NORWAY 



IHI 



half of 1906 and the first half of 1907 it quickly grew in importance, and it gradually 

 became obvious that it was about to cause a split in the great Liberal majority. 



In October 1907 M. Michelsen (b. 1857) withdrew from public life, his government 

 being reconstructed by M. Lovland (b. 1848), foreign minister of the Michelsen adminis- 

 tration. During the subsequent six months the split in the Liberal majority became 

 more and more obvious, and finally led to a rupture into "Consolidated Left" and 

 "Liberal Left," the former name being, however, practically dropped in 1912. In 

 the spring of 1908 M. Lovland's administration, backed up by the Conservatives and the 

 Liberal Left, was driven to resign by the opposition of the Lefts and the Socialists, who, 

 though not acting in co-operation like the two other parties -a distinction which has 

 been kept up ever since agreed as to stronger " Concession rules " than those em- 

 bodied in a bill submitted by the Lovland government. A new government was sub- 

 sequently formed by the radical leader M. Gunnar Knudsen (b. 1848), whose government 

 will for ever be memorable for the Concession Acts of 1909, chiefly the work of the 

 Minister of Justice, M. Johan Castberg (b. 1862). These laws, concerning (i) water- 

 falls, mines and other real property, and (2) forests, were sharply opposed on the pre- 

 liminary stages by the Conservatives and the Liberal Left, as too strong an encroach- 

 ment upon private property. 



At the general elections of 1909 a new Storthing was returned containing 63 Conser- 

 vatives and Liberal Left, 47 Radicals, n Socialists and 2 Independents, as against 57 

 Radicals, 50 Conservatives and Liberal Left, 10 Socialists and 6 Independents during 

 the latter half of the past session. When the new Storthing met in January 1910 M. 

 Gunnar Knudsen tendered the resignation of the ministry. Wollert Konow (b. 1845), 

 leader of the Liberal Left, then formed a cabinet consisting of Liberal Lefts and Con- 

 servatives, the former party being in a majority within the government, although the 

 latter were in the majority in the Storthing. This caused friction between the two allied 

 parties, which ultimately brought about a crisis resulting in the resignation of M. Konow 

 and some of his Liberal colleagues (Feb. 1912). The government was reconstructed 

 by M. Bratlie (b. 1856), with the Conservatives as the chief element. Among the 

 members of the Konow administration who passed into the Bratlie Cabinet was the 

 Foreign Minister M. J. Irgens (b. 1869), formerly Norwegian minister in London. 

 When M. Bratlie became Premier he had to resign his seat in the Storthing" (mem- 

 bers of the government having no seat in the House by the -mandate of the electors), 

 and was replaced by the vice-deputy member l Mile. Anna Rogstad (b. 1854), who in 

 1911 had been in the Storthing for about a fortnight during the temporary absence of 

 M. Bratlie. The case attracted general notice, as Mile. Rogstad was the first female 

 representative in any independent National Assembly, outside that of Finland, which 

 admitted women in 1907. 



The chief laws passed under the Konow administration were an amendment to the 

 Municipal Act making the municipal suffrage universal for women as well as men, a 

 new Concession act (1911), and a new municipal taxation act (1911). 



Second only in importance to conflicts over the "Concession-case" in recent 

 politics must be mentioned the continuance of the " maal " controversy (see E. B. xix, 

 818), i.e. the effort to create an entirely independent Norwegian literary language based 

 upon the peasant dialect (landsmaal) , descended from the old Norse, in place of the 

 Dano-Norwegian rigsmaal. Generally speaking the rigsmaal and the landsmaal have 

 their respective partisans and opponents in all the political camps. From a party point 

 of view, however, the Conservatives and Liberal Left must be described as the rigsmaal 

 and the Left and the Labour Democrats as the landsmaal party, the Socialists being as 

 a party indifferent to the question. 



At the general elections of 1912 (Oct. 21), out of 61 candidates returned on the first 

 ballots 37 Radicals (Left and Labour Democrats) were returned, 9 Socialists (or Labour 



1 In Norway every member of the Storthing has a "vice-deputy member," elected in 

 the same way and at the same time. This vice-deputy has to sit in place of the actual mem- 

 ber if he is prevented from attending through illness, etc., or is included in the government. 



