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THE A MERIC AN-SC AN DIN A VI AN REVIEW 
Norway 
<| The debate in the Storting on the speech from the throne lasted 
five days, from March 6 to March 10. No resolution expressing lack 
of confidence was presented, all party leaders declaring that they did 
not desire a change of government at the present moment. Even the 
Communists, rather than run the risk of a Conservative cabinet being 
formed, are prepared to support the present Radical ministrv, Cfl An 
important government measure now before the Storting is the bill pro¬ 
posing to make compulsory arbitration in labor disputes a permanent 
institution. The National Federation of Labor Unions, which is com¬ 
munistic in its tendency, has declared in favor of the law, though 
regarding it as a more or less temporary expedient in the war upon 
the capitalistic class. This is a concession, inasmuch as the labor inter¬ 
ests have formerly opposed the law just as much as have the employers. 
C| The government has submitted to the Storting a proposal for open¬ 
ing negotiations with Finland regarding the frontier question in the 
far north. The point at issue is the border of the Pasvik river which 
runs in part through Finnish, in part through Norwegian, territory. 
Both nations desire the right to fish in the river as well as to use it for 
transportation of timber. Its greatest importance, however, lies in 
the waterfalls which are capable of being regulated to produce hydrau¬ 
lic power to the amount of 100,000 horsepower. The quaint old Rus¬ 
sian cloister Boris Gleb lies on a point west of the river where it juts 
into Norwegian territory, thus shutting the Norwegians off from both 
banks of the river for a short distance. €J The Storting has voted a 
tax on chocolate and sweets amounting to from 10 to 33 ^ percent. 
Only powdered cocoa is exempt. The tax, which went into effect 
March 6, is expected to yield 12,000,000 annually. A great deal of choc¬ 
olate is eaten in Norway, not least on outdoor expeditions, where it 
serves as an easily portable light lunch. The tax is naturally very unpop¬ 
ular, and has met with strong protests, not only from the manufacturers, 
but from the general public. An agreement has been concluded 
between the Norwegian government and the Russian Commercial 
Delegation regarding the sale of 400,000 barrels of herring and 20,- 
000,000 kilogram salted fish. The price is 16,500,000 kroner, 34 per¬ 
cent being paid immediately, the rest in installments before July 1, 
1924. €[ The librarian of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, Mr. Selmer 
Andersen, has been appointed chief librarian of the International 
Labor office at Geneva. Mr. Andersen was secretary of the Nor¬ 
wegian Legation at Washington from 1918 to 1920. <1 Bishop 
Jens Tandberg died in Christiania March 21. He was the son of 
Bishop Jens Frolich Tandberg of Christianssand and was born May 
13, 1852. He took his theological degree in 1875. At the death of 
Bishop Bang, he was chosen Bishop of Christiania. 
