted to German ideals, and since the war great bodies of them have been invited to Germany, where there hus been much ado over them. The people, however, do not sympathize sym-pathize with Germany, knowing what the triumph of Germany means for them and how the court and the army and the aristocracy would be thereby encouraged to put the Swedish people in what the Germans would call "their place." Swedes Fear Gerinany. The Swedes fear the domination of Germany and the domination of an aristocracy imbued with German ideas. They know that if Germany wins, the king business will take on a new lease of life. The ground was ripe for the allies, but the German propaganda, cleverly managed, spending spend-ing monev without stint, is gradually bringing the people to a point where, if the blockade is tightened, they mny consent to Sweden's entering the war as an nllv of the central empires. In'.-iplte of the dislike of the people for the. German cause, I think that the aristocracy and the court and the army would have forced Sweden into the war but for one thing. After Horn" e months of war an arrangement was made whereby tho so-called "hoavilv wounded" were exchanged with prisoners between Russia and Gcrmanv. The German who was a DrNoner of the Russians and had fot an arm or a legt was sent home. Thee wounded prisoners on their way 'to the'r home countries were compelled com-pelled to travel the whole length of Sweden, and it was the sight of these rcor stumps of humanity, as the trains 'oped at the various stations In Sweden, that kept the Swedish people out of the war. Many pictures of them printed in the Swedish papers caused profound dismay in weden ami, developed an inexpressible abhorrence ab-horrence of war. Aristocracy at Teuton's Service. Since hostilities commenced, on the other hand, the government, army and aristocracy of Sweden not on:y hwe been Lonsistenily opposed to uq allies, but of the utmost service to Ge--m:iny. , Swedish iron ore goes into German cannon "and makes the best steel for airplane ononis, and the import into Sweden from America of mods find I fats increased 1000 per cent al- most immediately.- These imports, with great quantities of copper and . other supplies, found their way to ' Germany, to the great profit, inci- , dentally, of Swedish business men. For the plain people of Sweden the cost of living increased without a corresponding cor-responding 'increase in salaries and wases, so that the new prosperity was confined to the "goulash barons." There is no question thatj just as in Argentina, the Swedish diplomatic pouch was in all countries at the service ser-vice of Germany, and that the orders to the German spies in Russia were sent by this means. In fact, it is believed be-lieved German prisoners in Russia found their way to Petrograd, there to participate in revolution and counter-revolution under orders sent through the Swedish officials Smuggling is winked at, and at Lul-lia Lul-lia on the" Swedish coast near fthe head of the Gulf of Bothnia, great quantities of rubber, block tinand oil arrive from Russian Uleaborg, across the gulf. Advocates Blacklist. The French wanted to send a consul con-sul to Lullia, but their request was refused, doubtless because the Swedish authorities did not care to have any official foreigner see this traffic. Cleverest of all lias been tne work of the German financial agents. Warburg, the Hamburg banker, is attached to the German legation in Stockholm. So skillfully has he managed man-aged his taek that Swedish firms and Swedish banks have been induced to take German paper money, commercial commer-cial paper and securities instead of gold in 'return for copper, rubber, tin, food, fats, wool and supplies, and in this wav the Swedish business men, by the "touch of seif-lnterest, have been made to favor Germany. 1 confess that it is hard to bring about, but as each nation has the right to choose with whom Its citizens citi-zens shall do business, we must mercik's.-dy nlacklist those firms whirh assist Germany by accepting In lieu of the gold which would thus bo drained from Germany what i amounts to the promise of Germany to pay if successful In war. The queen of Sweden, herself a German and an admirer of the German Ger-man emperor, has great influence over her husband and the court. Reprisal Attacks. At a time when she was visiting her family In Knrlsruhe tfor she was a princess of Baden), a reprisal attack at-tack made by a iliod airpUi nes narrowly nar-rowly misled the royal pain re and, consequently, the queen. This had ndiied to her prejudice against tho allies. The crown princess of Sweden was a princess of Con naught, the sister of '"Princess P.it," but she dos not dare take any stand against the anti-ally propaganda. I am sure that President Wilson appreciates the gravity of the situation situa-tion and that means are being taken in -place our position not only before the Swed ish people, but those of Swedish birth mid descent in the I'niT?! Stales, whose influence should be hrouplit to bear on their friends ni'.il relati 03 in the old country. The crew of every Swedish shio 1 1 mt laiuU? hero should be given our viewpoint: every Swede who returns In Sweden should go ;is a missionary mission-ary we must aot permit Sweden, whose people are, bound to us by ties of blood and friendship, by the hospitality hos-pitality which we offered to every Swedish immigrant, to be ranged among our enemies by the German-admiring German-admiring aristocrats of Sweden who by birth, trailing and education are opposed to democracy, who hope, if. Germany wins, to gain as great an ascendancy in the government as tho Prussian Junkers possess in Germany. Ger-many. Three Influences Battle. The Finns who occupy , that part of Russia nearest to Sweden have quite a sympathy for the Swedes, Finland having been at one time a part of Sweden. The races, "however, "how-ever, are not the same, The Finns are a Mongolian race, and certain similarities of language make it plain that the Finns and the Hungarians -came from the same mysterious place of origin, somewhere in the great mountains, and highlands of central Asia. Three languages, three Influences, fight for mastery in Finland the official of-ficial Russian, the language of the government; Finnish, now receiving a new lease of life, and Swedish, the language of those who once conquered con-quered and held Finland, and who so imposed their civilization on the more ignorant Finns that today Swedish is the language of the more prosperous classes and pf most of the business men. The women of Finland received the suffrage in 1906, all voting who are over 24 and who have been for five years citizens of Finland. Many women wo-men thereafter were elected to the Finnish parliament. Women Have Vote. In two Scandinavian countries the women vote. Norway was the first sovereign state of Kurope to give full citizenship rights to women. In 1913, all Norwegian women of twenty-five - and citizens for five years were put on a voting equality with men. and the only positions under the national government for which women are not eligible are in the army and navy, the diplomatic and consular service and the supreme court. The Danish women received the full franchise in 1915; but in aristocratic Sweden oniy the women paying income in-come taxes have rights in the communal com-munal councils. In 1908, in Norway, a law was passed providing that women doing the work of men shall receive equal pay. Military service in all three 'northern 'north-ern nations is universal and compulsory. compul-sory. Possibly on a "tip" from Berlin to a fellow autocrat there occurred in February, IS 14, an extraordinary political po-litical event, arranged and "accelerated" "acceler-ated" by the government when 30,000 farmers, meeting in Stockholm for the purpose, m arched in procession to the royal castle to address tha king and lei! him that they were ready to hear any extra to xes j m-posed m-posed for tn purpose of providing for national defense. fiuss;;i wok the power particukirly fenred hy Sw-den, who thought she desired to annex a part of northern Sweden a : : d X o r w a y in order to g t an outlet to the sea on the Norwegian j coast. But recent events in Russia have ended this fear and the only question ques-tion for the Swedes is the same one with which the whole world is faced . kaiserism or democracy? Propaganda in Norway. Sven Hedin, the explorer, who was the leader in this movement for national na-tional defense, has appeared as a German propagandist so violent as to have become popular with the Germans. Ger-mans. It is hard to understand why so Intelligent a man should range himself on the side of autocracy. Now that the Russian danger if danger there was, is past, it is to bo hoped that this celehratod man will be found in the ranks of those opposed to the autocracy which ordered the murders of many Swedish seamen. Norway, although it has often met the submarine of the kaiser, which, defying all law, has sent to death so many Norwegian sailors and fishermen, fisher-men, suffers also from German propaganda prop-aganda and a certain self-interest because of the 45,000,000 kronen sale of fish this last year to German buyers. . Germany works, too, In Denmark with the Socialists, and deliveries of coal are used to obtain food from that country. The Jolly, free, brave Scandl-nanvlans Scandl-nanvlans are naturally opposed to all that Pan-Germanism and Gorman rule mean. It Is for us, especially Our citizens of Scandinavian descent, not to lose this initial advantage. Switzerland Another Kind. Free Switzerland! You cannot imagine im-agine the feeling of relief I experienced experi-enced as I passed from the lands of the Hohenzollerns and Hapsburgs to a free republic. It was February 11, 1917. To go into the railroad station restaurant and order an omelet and fried potatoes pota-toes without a food card and with chocolate on the side seemed in itself a return to liberty. Our minister, Mr. Stovall, gave us a dinner and evening reception so that we could meet all the notables, and we lunched with the French ambassador ambas-sador (for France maintains an embassy em-bassy in Switzerland) and dined with the British minister, Sir Horace Rum-bold, Rum-bold, a very able gentleman, who had been chancellor of the British embassy em-bassy n Berlin before the war. As war had not yet been declared between Germany and the Uni ted States, tho correspondents of German Ger-man newspapers wp ylald me. Some seemed to think that in spite of the insulting blow given us by Germany we nevertheless, scared to whi t enoss by the U-hoat ultimatum, would lend all our energies to bring about a German Ger-man peace. I received a letter from one of the editors of a Swiss newspaper published pub-lished in Berne, probably inspired by the German lection there, asking tne if President Wilton, in spite; of the break In relations, would not continue con-tinue his wot k for peace. V e ail know that Swi:z"rlanr3 is a rf p::blb bu t even those of us who have traveler! there. rr.VnVy because be-cause we were on a hoii'iny. g;Lve little lit-tle thought to Die S-wifM political system. sys-tem. Indeed, before- this war we cared little al.O'it ".he covcnricni of any country except our own. The present constitution of Switzerland Switzer-land was adopted in IbiS, and In many 4. particulars Is modeled after that of the Ufcited States. Powers Limited. There are the same three groat federal powers the federal assembly, representing the legislative branch; the federal council, representing tho executive branch, and the federal court, representing the judicial branch. The lower chamber is made up of ' representatives elected directly by the people and the other chamber of members mem-bers elected, as in our senate, two, by each canton or state. Tho bundes-rat, bundes-rat, or federal council, which has all the executive powers, is elected by the federal assembly, and It fs the chairman chair-man of this bouv who Is known as the president of Switzerland. In reality he docs not possess the powers pow-ers of our president, but It Is the bundesat as a whole which exorcises the powers. ' Each member of this council Is minister or hend of some separate department, such as military, mili-tary, justice and police, foreign affairs, af-fairs, posts and rail wo ys, etc. The Swiss cantons have much power, and there is a distinct jealousy by eacn canton of state's rights. It is in Switzerland that wo encounter en-counter two little friends, sponsored by William Jennings Bryan the initiative ini-tiative and referendum means by which tho Swiss people nre given a direct voice In their government. By tho Initiative a certain number of voters may propose new legislation, and when tho requisite number sigii a petition the proposed law must thou be submitted to popular vote. This rule applies both in the separate cantons can-tons and in the republic as a whole. The referendum, moro often used, provides that if the requisito number num-ber of. signers be obtained any law passed by a cantonal levmlatlva body or by tho federal assembly shall bu submitted to the voters. In certain ca ntons the referendum Is obi inn tory and every law Is thus Hirbmltted to the pooule. In practice tho referendum refer-endum has acted as a chuck to advanced ad-vanced legislation. Prussia's Claim on Neuchatel. The Swiss havo reason to fear tho designs of Prussia. As lato as Itf&O Prussia and Swl tzerland wern on tho edge of war. Prior to 1S15 Nnuehatol ncknowlodged the king of Prussia aa its overlord. The congross of Vienna, however, included this territory In (Continued on Following Page.) Acceptance Forecast. AMSTERDAM, March 16. The Associated Asso-ciated Press hears on excellent authority that the Dutch government has accepted the demand of the allied governments relating re-lating tu the use of Dutch ships In the dangui zone. DANISH PEOPLE HATE ILL TBS GERMAN (Continued from Preceding Page.) the Swiss confederation as one of the Swiss cantons. But Prussia, in spite of this formal arrangement, with Its usual disregard of treaties, continued to claim Neuchatel. In 1848 the revolutionary influence resulted In more democratic rule In Neuchatel; but tho Prussian propagandist propa-gandist of that day was at work, and in 18Gfi Count Pourtales's plot wna discovered and several hundred prisoners pris-oners were seized by the Swiss government. gov-ernment. All but a score were released. re-leased. Frederick Willlnm IV of Prussia demanded their Instant pardon par-don and release and ordered the mobilization of his army; but linally, through the Intervention of Napoleon TU, tho affair was settled, the prisoners prison-ers released by way of France and the Prussian king renounced all rights over Neuchatel. Origin of Red Cross. The Kulturkampf of Blsrnarck, his contest against the Roman Catholics, had Its echoes in Switzerland, and it probably was duo also to German influence in-fluence that until 1S6G full freedom was withheld from the Jews. The Red Crons had its origin In Switzerland, and the Oeneva conventions con-ventions have done much to bring about the adoption of better rules of war. The Oeneva cross Is the hndKo of International charity and help. Swlt7.er.1itl always has opened her doors to the politically oppressed. More than ten thousand revolutionists revolution-ists from linden took refugn In Switzerland in ISIS. Austria, in as m reprisal for the alleged actions of Italians In Switzerland In conspiring conspir-ing against Austria, drove thousands of Swiss citizens from that part of Italy occupied by Austria. Also In tho Franco-Prussian war the French Oonotal 1 four halt I and his army of nearly tine hundred thousand 'men sought an acylutn In Switzerland. (Copyright, THIS, by public Podner company. com-pany. Copyright, Canada. i:un, bv Public Ledger company.) (Continued tomorrow.) |