Norwegian Life / An Account of Past and Contemporary Conditions and Progress in Norway and Sweden

by Unknown

For administrative purposes, Norway is divided into twenty districts, viz.: The cities of Christiania and Bergen and eighteen "Amts" or provinces, which coinside with the diocese of the church, and there is a very close relation between the ecclesiastical and the civil authorities. The chief magistrate in each of the counties, nominated by the king, is known as an "Amtmand." His duties are similar to those of the French prefects, although the theory of home-rule and self-government is carried into each county and each municipality and parish, where every magistrate is responsible to a council elected by the people from among their own number. They make the laws for the magistrate to administer. There are few countries in which the theory of self-government is carried to such an extent as in Norway. The sovereignty of the people is absolute and their rights are jealously guarded. Norway is divided into ecclesiastical parishes, which are the voting districts, as in England, and are governed in a similar way.

The Norwegian constitution of 1814, based upon the principle of popular self-government, declared these municipalities completely independent in the management of their own affairs, placing the administrative authority, with the power of taxation and the disbursement of revenues in the hands of the taxpayers and householders, so that they could not be coerced by the national government, if there ever was any disposition in that direction.

This authority is exercised through a council called a "bystyre," composed of from twelve to forty-eight members, according to the population of the parish, who are elected for terms of three years, and serve gratuitously. The council elects from its own number a chairman who is the head of the whole municipal organization, and is known as an ordförer. He corresponds to the German burgomaster and the mayor of the American city.

In addition to the popular council there is a magistrate representing the royal government, who, with the consent of the council, may be admitted to their deliberations, but is not allowed to vote. He is also ex-officio a member and often chairman of the municipal departments or commissions, such as the board of public works, the school board, the harbor commission. In this way he becomes a connecting link between the national authority at Christiania and the municipal councils throughout the kingdom, because certain measures of local interest are subject to restrictions by the national parliament, particularly those involving finances.

Under the direction of the council are permanent executive departments similar to those found in the United States, pertaining to public highways, the public buildings, the public health, the relief of the poor, the fire department, police department, etc. These in every case are managed by permanent officials under the supervision of committees of the council. Every year a budget is made up of the income and expenditures expected; each department being permitted to submit its own estimates, which are approved or amended by the council, and the amount is raised by taxation of houses, lands, personal property, and incomes, with fees for licenses to transact business. The entire system of local taxation is similar to our own, and the methods of assessment are the same. In order to meet the expense of unusual undertakings for the benefit of the municipality, such as waterworks, tramways, docks, etc., funds are raised in the usual manner by the issue of interest bearing bonds, which are usually in small denominations in order to permit people of limited means to invest in them. They are redeemed, as a rule, in forty annual instalments, the bonds to be canceled being selected by lot. In this system of local government women now participate upon an equal basis with men.

With the exception of the British parliament, the Swedish riksdag is the oldest legislative body in the world. The kingdom of Sweden has maintained its integrity for not less than four thousand years. So far back as the anthropologists can trace the history of Swedish people, the boundaries of their land have remained the same. The Duchy of Finland was subject to Swedish sovereignty at one time, and at different times Sweden has been united with Norway and Denmark under the same ruler, but Sweden has been Sweden ever since human beings inhabited its territory, and it is the only nation in Europe that has never been conquered or had its boundaries changed by foreign powers. Since the beginning of history, home rule has prevailed among the people and has been defended and recognized as their right. The parishes have always controlled their own affairs, and since the Reformation their government has been in the hands of a board or council elected by the people, of which the pastor of the church is chairman. Everybody who pays taxes, men and women alike, may vote at the election of the council. The burgomaster serves for life, and is usually required to abstain from all other business except that which pertains to the public weal. The parishes are consolidated into twenty-four provinces, similar to our states, each having a certain independence and government of its own, although the governor-general, who also serves for life on good behavior, is appointed by the king. The city of Stockholm is an independent jurisdiction like the District of Columbia, with a governor appointed by the king. The riksdag was formerly composed of four distinct bodies,—nobles, clergymen, burghers, peasants,—representing the different classes of the community, and all laws required their approval. In 1866, however, this clumsy arrangement was abolished and the national legislature was consolidated into two bodies known as the first and second chamber, similar to our Senate and House of Representatives. The two chambers are equal in every respect, except that the second chamber, or lower house, has the advantage of numbers when a deadlock arises and the question in dispute is decided by a joint ballot. Then, unless there should be an overwhelming difference of opinion, the second chamber usually has its will, which is perfectly right, because it represents the people. The king must approve all legislation to make it effective, and his veto is final, except in matters concerning taxation and the expenditure of public money. The diet has the sole power to levy taxes and make appropriations with or without his consent.

The first chamber, which corresponds to our Senate, is composed of one hundred and fifty members, elected for terms of nine years by the provincial councils and by the city councils in towns of more than 25,000 inhabitants. As the councils are elected by the taxpayers, both men and women, the members of the first chamber may be regarded as the representatives of the property-owning portion of the community. To be eligible to the first chamber a candidate must be thirty-five years old, own property assessed at $21,000, or pay taxes upon an income of not less than $1,100. Rank does not count. The qualification is pecuniary entirely, and so evenly is property distributed in Sweden that only ten thousand people in the entire kingdom are eligible to the first chamber of the diet.

The members of the second chamber, two hundred and thirty in number, are elected for three years, of whom eighty are elected by the towns and one hundred and fifty by the rural districts. Each must have property worth $270, or have leased $1,600 worth of land for five years, or pay taxes on an income of $214. These are also the qualifications for voting for members of the parliament.

There is very little of politics in Sweden. There are three parties, known as the conservatives, the liberals, and the socialists. The conservative party is comprised of the aristocracy, the church, the agricultural classes and people of conservative sentiment generally. The liberal party is composed of progressive elements, the theorists, the artisans, the machinists, and the thinking men among the laboring element, who advocate a reduction of the tariff on imported merchandise and free trade so far as possible; a separation of church and state on the theory that no man should be taxed to support a religious faith that he does not believe in; a reduction in the army and navy and other official expenses; the modification of the election laws as above stated; rotation in office, so that all shall have a chance, and they oppose the general tendency to centralization in the government.

The socialists go a little farther. They are not so radical as those who go by the same name in Germany, France, and other European countries. They are very moderate in their views. They favor most of the planks in the liberal platform, and, in addition, advocate the adoption of socialistic reforms, the loaning of public money without interest to the poor, public pensions to the helpless, sweeping reforms in the labor laws, and the purchase and maintenance by the state of all public enterprises that affect public welfare, such as the street-car lines, the insurance companies, the banks, etc. The peasants in the country are protectionists and belong to the conservative party. The mechanics in the cities are generally socialists. Politics, however, is not very exciting. The tariff, labor questions, and other propositions are always discussed, and of late years the most interesting issues have been the appropriation of money for national defense, the increase of the term of military service from ninety to three hundred and sixty days for every citizen, the modification of the electoral law, and the regulations of the forests.