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Page 3
* * * * *
There is a good deal being said about King Oscar of Sweden and Norway
being chosen as the umpire, in case the members of the Arbitration
Committee are unable to agree.
Many people are saying that King Oscar would not make a fair umpire, and
that he would lean to the side of England in every matter that came up.
A treaty was made in Stockholm, in 1855, between Sweden and Norway, and
France and England, which they say binds King Oscar to agree with England.
This treaty said that the King of Sweden agreed not to sell to Russia, or
allow her to use, any portion of his kingdom; and that if Russia made any
offers for land, the King of Sweden was to tell England and France at
once.
England and France, in return for this, promised to help Sweden with men
and ships in case of any trouble with Russia.
This treaty is not binding any longer. France has put it aside, and has
made friends with Russia on her own account. It would not be possible for
her to keep to her agreement if she wished to.
The old agreement being broken, England and Sweden will have to make a new
one, to bind them together again.
Nothing has been heard of such a treaty, so it is to be supposed that none
exists.
In this case, there is no reason why Oscar of Sweden should not be the
umpire chosen.
It would, of course, be more agreeable to us if the umpire were not a
European ruler. England would be sure to object to an American umpire, and
neither Asia nor Africa could give us a person capable of filling the
office, so it looks very much as though the only person to be found, who
understands diplomacy well enough to be of use, would be a European
sovereign.
If the umpire must be such a person, King Oscar of Sweden is the most
desirable of them all.
He is, besides, almost the only European ruler who is free to accept the
office.
The royal families of Germany, Russia, Denmark, and Greece are all related
to England, and therefore could not be chosen. Austria and Italy are too
hemmed in by other countries, and too much bound by treaties, to be free
to give any decision that might offend Europe.
Sweden and Norway are cut off from the rest of Europe by the Baltic Sea,
and for this reason have not needed to burden themselves with as many ties
as the other powers of the Continent.
King Oscar is moreover a quiet, sensible man, who would be likely to help
the Committee to arrive at wise and just conclusions.
There is another advantage in choosing King Oscar. The royal family of
Sweden is only eighty years old, and has not those centuries of traditions
behind it, which make other royal houses so difficult to deal with.
Oscar II., the present King, is the grandson of the famous French Marshal,
Bernadotte, for whom Napoleon secured the throne of Sweden and Norway.
He is a man who loves learning, and encourages clever people, and is very
simple in his ways.
His eldest son, Prince Oscar, wished to marry one of the ladies of his
mother's household, Lady Ebba Munck, but she was not a person of
sufficient rank to marry the heir to a throne.
A prince, you know, cannot marry any one he chooses. There are very strict
laws about this, and the marriage of a prince is not considered a marriage
at all, unless his wife is of royal blood.
King Oscar told his son that the marriage was impossible, but when Prince
Oscar said he would rather give up his right to the throne than the lady
he loved, King Oscar permitted him to do so, and made a special decree,
allowing the marriage of his son with Lady Ebba.
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