King Haakon Stands Firm King Haakon of Norway has given
a dignified and con- vincing reply to those members of the Norwegian Storting who, acting under pressure from Germany, have appealed to him to " renounce his constitutional duties "—in other words, to abdicate. These leaders propose to summon the Storting— or, rather, such of its members as are still in the country, or willing to assemble under the aegis of Germany—and invite it to appoint a State Council to take over the powers of the King and the Nygaardsvold Government. In rejecting a re- quest which is clearly put to him under duress the King has considered only the interests of his country and its constitu- tional rights. On the last occasion when the Storting met as a free institution it empowered his government to operate from any place where this could be done best in the interests of the nation. The King fully recognises the rights of the real Stort- ing, but not of a Storting deprived by a foreign Power of a number of its members and of its constitutional liberty. In a Norway under German occupation and with a foreign policy directed from Berlin a free Norwegian Government could not exist within the country. Outside, the King and his constitu- tionally appointed Government are still capable of watching the real interests of Norway, and of influencing events to her advan- tage. They are Norwegian. The proposed State Council will be the tool of Germany.
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