undoubted moderation and good-will. The Cabinet
firmly maintains the real grounds of the disputed claims. It especially
emphasizes the importance of the Minister for Foreign affairs having the
power in exceptional cases to interfere in Consular matters, as the
limits between the Diplomatic and Consular operations are exceedingly
indistinct and, on both sides, there is a natural tendency to extend
operations into departments that had previously been considered as
belonging to the other party. The reference, made by the Norwegian
Cabinet, to the Consular Committee's resolution that the Norwegian
Consuls should be entirely under the control of Norwegian authority, was
met by the Norwegian Cabinet's own admissions, that the Minister for
Foreign affairs should be authorised to give the separate Consuls
instructions, and, herewith the claim that, in the Diplomatic branch of
affairs, the Norwegian Consuls should be solely under the control of
Norwegian authority may be considered void. Furthermore it points out the
unsatisfactory attitude of the Norwegian proposal with reference to the
guarantees presupposed by the Communique that the Consuls shall not
exceed the proper limits of their duty, and the objection made only on
Norway's side, that the best guarantee would be the control exercised by
the Norwegian Consular Office, is met on the grounds that a guarantee of
that kind was not intended in the Communique, as it had nothing to do
with the internal relations between Norwegian Consuls and the Norwegian
Consular Office.

On the whole the Swedish Cabinet maintains its claims, but it offers to
modify them, if they can be proved to be in conflict with the provisions
of the Communique. Furthermore the possibility is not excluded, of making
on other accounts changes and modifications in the proposed resolutions,
but their essential items must "be adhered to". The Cabinet does not
consider itself entitled, in the interests of the Union, unconditionally
to refuse the points designated by the Norwegian Cabinet.

[Sidenote: _The Norwegian government breaks off negotiations._]

To this document from the Swedish Cabinet, is immediately despatched the
reply, "that the Norwegian Cabinet finds no grounds for further
communication on the matter."

FOOTNOTES:

[30:1] Thus, their claim for a separate Consular service was worded in
the Norwegian Moderate party's programme as follows: "Our own Norwegian
Consular Service with the exceptio