Conclusive
for the correctness of this interpretation, as represented by the Swedish
government, _is the approval the Norwegian government itself gave this
interpretation_ by conceding that the Foreign Minister might give direct
orders to the Norwegian Consuls, which, in certain cases, implied a
hierarchal relationship between the Foreign Minister and the Norwegian
Consuls. This admission on the Norwegian side must not be regarded as a
concession _beyond_ the demands of the Communique. It had already been
made before the Communique was compiled, and must therefore absolutely be
included in the frame of the Communique. The so much-disputed claims of
Sweden imply nothing but an extension of the above hierarchal exceptional
conditions, especially in an disciplinary sense, and are therefore within
the frame of the Communique.

In close connection with the Norwegian accusations against Sweden for
breach of faith, are the Norwegian governments insinuations that the
Swedish government, by its later shaped demands, had strayed from the
agreement which had previously been decided on, both by the Swedish and
Norwegian sides. The Norwegian government especially refers to the
preliminary agreements, which, under necessary reservations, had been
made in the negotiations between the delegates of the two Cabinets,
before the Communique existed.

It is clear that these accusations especially touched matters in the
negotiations, of which outsiders cannot, of course, form a quite distinct
opinion. Meanwhile it would not be impossible to gain an idea of the
breadth of the case on the grounds of the statements of the Cabinets, the
references in the papers, and the debates in the Swedish Diet and the
Norwegian Storthing.

The matter that first demands our attention is the communication of the
Swedish Cabinet dated Jan. 30:th 1905, in which it is distinctly declared
that, when the Norwegian Cabinet had assumed that its proposition of the
28:th May 1904 would, without any alteration worth mentioning, be
accepted by the Swedish Cabinet "it would find no support from
admissions either of the Swedish Cabinet or its delegates." Now, there
were hardly any negotiations between the governments concerning the
contents of the Consular laws till the time when the first definite
Norwegian proposition was presented. The agreements which the Norwegian
Cabinet considers would more nearly refer to the negotiations before the
origin of the Communique, to