Scandinavian American. [volume], January 01, 1947, Page 2, Image 2

About Scandinavian American. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1945-1958

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2
Scandinavian American
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Scandinavians W ill Understand
Statesmen and political leaders of the Scandinavian
countries. as well as the people generally. will find it diffi
cult to account for the misgivings with which Americans
received news of the appointment of General George C.
Marshall to be Secretary of State of the United States.
Our press in this country reflects a feeling widely held
among our people. as well as among large sections of
officialdom. that in placing a military figure at the head
of our affairs of state. to direct our relations 'with foreign
nations at a time when those relations were never at a
more critical juncture. is somehow a hazardous departure
from the American tradition.
Such apprehensions are not likely to be widespread in
Scandinavia or elsewhere in Europe. where. until most re
cent times. kings and princes and state‘s ministers were
almost Without exception military leaders of the highest
order. It seemed natural that the military which estab
lished and protected sovereignties should be the best source
of leadership in negotiating and adjusting the relations
of those sovereignties with the rest of the world. And as
often as not. these military statesmen were quite as suc
cessful in maintaining their nations‘ honor and respect in
times of peace as they were. by feats at arms. in giving
their countries position which commanded honor and- re
spect.
Because of this tradition. the Scandinavian countries
are likely to derive no little satisfaction from the feeling
that formulation and conduct of American foreign policy
are now in the strong hands of a brilliant military leader
who. to a great extent. was able to organize victory in the
global war so recently ended. In this development they
will feel a sense of security which could not be afforded
by occupancy of the chair of American Secremy of State
by a leader whose background was the civil life of his
country. Scandinavians are neighbors to European peo
ples who have never been able to respect anything but
force: and nothing could suggest the dfim ratio regm
mere definitely than to have at the head of foreign affairs
in the United States a man who has demonstrated his
ability to apply that "last argument" with devastating
effect to those who would controvert it in an effort to
impose a world dictatorship.
Stenimavian peoples have lived so long on the flank
cf Europe‘s warring forces that. perhaps more than any
(12:3: ,f earzh's per niations. they have reason to desire
a:: {1‘ idea and peaceful world. They have proved their
i: j.'..'.:;.' t: the E‘TLECiEFZES of race by applying them in the
21's: _r’:t-.:::c;-.1 way to thew own neighborly relations.
Think». ;:‘ ref-.52 is to be had only by having peaceably
mine}. nanozzs L2: the world. Strcng enough to IMPCSE
rear»: they Will be gladdened and reassured by knowledge
11:: :e1:-.t.:r.s of one of the strongest of those nations
with the rest of the world are to be directed by a man who
knctvs hi": to make the best use of force if that should
be netessary to world security and the right of smaller
Ravens to work out their destinies in accordance with the
genzus of the: own undisturbed desires.
» U 0 v
PERPLEXING: Scandinavians know better. perhaps.
than most other citizens of the United States the funda
mental democratic conoept of our nation. They know be
cause they have been an integral and active part of its
development. From the first settlement of the Swede in
Delaware. immigrants from the Scandinavian countries.
and their children and their children‘s children. have
worked with great industry to further America’s growth
materially and at the an. tine they have Inc and
Alvaro C. Shoemaker
Walter H. Stillman
By Alvaro Shoemaker
soldiers in the ranks of democracy to develop .and enlarge
the concept of a free people which is embedded in the
Consititution of the United States of America.
It is to be expected. therefore, that Scandinavians, here
and in their native lands. should be not a little perplexed
by situations such as those created by Bilbo in Mississippi
and the presently raging controversy over the governor
ship of Georgia. '
$1.50 Per Year
The Elbo issue arose because the erstwhile Mississippi
senator bitterly fought against granting the essentials of
political freedom and democracy as well as economic jus
tice to a million black citizens of his state. Georgia stands
on the brink of civil war because, by means of a military
coup. a man has taken over the executive branch of gov
ernment on the fantastic claim that as the son of a late
governor-elect who did not receive a majority of the popu
lar vote and who ran on a platform of denial of demo
cratic rights to another million Negroes. he is somehow
entitled to the office of governor. And this perplexity
will not be resolved by protestations from our state de
partment that the people of Poland are not being given
opportunity freely to elect leaders of their choice to head
their nation.
By the standards we would prescribe for the conduct of ‘
Polish suffrage. there has never been a free election in
the American states of the South.
Perhaps we in the United States should take some of
the democratic elixir we prescribe for the struggling peo
ples of Europe which are trying desperately to emerge
from the ravages and ruin of war.
Swedes Employ flying Forts
To Shuffle Food To Europe
STOCKHOLM. Jan, 4 — As the
air liner skims the roofs of model
housing developments and settles
towards the runway. the traveler
to Stockholm may observe. parked
in a far corner of the airfield five
B—l? Flying Forts. Their war
paint has been scraped away and
replaced by the blue and yellow
markings of ABA—the govern
ment owned and operated Swed
ish Air Lines.
Today these messengers of de
struction, their bomb - bay doors
sealed. carry nothmg more dan
gerous than food supplies and
other air freight between points
in Scandinavia.
The Swedes came by the
bombers quite legally. They were
among the scores of Ninth Air
Force planes which. crippled over
German targets and unable to get
back to base. lmded in neutral
Sweden. The thousund . odd crew
members, interned in hotels at
Swedish resorts, by all accounts
had an easy time. But the U. S.
Air Force was short of trained
bomber pilots and navigators. and
so a deal was arranged whereby
the Swedes agreed to release
some 700 men of these categories
— the gunners didn‘t matter so
much.
Title to Flying Fons
In return the United States
turned over to Sweden for a nom
:ne.l price of one donu- apiece the
Line to five Flying Forts. Even
from the standpoint of interne
ticna} rules of warfare it was all
quite “correct“ The Swedes in
formed the Germans of me re
lease of the American internees.
statmg that they wouid credit the
Germans mu: an equal number.
who. when and if interned. could
he released on account.
The Germans were not too
happy about the deal. but. tins
tang the summer of 19“. they
had other worries They could not
afford to do anything to antago
nize the Swedes-who. a? it ms.
were growing more and more pro-
Atly by the minute—Ken the sup-r
ply of Swedish iron ore. arms and
ammunition he cut off.
Even so, the Before plant, the
mam source of war materials. was
Moutofmionhyaficd
dental“ explodon. .
The motion of Sweden as
an aunt's of peace encircled by the
“I": tle-ohm for six long years
m learned my (mm.
The writer mm a say here in
April and In at 1010. pt :M
M the Jam o! 3109'
ti]. ‘I'hb .e nip-n '- 01-1
e path. In for one. clue geek
u «be: m.
Whenever a plane landed or
took off. which was seldom in
those days. a runway was cleared
by rolling back some of the cars
or spools which were then re—
placed in position. The Swedes
had read of how the Germans
landed their troop carriers on
Fomebo and other Norwegian
airports without asking per
mission.
The field itelf v1.1 heavily en
cased in barbed wire and ringed
with ack-ack batteries. To get to
town one threaded through a
series of well - defended road
blocks. The papers published in
structions to householders on
what to do in case a parachutist
landed in the vegetable garden.
Furthermore a blackout was
strictly enforced. all windows be
ivzg properly curtained. even
though in May the northern twi
light merges with the dawn.
wzthout an mterval of darkness.
Swedes Come Through
D e s p i t 9 these preparations.
there were few who really thought
[fie small Swedish army could put
up a serzous fight. against the
Wehrmacht, then in the prime of
; , ; ,
Theta is only one Rainier Beer and it has to be
good—okays unflomy—alwoys dependable——
“my: attire quality that has made it Notionoi'y .
Famous.
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Sm. mo # t. 6. Sick. Pm.
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THE SCANDINAVIAN AMERICAN
its might. Especially since -— as
sundry incidents indicated —— the
Nazi "fifth column" had penetrat
ed the officer corps. Thin-gs never
came to a test. By a mixture of
sagacity, statesmanship. and op
portunism, the Swedes came
through unhurt, save for com.
‘sional twinges of conscience.
The end of the war did not end
the suffering it caused, and today
the Swedes are more bothered by
their conscience even than they
were in wartime. This. far from
being a criticism. is a tribute to
their humaneness. Theirs is the
uneasy feeling of the man who
lives in plenty when his neigh.
hors are in desperate want. With
commendable generosity they are
doing their full share to aid the
destitute and speed recovery.
They havn retained the wartime
rationing of food, partly to build
up stocks for relief shipments, but
also because, as one Swede ex
plained "it would not look well if
food in Sweden were unrationed
when other countries are so
short."
Thig same conscience helps ex
plain why the Riksdag ratified the
Swedish-Soviet Trade Agreement
with hardly a dissenting murmur,
even though Minister of Trade
Myrdai, who sponsored th e
agreement as a sound long - term
investment. predicted it might in
volve a short - term lowering of
living standards.
The key in Swedish foreign
policy in tins anl other matters is
partly Schr-n‘s fear of again be
coming neutral ground- between
rival world blocs. As deeply per
haps as any other small European
country they are interested in the
preservation of the peace. They
want no division between East
and West which would leave them
sitting on a razor edge. They are
anxious fcir the best relations with
all. including t h e i r powerful
Soviet neighbor, and view the
Swedish-Soviet Trade Agreement
as a substantial contribution to
this end,
“I quit my last job because the
boss used such offensive lan
gunge."
"Indeed? What did he say?"
" ‘You're fired! "'
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