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Show SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT HAP-PENINGS HAP-PENINGS IN FAR OFF NORTHLAND. ITEMS FROM THE OLD HOME Resume of the Most Important Events in Sweden, Norway and Denmark Of Interest to the Scandinavians in America. FINLAND. The social democrats in the Finnish landtdag and senate are working on reforms intended to ameliorate the con-(lilion con-(lilion of the Jews in Finland. Their condition has been deplorable ever since (he good old days, when Finland belonged to Sweden. The Swedish laws were "good because the Swedes were always kind to the Jews, but after the Russian domination of Finland the Jews lost their citizenship and until the present revolution were able to live only six months consecutively in one Finnish town. Then they had to move on and were obliged to ask the governor govern-or where they should go. If the governor gov-ernor refused to grant them permission the Jews were obliged to leave the country. The Finnish reforms in hand include measures to make the senate responsible to the landtdag, where formerly for-merly the senate was responsible only to the Russian emperor. It also is proposed to separate the supreme judicial ju-dicial power from the senate and establish es-tablish an absolutely independent supreme su-preme court, thus removing the uncertainty uncer-tainty long felt in Finland as to the purity of justice. Whenever a senate member Is accused of malfeasance he is to be brought before a tribunal comprising com-prising 12 members of the landtdag. The new measures also propose the granting to the landtdag of the right if real interpellations, which the government gov-ernment must- answer. Since 1907 the government has never answered one if the many interpellations that have been made. The hastening of the complete com-plete prohibition of the liquor traffic is in prospect. Despite these salutary measures the Helsingfors Huvudstads-bladet Huvudstads-bladet bitterly arraigns the social democrats, dem-ocrats, saying the discontent with them is rising because they are enlisting rowdies as police and calling the Russian Rus-sian soldiers to act against the Finnish citizens. It says the social democrats have no respect for private rights and says they are as bad as any time, concluding con-cluding ominously : "Those things will be put in the storehouse of the members." ' In addition to its tragedy, the situation situa-tion in the Finnish town of Abo, popu-'ation popu-'ation 50,000, where the strikers have seized control, is developing comic opera features. The town council had a meeting to consider the situation, but there was no quorum, whereupon the strikers elected 50 new councilors from their own ranks, whom the- old councilors refused to recognize. The strikers then locked the old councilors in the city hall under the guard of 50 cossacks, saying, "Now stay there until un-til you can think out a plan for co-operating with us." The electric light 'service has been restored with the consent con-sent of the strikers because the soldiers sol-diers wanted to give a ball. Butter, milk and eggs are unobtainable. Ten Swedish ships which sought to unload their cargoes at Abo were sent north by soldiers to Raumo, where there is less disturbance. Abo normally is the most used Finnish harbor. Many factories slopped work at I i p. m. and Ihe employees marched tr the riksdag. They found Ihe approaches ap-proaches to (lie building ami the royaf palace guarded by police' and soldiers. The crowd was noisy and threatening and Iried to overturn a street car. The mounted police charged and drove (he crowd back, while M. P.ranl ing emerged from the riksdag ami vainly attempted to persuade the demonstrators to leave. There was much bollle. ami j stone throwing, but the mob finally ! melted away. The police said most of the rioters were youths, toiled State I Minister Ira X. Morris was obliged to llee to avoid being involved in the melee. The socialists of the left wins decided after the riot was quelled li demand a general strike throughout Sweden, but the men who went out Tuesday from the large factories are reported to have resumed work. Sweden's merchant fleet lost, either through war or by accident, in the first three months of this year, 13 steamers' with a total tonnage of. ,-9."2 ,-9."2 ; two motor-driven vessels wiih a total of 2.02.'! tons, and six sailing vessels ves-sels aggregating 1,153 tons. Ineliulins three steamers lost by decision of prize courts, and other vessels withdrawn with-drawn from service." (he whole fleet has been reduced by 42 units. The excess ex-cess of tonnage lost over newly built or purchased tonnage amounts to 15,-429 15,-429 tons. Many sailors, seeing no outlook out-look for work under present conditions, condi-tions, have temporarily given up the. sea and taken positions inland, many of them going to farms. NORWAY. The burning of the nickel factory at Kristiansand took place under circumstances circum-stances which were interesting, to say the latest. The Christiania, TidensTegn had one of its contributors ask the director di-rector of the factory if there was noway of "getting the country out of the tragical position of having Norwegian seamen killed by means of Norwegian nickel." The Tidens Tegn next explained ex-plained that the nickel factory had made a contract to sell the entire production pro-duction to Germany for a number of years, but that the government could of course prohibit the' exportation of nickel to Germany, where the nickel was used in the manufacture of torpedoes. torpe-does. The paper added that it did not make much difference either way as to the manufacture of torpedoes, but even the smallest contribution by Norway was humiliating to the Norwegian people peo-ple and an outrage to their best feelings. feel-ings. The next day the wires told that the factory had been burnt down. Polite burglars. A log cabin in the woods near Mosjo, Ringerike, had plainly been visited by burglars. The door lock had been broken, and on the table was a paper with the following information: "We came here on a dark evening and were unable to proceed, pro-ceed, so we had to break in. Hope that the accompanying $1."5 will reach the proper parties as (banks for the use. Beg your pardon. Three gentlemen." gentle-men." The owners of the hut announced an-nounced that they too wished to thanir the burglars for their fine conduct. If all burglars acted this way the reputation repu-tation of their trade would no doubt pass through a wonderful metamor phosis. Hundreds of thousands of Norwegians Norwe-gians throughout the nation took part In peaceful demonstrations June 6 demanding de-manding governmental restriction on food prices and continuance of Norway's Nor-way's neutrality. There were 50,00ft panniers in Christiania alone. A deputation dep-utation of the demonstrators was received re-ceived by the president of the storthing. SWEDEN. Hjnlmar Branting, the socialist :eacler, asked in the riksdag June 5 whether the government was prepared o proceed with revision of the constitution, consti-tution, abolishing the graded franchise in municipalities and giving women the riksdag franchise. M. Wennerstroem, socialist, inquired whether the government govern-ment would enforce payment -of higher wages for laborers, a shorter work day and "a political reorganization, including includ-ing thorough constitutional reforms by which the people's demand for democratic demo-cratic reforms shall be granted as soon as possible." The answer of Premier Swartz to all the questions was a qualified qual-ified negative. The present political situation, he said, demanded that the ministry give its chief attention to foreign for-eign relations so that importations of foodstuffs and raw material should be assured. The cabinet hoped Internal questions could await solution after the crisis. The question of abolishing property qualifications and other restrictions re-strictions of the municipal franchise, the premier continued, deeply affected communal rights and taxation, and had been rejected by the present session. The premier further pointed out that a new election of members of the second sec-ond chamber would be held shortly, giving the people an opportunity to register its will. For days the left so-sialists so-sialists had been urging the workers to quit and demonstrate before the riksdag building when the above was taking place inside. A new forestry school has been dedicated in Stockholm. The king, the crown prince and many other prominent men attended the ceremonies. ceremo-nies. The school Is located on the shore of North Brunnviken, where there were a number of monumentul buildings before. Engineer H. Itustige has Invented a method of treating spirit of sulphite In such a manner that it may be used instead of benzine for running automobiles. automo-biles. It Is not necessary to change the motor. The 7,500-ton steel ship, Storvlken. built by (he Seattle Construction and Dry Dock company for the Haakon Wallen company of Bergen, Norway, was launched at Seattle recently. Tho Storviken's keel was laid last February. Febru-ary. DENMARK. Denmark is In a difficult position as regards fuel, said Minister of Interior Rode, in a speech on the fuel situation, in which he pointed to the necessity of economy in consumption, and said that steps in that direction had been taken. Hope for relief from American sources was expressed by the minister. Only a few years ago tho people of Grindsted would have laughed if anybody any-body bad talked about the value of real estate by the square foot. Now the railroad has changed all that, and In Ihe center of Ihe village ground has actually been sold at Ihe rate of 61 cents a square foot. A practical joke was played on a German sen captain at Aarhus. lie was permitted by the customhouse officials of-ficials to take 2()0 pounds of potato with him. But when be left (he place he tried to carry away 150 pounds extra. ex-tra. The officials were on (he lookout, however, and the potatoes were slopped as they reached (he ship. The captain not only lost the potatoes but also had (o pay a tine of $50. The discovery of lignite coal at llernlng resulted in a great boom for the place. Everybody talks lignite. Everybody wants to buy lignite land. A widow holding a parcel of grooni for which she had paid $5,000 warn offered $:S0,000, but she resolutely asked !8O,0(0. The quality of the coal Is good, there Is no doubt on that score. But as to the amount of It? Well, as a matter of fact it Is dug out of tha ground so fast that the transporfatlom facilities from (he place are practically Bwamped. |