The Report of the Special Committee appointed by the Swedish
Parliament to consider relations with Norway has been presented, and seems to be a moderate and reasonable document. The Committee start from the assertion that the Union has been beneficial, but admit the right of Norway to secede, provided that the Norwegian people are previously consulted either by an Election. ad hoc or by Referendum. If the vote goes against her, the Committee think that Sweden ought not to refuse separation ; but it should be on conditions, of which the principal are that no exceptional taxation shall be applied to goods in transit; that the attitude of both Powers towards past treaties with foreign countries shall be strictly defined ; and that no limitation shall be placed on the use of waterways flowing from one country to the other. These are sensible stipulations enough ; but there is a minority opposed to them, and that minority has been appeased by a recommendation for a loan of five and a half millions sterling to lie at the disposal of the Riksdag in the event of con- tingencies connected with the present dispute. As everything is suspended pending the answer to the demand for a Referendum, no allusion is made to the future form of government in Norway. The self-restraint of both peoples is admirable, but there is evidently an undercurrent of feeling that a sharp jar might make dangerous.
