Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - International Position, by Ebbe Hertzberg
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has been proofread at least once.
(diff)
(history)
Denna sida har korrekturlästs minst en gång.
(skillnad)
(historik)
Ministry and government offices,
Courts of justice and
Customs and finances.
Norwegians can therefore no more fill Swedish offices than
Swedes can fill Norwegian. The home markets of the two
countries are separated by customs frontiers, and each country
contracts and is responsible for only her own national debt. Similarly,
each kingdom has her own coat of arms and her own merchant
flag. According to the Norwegian constitution, the naval flag
is to be a «union flag,» and as such it bears the same mark of
union as the Swedish flag. This, moreover, has hitherto usually
been the case also with the merchant flags of the two countries;
but by law of 1898, Norway has decreed that her merchant flag
shall henceforth bear no mark of union.
The matters, which have been the subjects of discussion and
deliberation in the Act of Union, are thus restricted to a small
number of constitutional points, which, apart from the maintenance
of the common monarchy, have reference chiefly to the relations
of the kingdoms with foreign powers.
With regard to the representation of the united kingdoms
abroad, the Act of Union makes no mention whatever as to the
appointment of consuls. Hitherto, however, they have been
appointed jointly for the two countries, this arrangement having
been facilitated by the fact that in the Norwegian Constitution,
consuls are excepted in the prohibition against foreigners being
nominated to Norwegian offices.
To a certain extent the Act of Union affords the cabinets of
the two kingdoms, at their joint-meetings, the opportunity of
discussing, and also the king of deciding in matters, which concern
the two countries. The resolutions connected herewith, however,
have been the subject of diverse views, not only among Norwegian
and Swedish officials, but also among the various political parties
in both countries, especially in Norway. As it is not intended in
the present statement to give any explanation of the several points,
concerning which conflicting opinions prevail in the country itself,
attention will be drawn only to the chief complaint which every
Norwegian has to make against the present arrangement of affairs
in connection with the union. The complaint is that Norway is
entirely without formal and constitutionally organised influence
in the administration of the foreign policy of the two kingdoms.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
