

752 



SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 



SWEDEN AND NORWAY, two kingdoms in the 

 north of Europe possessing separate constitu- 

 tions, but united in the person of the sovereign 

 by the act of union promulgated in 1814. The 

 King of both countries is Oscar II, born Jan. 

 21, 1829, who succeeded his brother, Carl XV, 

 Sept. 18, 1872. The common affairs are de- 

 cided upon by a Council of State composed of 

 Swedes and Norwegians. 



SWEDEN. The fundamental laws are the law 

 on the form of government of June 6, 1809, 

 the law on national representation of June 22, 

 1866, the law of succession, enacted Sept. 20, 

 1810, and the law on the liberty of the press 

 of July 16, 1812. The national Parliament or 

 Diet consists of two elective Chambers. The 

 first Chamber has 142 members, who are elect- 

 ed by 25 provincial bodies and the municipali- 

 ties of Stockholm, Goteborg, Malmo. and Norr- 

 koping. The second Chamber consists of 214 

 members, of whom 69 are elected by the towns 

 and 145 by the rural districts by limited suf- 

 frage. The ministry consists of seven mem- 

 bers with portfolios and three with a consulta- 

 tive voice, and is composed as follows: Oscar 

 R. Themptander, Minister of State, appointed 

 May 16, 1884; Count Albert Carl August Lars 

 Ehrensviird, Minister of Foreign Affairs, ap- 

 pointed Sept. 25, 1885; Nils Henrik Vult von 

 Steyern, Minister of Justice; Baron Carl Gus- 

 taf von Otter, Minister of Marine ; Major-Gen- 

 eral Baron G. O. de Peyron, Minister of War, 

 appointed Oct. 4, 1887; Julius Edvard von 

 Krusenstjerna, Minister of the Interior; Baron 

 Claes Gustaf Adolf Tamm, Minister of Finance, 

 appointed Nov. 30, 1886; Carl Gustaf Ham- 

 marskjold, Minister of Education and Ecclesi- 

 astical Affairs; Johan Henrik Lov6n ; Johan 

 C. Emil Richert. 



Area and Population. The area of the kingdom 

 is 450.574 square kilometres. The population 

 on Dec. 31, 1886, was computed at 4,717,189 

 persons, of whom 2,290,340 were males and 

 2,426,849 females. The number of marriages 

 in 1885 was 30,911; births, 141,316; deaths, 

 86,789 ; excess of births, 54.527. The number 

 of emigrants in 1885 was 23,493, against 23,- 

 560 in 1884, 31,605 in 1883, 50,178 in 1882, 

 and 45,992 in 1881. The population of the 

 chief cities in 1886 was as follows: Stockholm, 

 223,063; Goteborg, 92,805; Malmo, 45,346; 

 Norrkoping, 28,993. 



Finances. The budget for 1888 makes the 

 total ordinary receipts 18,954,000 kronor, the 

 surplus from previous budgets 8,493,000 kro- 

 nor, extraordinary receipts, comprising the re- 

 ceipts from customs, the post-office, stamps, 

 spirit-tax, sugar-tax, and income-tax, 55,700,- 

 000 kronor, the surplus from the postal re- 

 ceipts 300,000 kronor, and the net receipts 

 from the Bank of Sweden 1,250,000 kronor, 

 giving a total sum of 84,697,000 kronor. 

 The total expenditures are estimated at the 

 same figure, the chief items being 19,685,500 

 kronor for the army, 11,129,994 kronor for 

 public instruction, 14,412,600 kronor for finan- 



cial administration, and 10,820,700 for the pub- 

 lic debt. The debt on Jan. 1, 1887, amounted 

 to 245,808,228 kronor. 



The Army. The Swedish military system is 

 an antiquated one that was established by 

 Charles XI. The soldiers are supported by 

 the land-owners, who furnish them with cot- 

 tages and allotments of land. There are also 

 enlisted troops, constituting the guards, the 

 engineers, and the artillery, and the German 

 conscription system has been introduced to 

 some extent. A thorough military reorgani- 

 zation, substituting modern conscription for 

 the old and ineffective militia system, has been 

 under discussion for twenty years. In 1885 a 

 further step was taken in this direction, the 

 land-owners obtaining a remission of 30 per 

 cent, of their military taxes. The burden resting 

 on the farming class in consequence of the in- 

 delta or distributive military system was reck- 

 oned at 10,000,000 kronor per annum, but of 

 this 3,000,000 kronor were removed by the mili- 

 tary law of 1885, which made the annual periods 

 of drill considerably longer. The Agrarian party 

 is strongly opposed to reorganization on the 

 plan of universal obligatory service unless the 

 farmers are entirely relieved of their excep- 

 tional military taxes. The enrolled troops in 

 1887 numbered 9,874 and the indelta or can- 

 toned troops 27,193. exclusive of officers. The 

 total strength of the Swedish army was re- 

 ported as 174,440, consisting of 40,146 troops 

 of the line and 134,294 conscription troops. 



The Navy. The navy, as well as the army, 

 has hitherto been organized largely on the in- 

 delta system. In 1S87 the Diet agreed to the 

 total abolition of the indelta in the navy, 

 which pressed severely upon the land-owners 

 on the coast, and furnished 7,000 badly-trained 

 sailors, who by no means supplied the actual 

 need of from 4,000 to 6,000 capable men. The 

 navy will henceforth be manned by 1,100 

 men who remain permanently in the service, 

 and 2,900 who are enlisted for eight years, and 

 are required to serve three years and five 

 months under the flag. The effective strength 

 of the crews under the new organization is 

 2,550 men in summer and 2,187 in winter, 

 while in case of war 1,450 trained furloughed 

 men can be called out to increase the person- 

 nel to 4,000. The Minister of Marine in 1876 

 asked for a credit of 55,000,000 kronor, to be 

 expended in twelve years in the creation of an 

 iron-clad fleet. The proposition was rejected, 

 and he has since sought to build up a navy 

 with whatever means the Diet would grant 

 from time to time. In 1887 the lower Cham- 

 ber refused to vote 3,000,000 kronor for an 

 iron-clad, yet in the upper Chamber the bill 

 passed with a majority sufficient to carry it 

 through in joint session. 



The navy in 1887 contained 1 small turret- 

 ship, 4 monitors, 10 iron-clad gun-boats, 17 

 torpedo-boats, and 31 unarmored steamers. 



Commerce. The total value of the imports in 

 1885 was 340,003,000 kronor, equivalent to 



