e there has been much ado over them.

The people, however, do not sympathise with Germany, knowing what
the triumph of Germany means for them and how the court and the
army and the aristocracy would be thereby encouraged to put the
Swedish people in what the Germans would call "their place."

The Swedes fear the domination of Germany and the domination of
an aristocracy and army imbued with German ideas. They know that
if Germany wins, the king business will take on a new lease of
life. The ground was ripe for the Allies but the German
propaganda, cleverly managed, spending money without stint, is
gradually bringing the people to a point where, if the blockade
is tightened, they may consent to Sweden's entering the war as an
ally of the Central empires.

In spite of the dislike of the people for the German cause, I
think that the aristocracy and the court and the army would have
forced Sweden into the war but for one thing. After some months
of war, an arrangement was made whereby the so-called "heavily
wounded" were exchanged with prisoners between Russia and
Germany. The German who was a prisoner of the Russians and had
lost an arm or a leg, was sent home. These wounded prisoners on
their way to their home countries, were compelled to travel the
whole length of Sweden and it was the sight of these poor stumps
of humanity, as the trains stopped at the various stations in
Sweden, that kept the Swedish people out of war. Many pictures of
them printed in the Swedish papers caused profound dismay in
Sweden and developed an inexpressible abhorrence of war.

Since hostilities commenced, on the other hand, the Government,
army and aristocracy of Sweden not only have been consistently
opposed to the Allies, but of the utmost service to Germany.

Swedish iron ore goes into German cannon and makes the best
steel for aeroplane engines, and the imports into Sweden from
America of foods and fats from America increased one thousand per
cent almost immediately. These imports, with great quantities of
copper and other supplies, found their way to Germany to the
great profit incidentally of Swedish business men. For the plain
people of Sweden the cost of living increased without a
corresponding increase in salaries and wages, so that the new
prosperity was confined to the "goulash barons."

There is no question but that, just as in Argentina, the Swedish
diplomatic pouch was in all countries at the service of Germany,
and that