Aftenposten
- A Bankruptcy.
- The Sheriff Murderers Seen in Västergötland.
- Norway's Church League.
Aftenposten's front page of 11 October 1926, a week before Norway's referendum on the ban on spirits, opened with a sharp editorial likening prohibition to a bankrupt business kept alive by bill-kiting. It praised prohibitionists who had admitted failure and accused the rest of chasing trusting rural voters for fresh endorsements. A news report followed the Swedish manhunt for the 'sheriff murderers' Svensson and Madsen, with sightings near Askersund and Lerbäck, a suspected helper arrested after fire signals, and police dogs searching around Billingen. A third item previewed the national meeting of Norges kirkelige Landslag, where chairman Karl Vold said it was still an open question whether its district branches could field their own Storting lists.
Translation
A Bankruptcy.
Are the prohibition zealots still just as blind to the fact that the costly "prohibition" of home distilling, smuggling and the flood of port wine has driven the temperance cause in this country into the ditch? It is the same as asking: But has the obvious bankrupt not understood that the only honest way out was to hand his estate over to the bankruptcy court in good time? Is it really in good faith that, far into the hopelessness of insolvency, he has kept up the kiting of bills and all the other desperate tricks?
Nothing prevents us from granting a kind of good faith here. The psychological problem has occupied several of our great writers, for example in Bjørnson's "A Bankruptcy". After all, so many years of persistent effort have been put into it; building it up has become something close to one's life's work. And so many have relied on one. It has become the foundation of one's whole position. So is it all now to end in the bankruptcy court? No. And again no. Just give me one more year! Or, please, 6 months. The million deficit may yet turn into balance, yes, into a large surplus! Certainly. And through the heap of protested bills the bill-kiters race up through the valley to catch new guarantors among trusting small folk. In good faith? The question can be left open.
It takes great strength of character and self-mastery in such a situation to put consideration for the many, for society, before one's life's work, the thing to which one has sacrificed all one's strength, even if the work openly lies in the ditch as a failure. The prohibition cause in this country has had such men of strong character, who at last have honestly acknowledged the bankruptcy, even though it has surely cut them deeply. And they have recommended that the good aim be taken up anew, along a road that led surely forward and not out into a bottomless swamp. Honour to them.
But up through the valleys the swindle races to get the obvious bankruptcy papers endorsed once more by blind, trusting people, to their own ruin.
The Sheriff Murderers Seen in Västergötland.
They are now being hunted by several policemen with police dogs. The cross shows where the hunt for the murderers is now under way.
As reported in part of our Saturday evening edition, the police in Askersund on Friday evening observed two persons whose descriptions closely matched the sheriff murderers Svensson and Madsen. The two came by bicycle to Snavlunda and went into a country store to buy a newspaper. From Snavlunda they seem to have taken the road towards Bredstorp. To all appearances, however, Bredstorp has not been passed, for no persons matching the description have been observed there. At around 8 o'clock on Friday evening a person at Ladäng schoolhouse in Lerbäck saw 2 cyclists whom he believed he recognized as the two murderers.
Special telegram to "Aftenposten". Stockholm, 10 October.
It is believed that the sheriff murderers have a helper near Lerdala farm in Västergötland. The police in Skövde have received reports of various fire signals that have been observed by several people. Last night the police kept watch outside the helper's cottage but noticed nothing suspicious. The man has now been arrested.
Yesterday and today the police in Örebro, acting on reports from several places, have carried out a determined hunt, though it has not led to any result. The only certain thing to go on now is that Svensson and Madsen must be in the districts around Billingen. The investigations are proceeding at full strength, partly with the help of police dogs.
Norway's Church League.
Will it put up its own lists in the Storting election? The question will be decided by the national meeting.
Norges kirkelige Landslag holds its national meeting in Oslo from 29 to 31 October under the leadership of its chairman, Professor Karl Vold. This year the national meeting has a particularly topical programme. Our correspondent approached Professor Vold and asked which matters the national meeting will deal with.
"At this national meeting we have a number of exceedingly important matters to deal with," says the professor. "The most important is probably the question of how the league is to position itself at the coming Storting election. This will be the main topic of the national meeting. The question will be introduced by Pastor Egil Brekke, and Pastor Kvarving will open the discussion. The decisive question in connection with this matter will be whether the district branches are to be allowed to put up their own lists at the Storting elections. Opinions on this are sharply divided, and it is impossible to say in advance what the outcome will be. But there are strong demands to have the question dealt with by a national meeting. Thus a unanimous request came from the last district meeting of the Oslo and Akershus district to take the matter up.
"The national meeting is also to draw up and adopt a programme for the Storting elections. This is to be presented to the parties' central boards and the nominated candidates, as has been done at previous elections."
Context
How Norway's ban on spirits came to a second vote in 1926
The editorial's complaint about home distilling, smuggling and a 'flood of port wine' summed up the case against a ban with a troubled history. In a consultative referendum in October 1919 only two-thirds of voters took part, but 489,017, or 61.6 per cent, voted yes. In autumn 1921 the Storting passed a permanent prohibition law by a narrow majority. The ban soon turned into a trade-policy problem. As unrest spread in the fishing industry, the ban on fortified wines was lifted in 1923, and that is the background to the editorial's 'port wine' jibe. The encyclopedia lists smuggling worth an estimated 50–60 million kroner a year, with 600,000 litres of spirits seized in 1923 alone, as well as home distilling and prescription abuse. Prime Minister Berge made repeal a question of confidence in summer 1924, but the Storting voted him down. The bankruptcy metaphor is the paper's own polemic in the final week of the campaign. So is its claim that some prohibitionist leaders had already conceded failure; this is the paper's assertion, not established history.
What the referendum of 18 October 1926 decided
The vote the editorial was campaigning for took place a week after this issue. On 18 October 1926, 531,084 voters, or 55.7 per cent, voted against prohibition and 423,031 voted for it. The referendum was partly prompted by pressure from France, whose exports of alcoholic drinks had fallen. Prohibition was rejected overwhelmingly in and around Oslo, where Aftenposten was published, and in other towns such as Bergen. The ban on spirits was formally repealed in 1927. The editorial describes prohibitionists still canvassing in the valleys, and the county results show the divide: the share voting to keep prohibition was 13.0 per cent in Oslo and 32.8 per cent in Bergen, but above 70 per cent in Hordaland and Rogaland.
Who Svensson and Madsen were, and why the hunt was in Sweden
The 'sheriff murderers' were Anton Svensson and Sigurd Madsen, who shot and killed two lensmann's officers, Oluf Aalde and John Solumsmoen, at Haugsbygd near Hønefoss on 22 August 1926. Their flight lasted two months and spread across large parts of eastern Norway and into Sweden. Svensson headed east towards Tiveden in Sweden to visit his mother, but she avoided him. The sightings reported here, near Askersund, Snavlunda and Lerbäck and in the Billingen district, belong to this Swedish phase of the chase. The arrest of a suspected helper near Lerdala and the fire-signal reports appear here as the paper gave them on 10 October; the sources consulted here do not confirm them.
How the manhunt ended twelve days later
The chase that this report describes as centred on Billingen ended on Norwegian soil. On 21 October Svensson and Madsen crossed the border back into Norway. The next day Madsen was arrested in Aremark. During the hunt Svensson took his own life, and Madsen was later sentenced to life imprisonment. The front-page coverage here, with its map and daily sightings, shows how closely the press followed the chase that autumn.
What Norges kirkelige Landslag stood for
Norges kirkelige Landslag was founded in 1921 with Professor Karl Vold, the chairman interviewed here, as its first chairman. Its aim was to promote the position of Christianity and to make the people's church independent of the state. It was dissolved in 1962. The question Vold describes, whether district branches might field their own lists, was a choice between two roles: the league could remain a pressure group presenting programmes to the existing parties' central boards and candidates, as it had at earlier elections, or it could enter the Storting election on its own. The article treats the outcome as uncertain, and the sources consulted here do not record what the October meeting decided.
Original
En fallit.
En fallit. Er da forbudsivrerne fremdeles like blinde for, at heimebrændingens, smuglingens og portvinflommens kostbare» forbud «har kjørt ædruelighets-saken her i landet i grøften? Det er det samme som at spørre: Men har da ikke den oplagte fallent forstaat, at den eneste retskafne utvei var i tide at overgi boet til skifteretten? Er det virkelig i god tro, at han langt ind i insolvensens haabløshet har fortsat vekselrytteriet og alle de andre fortvilede kunster? Der er intet i veien for her at indrømme en slags god tro. Det psykologiske problem har beskjeftiget flere av vore store forfattere - f. eks. i Bjørnsons» En fallit «. Der er jo lagt saa mange aars ihærdig anspændelse ind, - oparbeidelsen er blit nogetnær ens livsverk. Og saa mange har stolt paa en. Det er blit grundlaget for hele ens position. Saa skal det hele nu ende i skifteretten? Nei. Og atter nei. Gi mig bare et aar til! Eller - kjære - 6 maaneder. Million-subusen kan jo vende sig til balanse, - ja til stort overskud! Visselig. Og gjennem haugen av protesterte veksler jager vekselryttere op gjennem dalen for at fange nye kautionister blandt godtroende smaafolk. I god tro? Spørsmaalet kan staa aapent. Der skal stor karakterstyrke og selvovervindelse til for i en saadan situation at sætte hensynet til de mange, - til samfundet - foran ens livsverk, det man har ofret alle sine kræfter til, - selv om verket aabenlyst ligger i grøften som forfeilet. Forbudsverket har her i landet hat saadanne karaktersterke mænd, som omsider retskaffent har erkjendt fallitten, endda det nok har gaat haardt ind paa dem. Og de har anbefalt, at man tok det gode formaal op fra nyt av, paa en vei, som førte sikkert fremover og ikke ut i en bundløs sump. Ære være dem. Men op gjennem dalene jager svindelen for endnu engang at faa de oplagte konkurs-papirer paategnet av blinde godtroende, sig selv til fordærv.
Lensmandsmorderne set i Vestergötland.
Lensmandsmorderne set i Vestergötland. De jages nu av flere politifolk med politihunder. Krysset viser hvor jakten paa morderne nu paagaar. Som meddelt i en del av vort oplag lørdag aften har politiet i Askersund fredag aften iakttat to personer, hvis signalement nøie svarte til lensmandsmorderne Svensson og Madsen. De to kom cyklende til Snavlunda og var inde i et landhandleri for at kjøpe en avis. Fra Snavlunda synes de at ha tat veien mot Bredstorp. Efter alt at dømme er imidlertid Bredstorp ikke passert, for nogen personer med det omtalte signalement har ikke været observert paa stedet. Ved 8-tiden fredag aften saa en person ved Ladäng skolehus i Lerbäck 2 cyklister hvem han mente at gjenkjende som de to mordere. • Specialtelegram til» Aftenposten «. Stockholm, 10de oktober. Man tror at lensmandsmorderne har en medhjælper i nærheten av Lerdala gaard i VesterGøtland. Politiet i Skøvde har faat melding om forskjellige ildsignaler som er iakttat av flere. Politiet holdt inat vakt utenfor medhjælperens stue, men merket intet mistænkelig. Manden er nu arrestert. Igaar og idag har politiet i Ørebro ifølge anmeldelser fra flere steder drevet en ihærdig jakt uten at den dog har ført til noget resultat. Det eneste sikre man nu har at holde sig til er at Svensson og Madsen maa befinde sig i traktene ved Billingen. Efterforskningene paagaar med fuld kraft tildels ved hjælp av politihunder.
Norges kirkelige Landslag.
Norges kirkelige Landslag. Stiller det egne lister ved stortingsvalget? Spørsmaalet avgjøres av landsmøtet. Norges kirkelige Landslag holder sit landsmøte i Oslo i dagene fra 29de til 31te oktober under ledelse av formanden, professor Karl Vold. Landsmøtet har iaar et særlig aktuelt program. Vor medarbeider har henvendt sig til professor Vold og spurt, hvilke saker, som blir behandlet av landsmøtet. - Under dette landsmøte har vi en række overmaate viktige saker til behandling, sier professoren. Viktigst er vel spørsmaalet om, hvordan landslaget skal stille sig ved kommende stortingsvalg. Dette blir landsmøtets hovedemne. Spørsmaalet blir indledet av pastor Egil Brekke, og pastor Kvarving aapner samtalen. Det avgjørende spørsmaal i forbindelse med denne sak blir, om kredsene skal faa adgang til at stille egne lister ved stortingsvalgene. Herom er meningene sterkt delte, og det er paa forhaand umulig at si, hvilket utfald saken vil faa. Men der er sterke krav om at faa spørsmaalet behandlet av et landsmøte. Saaledes kom der enstemmig henstilling fra siste kredsmøte i Oslo og Akershus kreds om at ta saken op. Landsmøtet skal ogsaa avfatte og vedta program for stortingsvalgene. Dette skal forelægges partienes centralstyrer og de nominerte kandidater i likhet med, hvad som er gjort ved tidligere valg.