562 
THE A M ERIC AN-SC A N D IN A VIA N R E V IE TV 
Sweden 
€J The first application of the new referendum law was scheduled for 
August 27, when the question of prohibition was to be laid before the 
people. The popular vote will not be decisive; final action will have 
to be taken by the government and Riksdag, but if the sentiment should 
be found to be strong for prohibition, they will no doubt feel bound to 
be guided by it. Agitation for prohibition has been carried on with 
great zeal during the summer. Among the speakers have been several 
emissaries from the United States, and one of these, a clergyman by 
the name of Stark, has attracted unfavorable attention to himself by 
misusing the hospitality of the Swedish churches to hurl invectives at 
those who differed with him—a procedure which did not appear to the 
Swedes to be especially Christian. In many places, however, he was 
refused permission to speak in the State churches, and there is a strong 
feeling among many people that the churches should not be used as 
forums for political agitation by any party. The fight against prohi¬ 
bition has been led by the newly organized National Society for Tem¬ 
perance without prohibition, the moving spirit of which is the well 
known professor of medicine, C. G. Santeson, who has for years been 
a strong apostle for temperance, but who does not believe in the bless¬ 
ings of absolute prohibition. The result of the plebiscite will not be 
known before some time in September. During the spring, work 
was resumed in a number of Swedish industries, and by the middle of 
the summer the situation was so much better that it seemed as though 
the organized aid of the State and the municipalities to the unemployed 
could be wholly discontinued. The number who took advantage of the 
aid had sunk from 65,000 in the winter to 7,200 at the beginning of 
June. Among women there was practically no unemployment, and 
moreover the opportunities for work are always greater during the 
summer. There was a positive dearth of women field workers. The 
two groups of industries that have had the greatest difficulty in getting 
back to normal are the iron industries and the building trades. A con¬ 
tributing cause to the improvement in the situation is the fact that the 
government has placed large orders of material for the transportation 
service, the pilot service, and other public utilities. CJ In a place 
outside of Stockholm known as Smedslatten, where a colony of homes 
for government employees is under construction, there has been un¬ 
earthed a grave supposed to be three thousand years old and contain¬ 
ing some very interesting antiquities, among them a so-called river-mill 
of red sandstone. The articles are being examined by experts. ^ The 
report of the auditors of the Fuel Commission formed during the war 
shows a deficit of 118,000,000 kronor. More than a hundred million 
of this sum is in the department of wood trade. On the other hand the 
war risk insurance office shows a gain of 6,000,000 kronor. 
