Golden Age, February 28, 1934
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Golden Age
A JOURNAL OF FACT HOPE AND COURAGE
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in this issue
SHALL
RADIO CENSORS
RULE?
BILL TO AMEND RADIO ACT
NORWAY
NOTES ON NEWS
OBEDIENCE SWEETENS
FRIENDSHIPS OF GOD
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every other WEDNESDAY five cents a copy one dollar a year Canada & Foreign 1.25
Vol. XV - No. 377 February 28, 1934
• • o<e) • 1 —- '■ " • • •
CONTENTS
• >" I ....... I ~ ■■ *• *
LABOR AND ECONOMICS
Filching from Pay Envelopes . 335
Civil Service Raises Age Limit . 338
This Depression.......344
SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL
Shall Radio Censors Rule ? . . 323
To Safeguard Broadcasting ; . 328
Official Stupidity in Baltimore . 338
Too Busy to Live......341
World- Is Not So Crowded . . . 341
Answers of School Children . . 342
Larkman Should Have the Money 346
FINANCE—COMMERCE—TRANSPORTATION
L. & N. Asks for 2c Fare . . . 343
Ability of Dillon, Read & Co. . . 343
Power Trust and San Francisco . 343
Problem One of Destination . . 347
What a Receiver Is For .... 348
POLITICAL—DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN
Where Nebraska Money Goes . . 345 Why American Municipal Govern
ments Are What They Are . . 346
Obiter Dictum.......346
A Few Profitable Investments . . 346
London “Bobbies” vs. American
Police.........347
Senator Long Is Pessimistic . . 348
155,222.21 Reasons for Gratitude . 348
No More Winter Eviction in N. Dak. 348
AGRICULTURE and husbandry
Vivisection Useless and Barbaric . 339
An Embarrassing Question . . . 339
Beaufort’s Scale Ashore . . . 345
Down on the Farm.....345
Majesty of Law in Evansville . . 348
SCIENCE AND INVENTION
Back to the Rain Barrel . . . 339
HOME AND HEALTH
Food Recipes
A Prescription That Worked . . 340
What Columbus People Drink . . 340
What an Apple Does
TRAVEL AND MISCELLANY
Norway—Land of Midnight Sun 329
Effect of World War on Chinese . 336
Boyhood in Denmark
Growth of Winnipeg
Russia’s “Voluntary Settlers” . 347
Conditions in West Australia . . 347
Russia Not a Paradise—Yet . . 348
The Self-satisfied Evangelist . . 336
RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY
What Is the Cross?
“Out of the Mouth of Babes” . .
Christian’s Dialogue with Jew .
Sees It Coming
Working on Sunday!
Obedience Sweetens Friendships of God
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crhe Golden Age
Volume XV Brooklyn, N. Y., Wednesday, February 28, 1934 Number 377
Shall Radio Censors Rule?
MILLIONS of listeners in the United States, long accustomed to hearing the refreshing truths of the Word of the true God, JEHOVAH, when they tuned in the familiar voice of Judge Rutherford, have been wrongfully deprived of that pleasure in recent months by the action of entrenched selfish interests.
Millions of these listeners have registered their vigorous protest because of such wrongful interference with their Constitutional rights as American citizens, and have petitioned their representatives in the Congress at Washington to act in the public interest.
Many of the disappointed ones have often asked, What is the responsibility of the Congressional agency, namely, the Federal Radio Commission, with respect to the regulation of broadcasting to enable the people to hear what they desire and need to hear?
A similar question occurred to Congressman Sinclair, of North Dakota, when he received the “Protest and Petition” signed by many of his constituents. Immediately he wrote to the Radio Commission. Promptly the Commission’s chairman replied. That reply was sent by the congressman to the Washington Watch Tower representative. When that reply was brought to the attention of Judge Rutherford, he wrote to the chairman of the Commission.
Are you interested in the immeasurable value of the radio as an agency of public service for the public welfare? Is your interest large enough to move you to take time to weigh the title question of this article in the light of reasons expressed by three men who bear a responsibility to serve the people?
Their expressions are here reproduced, in the following correspondence.
Congressman Sinclair’s Letter
CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Washington, D. C.
January 27,1934.
Mr. Anton Koerber,
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 117 Adams Street, Brooklyn, New York.
Dear Sir:
Yours of the 25th is at hand, but inasmuch as no Washington address is attached thereto, I am replying to your New York office.
A large number of petitions relative to the broadcasting of Judge Rutherford was recently delivered to my office. Inasmuch as these petitions were the first information I had directing my attention to the situation about which complaint is made, I took the matter up with the Radio Commission and am enclosing a communication received from the Chairman. Since receipt of his letter I have made inquiry of the Chairman of the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, which is in charge of radio legislation, as to any bills pending before the Committee seeking to remove grounds for complaint. I was told that there is no measure before the Committee as yet. I am not a member of that Committee, but you may be assured that any legislation reported by it and coming before the House will have my careful consideration.
Because of the heavy demands on my time during the session, and my very limited clerical force, it will be appreciated if you will convey the above information to those of my constitutents who were kind enough to give me the benefits of their views through their signatures on the petitions. It is my desire and intention to serve them at all times to the best of my ability.
Thanking you for your cooperation, I am
Yours very truly,
J. H. Sinclair.
Radio Commission’s Chairman Wrote
FEDERAL RADIO COMMISSION Washington, D. C.
January 24, 1934.
Hon. J. H. Sinclair,
House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.
My dear Congressman Sinclair t
Permit me to acknowledge receipt of your favor of the 23rd instant, enclosing petition and protest, relating to the refusal of certain stations to broadcast the speeches of Judge Rutherford of the International Bible Students Association.
The Commission, during this year, has received a number of letters protesting against these broadcasts because of their critical nature of all religions and all teachings of the Bible save that of Judge Rutherford and his institute. These broadcasts consist of both original speeches and electrical transcriptions of speeches of Judge Rutherford.
I have no doubt that a number of stations who aro carrying these programs received letters of protest from listeners and I have been told that certain stations, because of these protests, declined to continue to broadcast the Rutherford programs.
Under Section 29 of the Radio Act, the Commission is forbidden to censor programs. It is only when stations have applications for renewal of their licenses pending or when other applicants apply for facilities used by existing stations that the Commission, in the public interest, convenience or necessity is permitted to judge the nature and character of the programs broadcast by stations in order to pass upon the question of public interest.
You will note from the next to the last paragraph of this petition, that petitioners complain that “The National Broadcasting Company, the Columbia Broadcasting System, the Roman Catholic hierarchy, and others, have wrongfully by threats, coercion and other improper influence prevented many stations from broadcasting this message ...”
Under the theory of the Radio Law, station owners are not compelled to broadcast any and all programs offered to them. It remains with them to see what programs they will or will not broadcast. I rather imagine, however, that because of the criticism of other religious faiths and the protests received by station owners was the cause of some of them discontinuing these programs.
I return the protest and petition.
If there is any further information we may be able to give you in the matter, please command us.
Sincerely yours,
E. 0. Sykes,
Chairman.
Judge Rutherford Wrote Commission
February 8, 1934.
Judge E. 0. Sykes, Chairman,
FEDERAL RADIO COMMISSION, Washington, D. C.
Sir:
Your letter of January 24, 1934, addressed to Honorable J. H. Sinclair, member of the House of Representatives, is, to say the least of it, hardly fair to me. The high office which you hold requires you to be fair and pass on such questions only that come within the jurisdiction of the Federal Radio Commission. Probably you have inadvertently overstepped the proper bounds.
You quote the next to the last paragraph of petition recently presented to Congress, which quotation is as follows: “The petitioners complain that the National Broadcasting Company, the Columbia Broadcasting System, the Roman Catholic hierarchy, and others, have wrongfully by threats, coercion and other improper influence prevented many stations from broadcasting this message.”
In your response thereto you completely ignore the question raised. No one for one moment would undertake to say that radio stations under the law as it now exists are compelled to broadcast any and all programs. Congress is asked to prevent by law undue discrimination. Surely no man holding a high official position could in fairness say that any corporation, person or persons can be acting righteously when using threats and coercion to prevent a radio station broadcasting whatsoever programs they wish to broadcast. The point raised by the petition is that those named are using wrongful methods, such as threats of boycott and coercion to prevent radio stations from exercising their legal rights. This Congress is asked to make it a punishable offense to use such wrongful methods, and to thus deprive radio stations from exercising their legal rights and preventing the people from hearing what they wish to hear.
The two big broadcasting corporations, and the Roman Catholic clergy in particular, are attempting to prevent the things you say that the stations have a right to do, to wit, broadcast programs as they see fit. Are you in favor of permitting powerful corporations and influential religious organizations using boycott and other threatening methods to prevent American citizens hearing what the law says they have a right to hear? If not, then you should have told the congressman that you do not favor such methods. Your letter is silent upon that point. If the Commission of which you have the privilege of being chairman favors such wrongful methods of coercion and threats, then Congress, acting as the agent and servant of the people, should abolish the Commission.
In the concluding paragraph of your letter you volunteer to furnish to the congressman further information which you may be able to give. You could have told the congressman in your letter that clergymen, and particularly Catholic priests, had a conference with members of the Federal Radio Commission, their purpose being to induce the Commission to take Rutherford off the air and to refuse to renew the license of stations that continue to broadcast his speeches. Such facts would support the petition and are quite valuable to the American people.
You could also have told the congressman that your Commission addressed letters to me asking me to file with you copies of my speech delivered on a certain occasion, to which speech objection had been made, and also asking me to file with you a list of stations that had broadcast such speech and that your request was fully complied with. You had no right as a Commission to censor the speech, and manifestly the purpose of asking for such information was to determine whether or not you had sufficient grounds to refuse a further license to stations broadcasting the same. If such was not your purpose, then what was your purpose ?
Furthermore, you could have told the congressman that after you had received protests from the Roman Catholic clergymen you had made demands upon me to furnish the Commission with a list of radio stations in which I am a stockholder, and to state how much stock I hold in such stations. What could have been the purpose of the Commission in obtaining this information if it were not to aid the clergymen in accomplishing their purpose to exclude my speeches from the air? If the facts had developed that I had a large amount of financial interests in certain radio stations, would you have used those facts to require such stations to cease broadcasting my speeches or to forfeit their license or fail to have their license renewed? If that was not the purpose in getting the information, what was the purpose? Certainly an American citizen has the right to own stock in a corporation, even in a radio station, without personally being required to make report to the Federal Radio Commission. You might explain to Congress what you wanted with that information. Fortunately I had no stock in any of them, except a single share in one station, which was given to me and which since has been disposed of. It would be a great wrong for the Commission to refuse a license to a radio station merely because a man not pleasing to clergymen holds some stock in that station. You have in your files the letters of the Commission to me and my replies, and these facts you might furnish to the Congressional Committee.
Then your Commission further requested that I furnish you a list of radio stations in which our Society holds stock. That letter and my reply may also be of interest to the Congressional Committee.
Shortly after the conference of clergymen with the Federal Radio Commission, and after the Commission had received at least two copies of my speech “Effect of Holy Year on Peace and Prosperity”, and after I had filed with your Commission a list of radio stations that had broadcast that speech, your Commission wrote letters to a number of radio stations requiring such stations to report to your Commission as to whether they had broadcast such speech or not. Was it merely a coincident that your Commission sent out such letters to various radio stations after the clergy had called on you, or were you aiding them to get Rutherford off the air by doing indirectly what you could not do directly? You may explain that to the Congressional Committee and also tell the Committee what was the purpose of the Commission in demanding of radio stations the information as to whether or not my above-mentioned speech was broadcast when you already had copies thereof on file. Practically at the same time the Roman Catholic press began a tirade against radio stations that had broadcast that speech and they began to employ boycott methods to compel stations to cease broadcasting any and all speeches of mine. This they began with the leading station at St. Paul and station WHK Cleveland. Was the Commission acting strictly within its legal duty in demanding such information from various radio stations, which information it already had, or was it to indirectly give a warning to those radio stations to yield to the protest of objecting clergymen and to aid them to accomplish what the Commission could not legally accomplish? Copies of the Commission’s letters to the various radio stations regarding that matter might be interesting information to Congress just at this time.
In your letter to Congressman Sinclair you say: “I have been told that certain stations, because of these protests, declined to continue to broadcast Rutherford’s programs.” Were you told that information after your Commission had demanded of these stations the information as to whether or not they had broadcast my speech on “Holy Year”, and if so, do you know just what was the moving cause of those stations discontinuing to broadcast my speeches?
Since my speeches that have been broadcast have never mentioned a human creature in a derogatory manner, but have merely called attention to the gross errors taught by men and organizations to the detriment of the peoples’ vital welfare, is it your opinion that the Radio Commission has the legal right to refuse to license a station because that station broadcasts my speeches? If so, would the Commission have the legal right to refuse to license a station that broadcasts a speech severely criticizing the administration of the national government? While this Congress is in session it might be of interest to the members thereof to know just how far the Commission believes it can go in refusing a license to a station that broadcasts a speech criticizing the errors taught and practiced upon the people by various organizations.
Is the Radio Act relative to what is of public “interest, convenience and necessity” for the benefit of shielding institutions or organizations that have for years been deceiving the people, and still are deceiving them, or was that provision put in the law to permit people to hear what is the truth and what is therefore of vital public interest, convenience and necessity for them to hear?
This government was established on the theory that it belongs to the people in general and not to certain selfish interests. Aly associates and I are not trying to get members or to build up any kind of an organization. We are merely trying to help the people, while these selfish interests stand in the way thereof. We have no desire or inclination to attack any man personally, but we only wish to inform the people of truths upon which their very life depends. If in America it is no longer possible to expose gross errors in order that the people may learn the truth, then entrenched selfish interests teaching such errors may feel safe. It is certain that they do not want to have the public to examine the things that they are teaching, and that of itself is very persuasive evidence that they know they are wrong and that they are doing injurj7 to the people.
In your letter you state to Mr. Sinclair that protests have come to the Commission against my speeches “because of their critical nature of all religions and all teachings of the Bible save that of Judge Rutherford and his institute”. That statement is hardly in accord with the facts.
On at least two occasions when I have been before your Commission I have stated the facts as they exist, and you should know them for that reason. Besides that I personally know that you have some books which I have written also setting out the facts. Permit me to say that Rutherford has no institute, nor have I any teachings of my own. I am a follower of the plain lead of Jesus Christ, calling attention to Jehovah God’s Word of truth according to His commandments. My effort is to enable the people to ascertain what is in the Bible. If the clergymen are wrongfully misleading the people as to what is in the Bible, and hiding from them the truths therein, as their prototypes did when Jesus was on earth, how could I call attention to the truth of the Bible without such truths’ exposing the errors of others? I have no fight with any man. Never at any time in a public speech have I attacked any man. My sole purpose is to aid the people to understand the Bible, and you well know that the Roman Catholic system has never tried to help the people understand the Scriptures. Now when their parishioners begin to get some knowledge of the Bible, which is of vital necessity to them and which truths enable them to see that the clergy have duped them and kept them in error, these facts cause the clergymen to become violently angry at anyone who speaks the truth. They should not blame me; they should blame the Lord for having put those truths in His Word. If the position of the clergymen is right, then why not come out and defend their position and show the people wherein I am wrong? If what I am saving is wrong it will fall of its own weight; and if what I am saying is God’s Word of truth there is no power under heaven that can destroy it. The clergy well know that personally I amount to little or nothing but it is the truth that angers them.
Having no adequate defense the clergymen are compelled to either keep silent or else put a gag in the mouth of the one who speaks the truth. For some years they have practiced silence, but now when they see the people learning the truth they seek to put a gag in the mouth of the one who tells them the truth. The American people have a right to hear what they desire to hear without anyone acting as their censors or guardians. Even if you desire to aid these men in keeping the people in the dark concerning the vital truths of the Bible you should not use your high official position to accomplish that purpose, but on the other hand you should unhesitatingly furnish to Congress the evidence that would help the members thereof to see what is their plain duty in protecting the interest of freedom of speech and freedom of worship of Jehovah God amongst the people.
Just before the destruction of Jerusalem Jehovah sent certain men to give notice and warning to the people of the approaching disaster coming upon that city. The clergymen of that time violently opposed those men and had them beaten and thrown into prison. The clergymen used their influence to keep the people in ignorance of the truth, and they succeeded largely in doing so. Shortly thereafter Jehovah God caused the city of Jerusalem to be completely destroyed and multitudes of people to die. What happened there, as the Scriptures show, merely foreshadowed what is now about to fall upon the nations called “Christendom”, of which Jerusalem was a type.
What my associates and I are doing is merely to give notice of warning to the rulers and to the people of the approaching time of tribulation, which will be far greater than that which came upon Jerusalem. It is not man’s warning, nor is it man’s word. These truths of notice and warning are not man’s word. These truths of notice and warning are set forth in the Word of God and those who know them and love Jehovah God are commanded to tell the people about them. Anyone, therefore, who attempts to keep these truths from the people is fighting against God and not against man, and every one who thus opposes God will experience the trouble of Armageddon and “will find no way of escape”. Appropriate thereto are the words of Jehovah’s prophet at Jeremiah 25: 33-36 and of Matthew 24: 21, 22. The Scriptures point out plainly that there is just one way of escape. God has commanded that the people shall be told of that way just now. Do you wish to lend your support to those who are trying to keep the people in ignorance of these vital truths? If so, the responsibility will be upon your own head. Better let the people hear and let each man take his own responsibility as to what he shall do. My responsibility before God is to tell the people the truth, and in no other way can I be faithful to Jehovah God.—Ezekiel 3:18,19.
God sent Moses to demand of Pharaoh of Egypt, the then great world power, that the people might be permitted to hear the truth and worship God in their own way. Pharaoh refused to permit the people to enjoy that privilege, and God killed all of their firstborn and then destroyed the nation. Now the people are again asking that they be permitted to exercise their God-given rights to proclaim the truth and to worship Jehovah God in the way that they choose. Certain selfish organizations are desperately attempting to prevent the people from exercising this privilege, and the rulers are warned not to support those selfish organizations in their wrongful course, nor to join with them in hindering the free proclamation of the Word of God, and Jehovah makes it plainly to appear in his Word that those who do interfere shall suffer a like fate that came upon Egypt.
You will recall that when I personally stood before your Commission on one occasion I used these words: “This is not a threat, but a warning,’’ and you are familiar with what came upon some members of the Commission thereafter. I now repeat those words as applying not only to the Federal Radio Commission but to all the ruling powers of “Christendom” that interfere with the proclamation of Jehovah’s Word of truth. It is a friendly warning. Opposition to me cannot affect me personally in any way whatsoever, but willful opposition to a free hearing of the Word of God in this critical hour will result disastrously to all those who oppose the free proclamation of God’s Word of truth. Jehovah God through Christ Jesus will inflict the punishment. I have nothing to do with that. No man will inflict the punishment upon the nations. Receive now, if you will, this kindly warning and cease to give aid to those who are fighting against God’s Word of truth. No man can successfully fight against Jehovah.
Let the Federal Radio Commission administer the law fully and fearlessly and refrain from aiding a class of selfish corporations who wish to keep the people in ignorance of the great truths of Jehovah’s purpose. The congressmen must have these facts in order that they may intelligently meet the responsibility that is upon them. The National Broadcasting Company and others have set themselves up as the religious guardians of the American people. They have determined that Catholic, Protestants and Jews may speak to the people, provided they raise no controversial questions. They deny the facilities of their radio stations to those who want to tell the truth for the benefit of the people, and thus they assume the position of guardians for the people as to what they shall hear concerning the Bible. The Roman Catholic clergymen in particular desire the people to hear nothing except what they and their fellow religionists may agree upon. Does the Federal Radio Commission wish to assume the responsibility before God of agreeing that these two big radio corporations, and the clergymen, may determine what is of public interest, convenience and necessity, and thus prevent the people from hearing what they wish to hear?
If the Commission answers the foregoing question in the affirmative, then I insist that Congress in fairness to the American people should define what constitutes public interest, public convenience and public necessity, and that this be done as a guide for the Federal Radio Commission. I will here suggest a definition, which I know is in harmony with the truth. Necessity is that which the people really need. Convenience is that which builds up the people in righteousness ; and public interest is that which is for the general welfare of the people. The great truths contained in the Bible are therefore of supreme public interest, public necessity and public convenience. “Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” (Proverbs 29; 18) “Remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me.”—Proverbs 30: 8.
Very sincerely,
cc
Hon. J. H. Sinclair, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.
"Not a Threat, But a Warning"
Official records at the Federal Radio Commission in Washington show that it was on June 15, 1927, that those words were used by Judge Rutherford in his summary speech at the end of a two-day hearing before the original commission. Of that original group of five appointed by Calvin Coolidge, the only remaining member is Judge Sykes, the present chairman. Within a short time after that hearing, the first chairman, William Bullard, and the first vice-chairman, John Dillon, were cut off in death. Soon thereafter, the other two original members, Orestes Caldwell and Henry Bellows, resigned from the commission to pursue private ventures, as did also the commission’s first secretary, Sam Pickard.
To Safeguard Broadcasting
APPRECIATING, as he does, the boundless usefulness of radio broadcasting as an instrumentality of public service, Louis T. McFadden, of Pennsylvania, has moved with characteristic boldness and foresight to do his part toward providing a timely safeguard for the steady and proper development of this marvelous means of communication.
That such a progressive step should be taken by one who was chosen by an overwhelming majority of both Democratic and Republican voters to represent all the people of the Fifteenth District of Pennsylvania in the Seventy-third Congress is noteworthy.
On February 14, 1934, in the House of Representatives, at Washington, Congressman McFadden introduced a bill to amend the Radio Act of 1927. Its provisions are unique. Its spirit of fairness is at once arresting and refreshing. The bill was referred to the Committee on Merchant Marine, Radio, and Fisheries and ordered to be printed. It is designated as H. R. 7986 of the 73d Congress, 2d Session, and is here presented in full text:
A BILL
To amend the Radio Act of 1927, approved February 23, 1927, as amended (44 Stat. 1162).
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Radio Act of 1927, approved February 23, 1927, as amended (44 Stat. 1162), is amended by the addition of two new sections to follow section 28 of said Act (44 Stat. 1172), said new sections to read as follows:
“No person, persons, company, association, or corporation owning and operating a radio broadcasting station, and receiving and broadcasting radio programs for hire, shall discriminate in the use of such station in favor of a program of speech sponsored by any person who is a legally qualified candidate for any public office, and/or by any religious, charitable, or educational company, corporation, association, or society or any other like association or society, and against or to the exclusion of another person who is a legally qualified candidate for any public office, or of another religious, charitable, or educational company, corporation, association, or society chartered or licensed under the laws of the United States, because and for the reason that such person, religious, charitable, or educational company, corporation, association, or society holds and promulgates and advocates views contrary to those expressed in programs that have been broadcast. The owner, lessee, or operator of any broadcasting station contracting for or accepting and broadcasting radio programs for one legally qualified candidate for a public office, and for one class of religious, charitable, or educational company, corporation, association or society, and refusing to contract for or to accept and broadcast for hire radio programs of speech offered for broadcast by another legally qualified candidate for a public office, or by any other religious, charitable, or educational company, corporation, association, or society within the provisions of this section, because or for the reason that such legally qualified candidate, or such religious, charitable, or educational company, corporation, association, or society holds or promulgates a contrary or different view from that which is expressed by the person or parties broadcasting programs, shall be deemed guilty of an unlawful discrimination. All persons, companies, corporations, or associations owning and operating a radio station who shall be guilty of a misdemeanor shall be punished by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $5,000, and in addition thereto may be required to forfeit the license for operating such broadcasting station.
“No person, persons, company, association, society, or corporation shall by threats, or by coercion, or by misrepresentation, or any other like manner interfere with or prevent, or attempt to interfere with or prevent, the broadcasting of any radio program by any owner, lessee, or operator of any radio broadcasting station; or interfere with or attempt to interfere with, or to prevent any owner, lessee, or operator of any radio broadcasting station from entering into a contract with another person, persons, company, association, society, or corporation, to accept, receive, and broadcast programs of speech and music by radio. No person, persons, company, association, society, or corporation shall induce or attempt to induce any person, persons, company, association, society, or corporation to withdraw business or financial support or social intercourse from any radio broadcasting station, or the owner, lessee, or operator of any radio broadcasting station in the use and operation of such radio station or in the broadcasting of any and all programs offered to be broadcast, or which may be broadcast at any such station. Any person, persons, association, society, or corporation violating this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $5,000, or in the case of an individual or the responsible officials of an association or corporation, by imprisonment for a term of not less than sixty days nor more than two years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.’’
Norway—Land of the Midnight Sun
IF YOU were at the north pole on or about March 21 you would see the edge of the sun for the first time in six months, and if you could remain there six months you would see it all the while until September 23, when it would retreat below the horizon, to be out of sight for as long a time as it was visible. On June 21 the sun is at its highest point and bathes everything within the arctic circle in continuous light throughout the entire 24 hours. From that point of view we could say that all the lands within the arctic circle, northern Alaska, northern Canada, northern Greenland, northern Russia and northern Siberia are lands of the midnight sun; but by common consent that name is applied to Norway, because it is the most accessible of them all, and enjoys the best climate.
The Gulf Stream is the making of the country. If it were not for that, Norway would be almost uninhabitable; but its influence is so potent that it makes possible permanent human habitation within 700 miles of the north pole, and so, because Spitsbergen is politically a part of Norway, and Norway is the subject of this article, we begin with the northernmost part of the land of the north, and the northernmost habitation of civilized man.
The Spitsbergen islands, comprising an archipelago of 25,000 square miles (half the size of New York state), have been known since 1194, and often visited by Norwegians and Russians. More than a hundred kinds of flowering plants grow there. Sea fowl are so plentiful that at times they literally darken the air. Foxes, bears, reindeer, walruses and seals abound.
In 1870 rich coal deposits were found, now estimated at 9,000,000,000 tons, and 1,200 persons, including miners and their families, live there the year around. In the summer, when they have one day which is four months long, it is not such a bad place to live; but in the winter, when they have a night of the same length, it is not so attractive.
The Stor coal company of Spitsbergen, formerly an American concern, has the most modern colliery in Europe. Cutting machinery in the mines, and modern docks and loading facilities, enable the loading of a 6,000-ton vessel in 24 hours; this one company now ships some 200,000 tons of coal a year all over Europe.
Jumping-Off Place for Explorers
It was from Kings Bay, Spitsbergen, on May 21, 1925, that Amundsen and Ellsworth set out to fly to the pole and back. They started with two planes, but after going to within 13C miles of the pole one was forced down and the other went to its relief. After three weeks of desperate effort the six men aboard returned safely in one of the planes. The other plane was abandoned.
It was from Kings Bay, Spitsbergen, May 9, 1926, that Byrd and Bennett flew direct to the pole, circled it several times, and returned to their base in 151-k hours, having flown 1,360 miles without a stop.
Two days later, May 11, 1926, the Amundsen-Ellsworth-Nobile expedition set out from Kings Bay in the Italian-built dirigible Norge, sailed over the pole, and landed safely in Alaska after a flight of 71 hours.
Two years later Amundsen lost his life in a desperate attempt to save by airplane some of the members of the last, ill-fated, Nobile expedition. He was a typical Norwegian, in many respects the most remarkable of explorers, the first to negotiate the Northwest Passage, and the first to reach the south pole. From a youth of 15 he trained himself to be an Arctic explorer, always sleeping, in the bitterest weather, with his windows wide open. He had the scientific training, the will and the muscle to make a great success of his chosen field of work.
Nansen was another of the Northland’s successful explorers. For twelve years he was the acknowledged athlete of his country, which means, in Norway, that he was the champion cross-country skier. At twenty-eight he first crossed the mountains of central Greenland. Subsequently he designed and built the Fram, drifted with it across the Arctic ocean, and by means of it, April 8,1895, attained 86° 14 north latitude, the highest until then attained. He was eminent as a peace-worker and considered as the most eminent of Norsemen.
Another Norwegian, Henrik Ibsen, greatest dramatist of his time, was eminent, but not loved as was Nansen. The people of Norway and of the world had respect for his ability, but his countrymen despised his vanity and selfishness. He was an explorer and advertiser of the follies of mankind.
Coming Down to North Cape
From everywhere else in the world it is up to North cape, but from Spitsbergen it is 650 miles down. North cape is far above the arctic circle, but, as it is on an island in the midst of the Gulf Stream, it is in waters that never freeze. This bold headland, 968 feet high, is a suitable landmark at which to begin our consideration of Norway proper, a country that is more mountainous than Switzerland.
Norway is of the shape of a huge dog, with its head to the south and its tail to the northeast, over a thousand miles away. The southern cape, called The Naze (Norwegian for nose), is in the same latitude as Juneau, Alaska. Oslo, the capital, is of the same latitude as the northern boundary of British Columbia. Trondhjem is of the same latitude as Nome, Alaska, and North cape is of the same latitude as Point Barrow.
There is rail connection from the iron mines at Victoria Havn over the Kjolen mountains to the most northerly part of Sweden; there is rail connection from the important city of Trondhjem across the same mountains to the central part of Sweden; and there is rail connection from the metropolis of Bergen, via Oslo, the capital, to the southern part of Sweden; and Trondhjem and Oslo are connected; but, for the most part, Norway must always depend for transportation upon the sea, for it is strictly a sea country.
The northern lands of Maine, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Labrador, Greenland, Scotland, and especially Norway, are bordered by submerged mountain valleys which in Scotland are called firths or friths and in Norway are called fjords. Depressed by the ice deposited upon them in the time of the Flood, these valleys and headlands have risen as the ice melted, and in many places elevated ocean beaches or terraces are to be seen.
There are numerous peaks and ridges many thousands of feet in height boldly jutting out into the ocean. The fjords extend far inward, sometimes as far as a hundred miles. Hardanger fjord, 1,000 feet deep, is flanked by cliffs 6,000 feet high. Numerous torrents fall over these cliffs, and when the brinks are covered with mists, as is often the case, these waterfalls, seen from the ships in the fjords, have the appearance of falling from the sky.
Widows of Lofoden
The great fishing ground of Norway is off the
Lofoden islands, well above the arctic circle, due west of the northern tip of Sweden. Here the tides wrestle with one another as great volumes of water seek to flow in opposite directions, and twice each day the innocent-looking fjords become channels of death.
In calm weather, and between tides, a small boat can navigate safely, but during the spring tides, and when natural currents are whipped up by heavy western gales, vortices are created in which no ship can survive. Not only have boats actually been swallowed up in these whirlpools, but even whales caught in them have been whirled around until they were dead. The scenery is sublime.
The departure of mail boats is very carefully regulated so as to take full advantage of the tides, but, even when care is taken, many lives are sacrificed. As a consequence, there are two islands in the archipelago populated almost entirely by widows and orphans, the men having been lost in storms at sea. Sixty-seven million pounds of cod are taken off the Lofoden islands in a year. ‘‘Men must work and women must weep.”
Norway is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Nine-tenths of the population live along the coast, or near the fjords, or on the small islands called skerries, of which there are about twelve hundred occupied. In many places these skerries form a natural breakwater and render navigation of near-by fjords comparatively safe and delightful.
As the country is so far north, and is so mountainous, much of Norway is under snow the year around. The line of perpetual snow is at 3,000 feet elevation in the north, and at 5,000 feet in the south. Even on some of the farm lands there are snowdrifts in the pastures as late as June 27, with the next season’s frosts only eight weeks away.
Effect of the Midnight Sun
The midnight sun does something else besides bringing tourists to Hammerfest and North cape. Once the summer gets really started it keeps right on coming without any let-up, for most of the time the sun continues to pour its light- and life-giving rays upon vegetation and it grows very rapidly. Flowers and fruits grow of unusual size and fragrance.
There is an abundance of moisture: seventy inches of rain on the western coast, and from ten to twelve inches on the mountains that border Sweden. The mountain slopes are therefore well clothed with oak, beech and magnificent pine forests, while willows and birches extend almost to the snow line. Wild cranberries, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries abound.
Song birds are plentiful, sea fowl breed by the million in the cliffs, and bears, foxes, wolves, lynxes, hares and lemmings find shelter in the forests. All life accommodates itself to the nocturnal sun; the poultry goes to roost while the sun hangs high in the northwestern heavens. A rooster must feel abashed to wake up and find the sun shining full in his face, and realize that he had nothing to do about causing such effect.
The trip to Hammerfest and North cape is a favorite with Germans. They train themselves to sleep during eight hours of the twenty-four by turning on all the lights in their staterooms at night and accustoming themselves to sleeping in the glare. The German is willing to pay to see the midnight sun, but he is not willing to go without his customary sleep.
Hyperboreans and Vikings
The ancient Greeks and Romans thought that the north of Europe was made up entirely of ice, snow, mists, clouds and darkness, but that far beyond the north wind was a race of Hyperboreans, living in perfect peace, dwelling in a land where fruits and grains ripened without the care of the husbandman. No one suffered pain or illness, but when the old men and women grew weary of existence, they threw themselves headlong from some high cliff into the sea. Back of these fancies there may be some reference to the “land of the midnight sun”, as the fruits, longevity and cliffs are certainly all features of present-day Norway, and doubtless were of the Norway of long ago.
There is some doubt about the word “viking”, whether it is derived from vick, an Icelandic word for bay, or fjord, or from vigt, which means to fight, but there is no doubt about what the vikings did during the eighth to tenth centuries. They issued forth from the fjords or vicks, and they issued forth to fight their way to thrones in all parts of Europe from southern Russia to Great Britain. The vikings were the sailors par excellence of their time.
Norwegian school children are taught that America was discovered by Leif Ericson in the eleventh century, and it is probably true; his father Eric the Red was the discoverer of Greenland. One of the viking boats was recently discovered, buried in blue clay. The keel is 103 feet long, the solid trunk of an oak tree. The vessel is sixteen feet in width and contained all the equipment and implements of war with which the Norsemen, as they were also called, made their fame known in every country of Europe that borders on the sea. There was even one Norse crusade to the Holy Land.
Are the Norwegians the Goths?
The sovereign of Norway subscribes himself king of the Goths. Whether this means that the Norwegians claim to be Goths or that they claim to rule Goths is not clear; but it is clear that the Goths, from the fourth to the eighth century, overran the whole of Europe from Russia to Spain, and were largely responsible for the destruction of the Roman Empire. The Goths never accepted the headship of the ‘pope’. The Norwegians are like that.
In the days of Alexander the Great, Pythcas, a Greek astronomer and trader, living at Marseilles, was commissioned to visit the countries to the north. He evidently got as far as Norway; for he describes a land where the nights at midsummer were only two or three hours long. His description of ice fields and icebergs is most amusing. It is, so he says, “of neither earth, sea, nor sky, but a blending together of all three, a something in which land, air and water seemed to float and mingle together, producing a heavy girdle round the shore, along which the feet of neither men nor animals could make their way, nor boats be moved by oars or sails.”
That the Atlantic can be crossed in open boats has often been proved in recent years. In 1886 Magnus Anderson, in a boat some eighty feet long, crossed in 63 days. He was 42 days out of sight of land and capsized twice in midocean, but finished the trip safe and sound. Subsequently Captain Folgero, with three companions, sailed a 42-foot boat, drawing four feet of water, from Bergen, Norway, to Chicago, via Shetland islands, Faroe islands, Iceland, Greenland, Labrador, Newfoundland, Boston and Philadelphia. More recently (1933) Alfon Hansen, with cat and dog, sailed from Bergen to Chicago, and from there to Rio de Janeiro, by way of Halifax, in a 36-foot sloop, making the trip in 77 days; and, apparently after sailing eastward over the Atlantic, is now again on his way to Rio de Janeiro, this time from Sierra Leone, Africa.
In marine tonnage Norway ranks eighth among the nations, and her ships, mainly tramp steamers, are familiar sights in every corner of the world, especially in the sugar and lumber trades and in China’s coastwise trade. In the whaling industry Norway stands supreme.
Fishers and Traders
Besides being the world’s banner whalers, the Norwegians shine as fishermen and traders. Here is a clipping from an English paper published in Brazil. It explains that 100,000 Norwegians are employed in the cod fisheries and that some 80,000,000 fish are marketed annually. Many of these go to the South American continent, in Norwegian ships loaded down with paper, timber, cement, machinery, paint and other Norwegian products. The annual output of wood pulp is about 1,000,000 tons.
A Norwegian product that has much influence on human comfort is eider down. Eider ducks are found along the entire coast. From each nest about one ounce of down is taken, which is cleaned and used for making the most comfortable of bedquilts. The total product of eider down is about 3,000 pounds a year.
The United States has, as high-grade American citizens, about 400,000 persons that were born in Norway. That is a goodly number from a little land that has only 2,650,000 population— less than that of Chicago. The United States could take all they have left and would be in luck to get them.
Devoted to the frozen north, the Norwegians sought to gain a foothold on the shores of Greenland, but after forty-nine sittings the World Court ruled against Norway and in favor of Denmark, and Norway accepted the decision gracefully. About the same time it seized the whaling island of Jan Mayen and made each of its two inhabitants an official of the realm. Jan Mayen is out in the middle of nowhere, on the way from northern Norway to northern Greenland.
A Bit of Norse History
In the year 872 Harai Haarfager made a vow that he would not cut his hair or whiskers till he had united Norway under a single government. That same year he was entitled to a shave and haircut. This union of Norway under one government had far-reaching effects. The petty chiefs no longer quarreled among themselves, and united to raid the coasts and rivers of all European lands. Charlemagne, before he died, is said to have been greatly worried by these incursions.
Oslo, the capital, was founded in the middle of the eleventh century, A.D. 1048. Oslo was the name of the capital until 1624, when the name was changed to Christiania, in honor of King Christian IV, who rebuilt it after a fire. On January 1,1925, the town resumed its old name. Oslo is of the size of Providence, R. I., 260,000.
About the time Oslo got its old name back the Norwegian parliament tried to change the name of Trondhjemto Nidaros,but ran into a hornets’ nest. The people, to the number of 25,000, came out in a pouring rain to protest against the change.
From the year 1397 to 1523, under arrangements known as the Union of Calmar, the three Scandinavian kingdoms, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, were ruled by a common sovereign. Norway separated peacefully from Sweden in 1905. In the World War, though entirely neutral, Norway lost over 800 vessels, with a total of 1,200 lives. There is not a more peace-loving or peaceable people in the world than the Norwegians of the twentieth century.
The people are very democratic and industrious, care little for luxuries, and are among the most progressive and enlightened of mankind. Children between seven and fourteen must be in school. Women voted thirteen years before they did in the United States. The Norwegians care little for royalty.
Even the poorest people have six meals a day, at 5:00, 7:30 and 11:00 in the morning and 1:00, 4: 00 and 7: 00 in the evening. It seems that all mankind delight in showing how they can misuse their digestive apparatus and still keep going. It is claimed, how’ever, that, with the exception of Sweden, the death rate in Norway is less than in any other country in the world.
More About the Customs
A Norwegian marriage feast is a thing to be dreaded. Months are spent in preparation for it, and friends, neighbors, acquaintances and kinsmen come from far and near. There must be such an abundance that none of the numerous items of food or drink will run short. Several couples are usually married at once. The gowns worn by the brides are frequently the property of the church, hired for a nominal sum.
The public “steam kitchen” provides wholesome food for the poor at low prices and is a huge success, patronized by thousands of bachelors, of both sexes, and by hundreds of families. The charter granted to the company limits its profits to 6 percent; its stock has been watered four times and it still has no difficulty in making its 6 percent.
One of the public conveniences of Norway is a telegram box attached to every street car. At the post office a messenger opens the box, takes out the messages, to which stamps have been affixed, and sees to their transmission over the wires. The costs of telegrams are nominal. Norway has thirteen radio stations.
A writer on music says: “Through all Norwegian music runs an undercurrent of melancholy. The mighty ocean that beats incessantly upon the rocky shores, the murmur or roar of the waterfalls, the dark and mysterious fjords, the imposing cliffs, the gloomy forests of pines, the wastes of rock and ice, the long nights of winter, and the desperate struggle for existence against the forces of nature cast a shadow of seriousness over the souls of the people, whose lips are not so free with songs as those of the southern latitudes of Europe.” Grieg is one of Norway’s outstanding composers.
Whenever Americans think of Norwegian music they involuntarily think of Ole Bull, admitted master of the violin, and so recognized the world over. Though an American citizen for many years, he contrived to visit Norway May 17, of every year, the Norwegian “Fourth of July”. On his last public appearance in Bergen, his home city, he played for an hour in a pouring rain, and the thousands of people that heard him stood bareheaded in the rain as long as he continued to play.
We are not much impressed with the sagas (sayings) or eddas (poems) of ancient Scandinavia. Filled with tales of murder, cruelty and demonism, they manifestly dishonor Jehovah God and honor the Devil, and the quicker they are forgotten, the better. The skalds, singers, that recited these sagas and eddas corresponded with the minstrels of England and the continent. No doubt many of them, like the clergy of all ages and nations, were mere tools of demons.
The state church of Norway is Lutheran. All sects are allowed to preach, teach and hold meetings, except Jesuits. On Sunday nearly everybody dresses up and goes to church in the morning, spending the afternoon in recreation and visiting. The higher clergy are appointed by the government; all the clergy are unpopular with the people. Norway has, or did have, a state lottery.
Agriculture in a Land of Rocks
Norway is a land of rocks. Its stone walls are the thickest and the highest to be found. Travelers report seeing women cutting hay upon the sides of mountains so steep that they have to be anchored with ropes around their waists to keep them from falling over the precipices. Potato patches are often at an angle of 45°. It is common for a farmer to have a waterfall on his premises, and cliffs 2,000 to 4,000 feet high in lieu of fences.
Norway does not raise enough food to supply its own wants, and is a large importer of Minneapolis flour. The buildings on many of the farms are seven or eight hundred years old. Anything built within a century is considered modern. The eldest son inherits the father’s farm, but must make compensation to the other heirs. The farms are not cut up for inheritance purposes.
Farm buildings are all united with the house. This is almost necessary where the winter is so long and cold, but in case of a fire it means the loss of everything. Potatoes and other root crops are stored under the house, where they will not be frozen. There are cellars under the stables, where the manure is housed so that it will not lose its strength by exposure to the weather. The woodshed adjoins the kitchen.
The stabbur, or storehouse, is two stories high, and contains the winter’s supply of provisions for the family, such as flour, fish, dried meat, pork, bread (which is baked only once or twice a year), butter, cheese, and extra clothing and bedding. The storehouse is protected from invasion by rats.
Grain, instead of being stacked, is hung over wooden frames to dry. In some places snowsheds are erected to catch the drifts in the meadows and grain fields, to prevent the snow from piling up in one place. It is often necessary to feed the cattle in the barns until the middle of June.
The Norwegian farmer has plenty of difficulties. The farms are very small and very hard to work. The average Norwegian farm has less than eight acres of arable land. The season is short. The building of one barn at present prices costs more than a farm is worth. Mosquitoes are most rapacious, as in Alaska. They make some places uninhabitable.
A Comparison with New Mexico
Norway is of the same size as New Mexico. There is much waste land in each. The numbers of acres of arable land are approximately the same, 1,711,224 in New Mexico and 1,795,000 in Norway. A comparison of some of the items will be interesting.
New Mexico
Norway
Corn, bushels
4,420,000
Oats, bushels
1,512,000
13,621,000
Potatoes, bushels
166,000
28,143,000
Wheat, bushels
777,000
720,000
Barley, bushels
208,000
4,922,000
Apples, bushels
1,147,000
Rye, bushels
556,000
Horses
166,000
176,823
Cattle
1,189,000
1,309,655
Sheep
2,490,000
1,692,406
Swine
54,000
317,343
Goats
226,282
344,352
Norway also reports 2,227,000 metric tons of hay, 686,000 tons of beets, and 12,000 tons of mixed grain. New Mexico, to offset this, had 4,400 tons of broom corn, 34,000 mules, 64,000 milch cows, and 5,937 burros. Norway supports more than seven times as many people on her arable acres as does New Mexico, but if it were not for her fisheries she could not begin to do it.
Norway has a revolving fund loaned to young farmers at 3 percent for a term of 25 years. These loans are often made to young couples just starting in life and enable them to acquire farms and improve themselves and the state.
There is no export of fruit from Norway, but in the berry season everybody has an ample share. Wild strawberries are of a size and flavor not obtainable elsewhere, and cherries, currants and gooseberries are particularly good.
Some Items of Government
Every year Norway plants about 15,000,000 new trees to take the place of the ones cut down. You have heard of Norway pine and Norway spruce. In the days of sailing vessels the masts came from Norway, the best ones from the tops of the hills, where they stood alone, exposed to all the fury of the wintry blasts. Sheltered trees are like sheltered men: they are too soft to stand the storms, and snap when needed most.
Norway tried prohibition and gave it up; some other countries have done that too. Liquor is now purchasable in certain official stores. No person is allowed to profit personally by its sale. For administrative purposes the country is divided into six dioceses and subdivided into twenty bailiwicks. The great powers have guaranteed its independence.
Ten years or so ago Norway made a flourish in the direction of Bolshevism, but gave it up; the people are too independent and liberty-loving to wish for dictation from Moscow or anywhere else. Norway now (1934) has a laborite leader in the chair of the Storthing.
All Scandinavia, including Norway, is extremely humane—socially-minded. Nobody is left sick and destitute; everybody is looked after. Sixteen hundred skilled, government-trained midwives give close attention to the arrival of new Norwegians. Sick clubs, for the mutual protection of the poor, have been in operation in all Scandinavian countries ever since the Middle Ages.
Iceland—the Oldest Republic
Iceland was settled by the Norwegians in the ninth century. It is mostly a treeless waste of volcanoes and snow fields, yet there are fertile valleys that support nearly 100,000 people. At times the volcanoes erupt, and melt the snow fields back of these valleys, and the ensuing floods cause great loss of life and property.
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