SWEDEN

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 230, 29 September 1942, Page 2

SWEDEN

LAND OF VIKINGS

UNIQUE EXPERIMENTS

(By W. S. LOWE)

Sweden, land of the ancient Vikings, maintains an increasingly precarious neutrality in the armed camp of Europe. It is a far cry to the days' when the Vikings harried the coasts of Europe and left their mark on England, Greenland and the North American Continent. One theory has it that the fair-haired strain found among the Maori people may be traced to Vikings shipwrecked in the original home of the Maori.

Sweden, though at times an in-

vader, in the past has rarely known invasion. Some of her great military rulers extended Swedish rule over large parts of Russia and eastern Europe, but for over a century Sweden has held aloof from the recurrent wars of Europe. Despite the awesome presence of Germany on the borders during the recent elections, the influence of the small group of Swedish Nazis was little affected. To date Germany has apparently been able to secure all the advantages she desired from beleagured Sweden without the expense of garrisons. The democratic heritage of Sweden is very ancient and developed formerly in a way reminiscent of Saxon England. Her leaders and even kings have risen from the ranks of the common people and still occupy a real place in the life of the

State. The present Crown Prince is a professional archaeologist of note, who has made important contributions to the museums of his country.' One of the king's brothers is a firstclass artist, some of whose murals adorn the Stockholm Town Hall.

Stockholm, the Swedish capital, is built on about a hundred islands and linked together by innumerable bridges. It has been described as the most beautifully situated city in the world, a new and greater Venice. l

The Co-operatives

Sweden has been chiefly notable in recent years for its remarkable development of the co-operative movement—the organisation of production by the consumers. Soberfaced foreign tourists inspect Stockholm's beauties with a copy of Childs' "Sweden, the Middle Way," clutched constantly under one arm. This book has become a text to. students of current social development. Co-operative stores, whose customers are the owners, have sprung up all over Sweden and are banded together in wholesale and production co-operatives. Their record is an impressive one, well repaying the study of any social theorist.

The co-operatives number a third of the population as members and claim to have benefited the entire country in lower prices and higher quality, which their competition has enforced. Prior to the rise of the movement powerful international cartels controlled the Swedish market in many commodities. One after another of these cartels, controlling margarine, rubber, electric lamps, flour, etc., have been systematically attacked by the co-operatives. Their method is to buy or build a factory producing the chosen commodity and to manufacture a good quality product at a reasonably low price.

In the ensuing conflict with the monopolists, the co-operatives have the support of their membership, and by vigorous advertising of the facts of the price reductions have been able to win public support also. To-day the announcement that the co-operatives propose to enter a new field causes an immediate drop in the monopoly price. Sweden's "middle way" of meeting the pro-ducer-consumer problems has been highly successful.

Sweden has also led the wav in State control of the liquor traffic. No one can secure spirits in Sweden except by the use of a special pass- 1 * book granted on application, but liable to be revoked completely. If. by drunkenness or similar offence the consumer shows himself socially irresponsible his liquor may be rationed, reduced or refused altogether.

Unique Prison

Unique among Sweden's many social experiments is a prison without walls or bars, even without a fence around the estate. By showing that the prisoners are trusted, the administration has aimed at building up a "moral wall," relying' entirely on the honour of the inmates to prevent their crossing. Only first offenders are sent to this prison at Singeshult and then only after at least six months' first-class behaviour in an ordinary prison The selected prisoners also serve an intermediate trial period at another institution and go to Singeshult as a final step towards release on probation.

There is, of course, some supervision, but the guards act more as foremen of the work required to be done than as prison warders in the usual sense. The "colonists" may not leave the estate without control and lock-up and lighting rules are in force, but nothing other than the honour of the inmates prevents their climbing through the unbarred windows and taking to the forest. That only one of the 600 who have passed through Singeshult in its 20 years of existence has even attempted escape seems to prove this experiment in reform a success.

The property was originally about • C iF es ' • * y the purchase of neighbouring farms now includes nearly 200 acres. Large additions have been made to the buildings Dy the labour of the inmates. JP the Prison is said to resemble closely the normal farm life of the district.

Naturally, the Swedes are anxious to preserve the peace under which their social fabric has developed so promisingly. Sweden's law is codified in a single easily understood volume apd Childs remarks on "the extraordinary fact that in Sweden a politician is taken at his word." It looks as though Sweden can teach us a lot!