Universal Strike Halts Sweden Over Suffrage
ONE of the most remarkable occurrences in this day of remarkable events, is a universal strike which is reported from Sweden in press dispatches of May 15. All the workmen in the country, it is stated, were ordered to strike for universal suffrage, and it appears that all did so, in every city and town. The result is that all work has stopped; there is no traffic or business of any kind, and the newspapers are not being printed. An uprising is feared, and the troops are being held in readiness. This state of things is expected to continue throughout the parliamentary debate on the universal suffrage question. The water supply, telephones, telegraphs, and railways had not been disturbed at the date above mentioned, but the gas supply, it was announced, would cease on the following day, and there was bread sufficient for only three days. No shipping was moving in Stockholm. This national strike, the report says, was not intended to last longer than a few days, but was meant to show the government what might be expected in case the national demand for suffrage should be refused.