Aftenposten
- The Municipalities' Precarious Position.
- The Order of St. Olav.
- The Great Fraud Case from Nordland Before the Lagmannsrett.
Aftenposten's front page of 27 October 1926 led with a look at the precarious finances of Norway's municipalities. It recalled that a year earlier the Currency Commission had declared that returning the krone to par was not current policy, mainly out of concern for public finances and above all for municipal debt. An editorial attacked the committee that awards the Order of St. Olav as planless, and blamed it for forgetting artists at Den Nationale Scene's 50th anniversary. A court report from Nordland covered the fraud trial of a suspended lensmann over an 87,000-krone deficit. The accused broke down while testifying, and the case was adjourned with 11 witnesses and 2 experts summoned.
Translation
The Municipalities' Precarious Position.
When the Currency Commission a year ago could declare without hesitation that bringing the krone to par was not current policy for the time being, this was due first and foremost to consideration for our public finances, for the expenditure and debt of the State and the municipalities. And perhaps the consideration that weighed heaviest was the municipalities' burden of debt.
The Order of St. Olav.
An unwise decision of the Storting at one time placed the conferring of the Order of St. Olav in the hands of a committee. In the years it has been at work, this committee has distinguished itself by an unexampled planlessness in awarding the order. It also forgot the ARTISTS on so significant an occasion in our cultural life as the 50th anniversary of Den Nationale Scene.
The Great Fraud Case from Nordland Before the Lagmannsrett.
when the cash showed a deficit of 87,000 kroner, he turned to the county governor and offered the public authorities an arrangement for repayment. This, however, was not accepted, and the lensmann was suspended from his post. The accused broke down completely during his testimony, and the court decided to adjourn the proceedings until tomorrow. The accused's defence counsel is advocate Angell, Bodø. 11 witnesses and 2 experts have been summoned to go through the accounts. It is expected that the hearing of the case will take several days.
Context
Par policy and the municipalities' debt burden
The lead article explains that a year earlier the Currency Commission had judged a return of the krone to par premature, chiefly out of concern for public finances and above all municipal debt. Par policy worked by restricting money in circulation, and the Store norske leksikon explains that less money in circulation would lower the price level (deflation) and strengthen the currency against others. In a period of falling prices, borrowers repay the same nominal sums with kroner that are harder to earn. The encyclopedia's entry on central bank governor Nicolai Rygg lists falling profitability, heavier debt pressure and weaker competitiveness for export industries among the results, and states that the crisis spread to the municipalities and to the state. Norway's par policy was also unusually long, running from 1920 to 1928, and was fiercely disputed at the time and afterwards. The article's concern for municipal debt thus pointed at a burden that historians later count among the policy's costs.
Where the krone stood in autumn 1926
The Currency Commission's caution of 1925 had been overtaken by events by the time this article appeared. According to Norges Bank's own history, the krone strengthened sharply in 1925, and in 1926 the authorities tried to slow the rise by setting up a currency consortium that bought foreign currency for kroner. In September 1926 Rygg terminated the agreement with the Ministry of Finance, halted the support purchases and so cleared the way for the krone to keep rising. The article was printed roughly a month later, when the deflationary pressure that worried municipal borrowers was being allowed to run on. The policy reached its goal on 1 May 1928, when gold convertibility was restored, and Norges Bank itself records that the costs had by then become large.
Who decided awards of the Order of St. Olav in 1926
The Constitution's § 23, in its present wording, lets the King confer orders on whomever he wishes as a reward for distinguished merit, with the award to be made public. Until the dissolution of the union with Sweden the Norwegian prime minister in Stockholm served as chancellor of the order, and from 1905 until 1914 the prime minister at home held the post. In 1914 a separate order council was established; the chancellorship was then separated from the premiership, and it was decided that cabinet ministers could not sit on the council. The "committee" that the editorial says was created by an unwise Storting decision is most likely this council, although the reference works cited do not say which body ordered the change. Today an order council prepares proposals on who should receive the order and lays them before the King, as grand master, for final decision.
Why the editorial expected artists to be honoured
The Store norske leksikon notes that the Order of St. Olav was earlier awarded mostly for service in public office, and that over time more people from cultural life and business came to be decorated. The order's recipients in these years still included senior officials: Nicolai Rygg, for example, was made Commander with Star in 1925. Against that background the editorial demanded that the honour reach the stage as well, and accused the council of forgetting the artists at the 50th anniversary of Den Nationale Scene. That omission is the paper's charge; the reference works cited do not record which honours, if any, were given on that occasion.
Original
Kommunenes prekære stililng.
Naar valutakommissionen for 1 aar siden uten betænkning kunde erklære, at at bringe kronen i pari ikke var aktuel politik for tiden, skyldtes det først og fremst hensynet til vore offentlige finanser, til Statens og kommunenes utgifter og gjæld. Og kanske tyngst veiet hensynet til kommunenes gjældsbyrde.
St. Olavs-Orden.
En ufornuftig stortingsbeslutning har i sin tid henlagt Olavsordenens utdeling til en komité. Denne komité har i de aar, den har virket, udmerket sig ved en eksempelløs planløshet i utdelingen av ordenen. Den glemte da ogsaa k u n s t n e r n e ved en saa betydningsfuld begivenhet i vort kulturelle liv som Den nationale scenes 50 aars-jubilæum.
Den store bedragerisak fra Nordland for lagmandsret.
da kassen viste et underskud paa 87, 000 kroner, henvendte han sig til fylkesmanden og tilbød det offentlige en ordning med tilbakebetaling. Dette blev imidlertid ikke godtat, og lensmanden blev suspendert fra sin stilling. Tiltalte brøt under sin forklaring fuldstændig sammen, og retten besluttet at utsætte forhandlingene til imorgen. Tiltaltes forsvarer er advokat A n g e l l, Bodø. Der er indstevnt 11 vidner og 2 sakkyndige til at gjennemgaa regnskapene. Det ventes at sakens behandling vil kræve flere dage.