THE AMERICAN-SCANDIN AVIAN REVIEW 
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Norway 
^By the death of the veteran statesman Jorgen Lovland Norway has 
lost one of her greatest sons, a politician of exceptional ability and un¬ 
blemished character. The son of a poor farmer, Lovland was not able 
to obtain a university education, but his thirst for knowledge was in¬ 
satiable, and by patient self-education he became one of the most 
learned men in Norway, mastering three foreign languages and know¬ 
ing perhaps more of modern history than even some professional his¬ 
torians. Having entered the Storting about 40 years ago as member 
for Ivristianssand, he soon came to the front as one of the most influen¬ 
tial politicians of the Left party, and he took a leading part in the 
independence movement which resulted in the separation of Norway 
and Sweden in 1905. Lovland was the first foreign minister of inde¬ 
pendent Norway. As president of the Norwegian Nobel Committee 
he had a European reputation. He was a great friend of the United 
States and he showed his appreciation of America’s work for peace 
by bestowing the Nobel Peace Prize on Theodore Roosevelt, Elihu 
Root, and Woodrow Wilson. €J The long struggle raging round the 
plans for the restoration of the Trondhjem Cathedral has at last been 
settled. The international expert commission appointed by the Nor¬ 
wegian Government to examine the question—including two French¬ 
men, two Englishmen, and a Belgian—have issued a unanimous report, 
rej ecting the so-called geometrical system proposed by Macody Lund 
and recommending that the restoration be completed according to the 
plans of the great Norwegian architect, Professor Nordhagen. C| For¬ 
eign Minister Johan Mowinckel made a remarkable speech on Septem¬ 
ber 13. He admitted that the prohibition of heavy wines containing 
more than 14 percent alcohol had been a failure, and he advocated 
that the prohibition law should be repealed as far as wine is concerned, 
while being retained with regard to spirits. CJ An “International In¬ 
stitute for the Comparative Study of Culture” will shortly be estab¬ 
lished at Kristiania, the Storting and the City Council of the capital 
having each granted one million kroner for this purpose. The new 
institute will devote itself to the comparative study of languages, re¬ 
ligion, law, folk-lore, etc. An American journalist, Mr. A. H. Hen¬ 
derson, recently made the ridiculous statement that 50 percent of the 
Norwegian university professors are Germans. As a matter of fact, 
there are at present only two professors of German nationality at Kris¬ 
tiania University, both of them scientists of the highest standing, who 
have never made any attempt at political propaganda. ^ The in¬ 
fluence of German science in Norwegian university circles is no doubt 
on the decline, while interest in French, English, and American thought 
is steadily increasing. The French Government has wisely supported 
this movement with a generous gift of books to the University Library. 
