Minister of the state for Sweden-Norway???

An index card (one of three images) for the Scandinaven (Daily Edition) newspaper.

To speak of "the minister of state for Sweden-Norway" or Sweden and Norway is even more absurd than would be the phrase: "The secretary of state for Illinois and Wisconsin".

The above is a quote I found in a foreign language newspaper from 1901. I love discovering just this type of 'gold nugget'. The opening line of the editorial mentions the Record-Herald, which refers to the Chicago Record-Herald which was published from 1901-1914. The editor was Frank Brett Noyes. 

What makes this particularly intriguing is that many people ask 'What's the issue in the often perceived animosity between Swedes and Norwegians?'.   There is an interesting Wikipedia article that addresses the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden, which took place on June 5, 1905. 

The piece also provides present day readers a peek into what our ancestors were reading and discussing, during their life time. Below is the full text of the article and a link to source.

THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Source:   Foreign Language Press Survey

Scandinaven (Daily Edition) newspaper, published in Chicago, IL 1866-1941.

Rather Mixed (Editorial in English)

The other day the Record-Herald introduced to its readers "Dr. Carl Herslow, the prospective minister of state for Sweden-Norway". In a biographical sketch of this statesman the Record-Herald says in part:

"Dr. Carl Herslow, who is generally mentioned as the successor of the present Swedish-Norwegian minister of state, Baron von Otten, is a prominent member of the Riksdag. The new army bill is certain to meet with defeat unless the king consents to universal suffrage, and this is the measure advocated by Dr. Herslow. The present administration is sure to resign, whatever the result will be and, as Dr. Herslow has repeatedly been requested to take a seat in the cabinet, everything points to him as the future minister of state for the two countries."

[card #2]
Nothing could be briefer, but brevity is not always the soul of wit. The paragraph contains the following errors:

(1) There is no such thing as a state or nation called "Sweden-Norway".

(2) There is no such thing as a "minister of state for Sweden-Norway".

(3) It follows that Baron von Otter is not "the present Swedish-Norwegian minister of state".

(4) No bill for the adoption of universal suffrage has been passed by the Riksdag, nor even considered. Universal suffrage is not a practical proposition in Sweden. Hence it is pure and unadulterated nonsense to assert that the "present army bill is certain to meet defeat unless the king consents to universal suffrage".

[card #3]
Sweden and Norway are two separate and independent kingdoms which have contracted a "perpetual union" and have a common king. The government of each country is entirely distinct and separate from that of the other. The only branch of government administered in common for both countries is their foreign relations. In their commercial relations they treat each other as foreign countries. Their military and naval establishments are not only administered separately, but are not even uniform as regards tactics, rifles, etc.

To speak of "the minister of state for Sweden-Norway" or Sweden and Norway is even more absurd than would be the phrase: "The secretary of state for Illinois and Wisconsin". Sweden has her minister of state, of course, and Norway, under the present arrangement, has even two such officials.


The correspondents of the American press should study a little history.  

# # # 

To the left is a clipping of how the article appeared in the Record-Herald.

Coincidently, the Minneapolis Journal, published an article on May 23, 1901.

NEED TO STUDY NORWAY

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Blunders Frequently Made in the American Press 

The Minneapolis Journal clipping is to the right.