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The manufacture of readymade clothing is the principal branch of the sweated trades. It has been estimated that one-half the ready-made clothing manufactured in the United States is made under this system. The manufacture of cigars is in many sections of the country carried on in sweatshops; as is also the making of candy, bread, and other food products. In all, some thirty-five branches of industry are in part conducted under the sweating system.

The evils of the system are by no means confined to the workers exploited under it. The consumer of sweatshop goods often runs serious risk of disease in consequence of the unsanitary conditions prevailing in such shops. Numerous instances of the making of clothing in tenements where persons were suffering from smallpox, scarlet fever, and other contagious diseases have been reported by official inspectors. A large part of the tenement clothing workers suffer from tuberculosis; the same thing is true of the sweated producers of food products. The danger to the public health from such sources cannot be estimated with accuracy, but it is certainly considerable.

Twelve states have enacted laws designed to subject the sweated trades to public control. The earliest of these was a New York law of 1884, prohibiting the manufacture of tobacco products in tenements. The law was declared unconstitutional in the same year as transcending the police powers of the state. The principal provisions of existing state laws relate to inspection of home shops. The laws of New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin require a license for the manufacture of specified articles in tenements and dwelling places. The laws of other states leave such manufacture unregulated in a tenement or dwelling where only members of the family residing there are employed, but require licenses if persons not members of the family are employed. Sanitary provisions prohibiting work in rooms where persons suffering from infectious or contagious diseases are present, and making certain requirements as to air space and ventilation, the separation of sleeping rooms from work rooms, etc., are features common to most of the state legislation on the subject. The number of tenements and dwellings in which work is carried on

is, however, so great that adequate inspection is almost impossible. No state has at present a force of inspectors sufficiently numerous to prevent the law from being practically a dead letter.

In the last decade an organized endeavor to combat the sweating system has been made by association of consumers who bind themselves, wherever possible, to buy only goods produced under conditions giving fair treatment to the laborer and satisfactory assurance to the purchaser respecting sanitary conditions. These associations, known as Consumers' Leagues, now number over sixty, and are federated in the National Consumers' League. The League publishes a list of mercantile establishments which give fair treatment to their employees, and furnish a Consumers' League label, which may be placed on goods which investigation proves to have been produced under satisfactory conditions. The trade union label, also, is generally sufficient guarantee that goods have not been produced under sweatshop conditions. It cannot be said, however, that the preference of the general body of consumers for goods bearing either label is sufficient to place the sweater at any serious disadvantage.

In England the sweating system was widespread as early as 1850. An attempt to replace the sweatshop by the co-operative shop was made by the Christian Socialists, under the leadership of Maurice and Kingsley, but without lasting results. Several attempts have been made to mitigate by legislation the evils of the system, but the result has been almost negligible. At present sweatshops are subject to inspection, like factories; and the manufacturer for whom the work is done is responsible for the sanitary conditions under which it is performed. The force of inspectors is entirely inadequate to prevent evasion of the law.

The most drastic legislation on the subject is the law of the colonies of Victoria, Australia, enacted in 1896. Under the law wage boards, consisting of an equal number of representatives of the employers and the employed, are empowered to fix wages, hours of labor, etc. The law applies to more than thirty trades, embracing all the trades peculiarly susceptible to sweating. Under the law a minimum wage has been fixed which affords the least efficient worker employed the necessities of life, with reasonable hours. The result of the law has been to make the sweating system of industry unprofitable in some trades where it formerly thrived. An incidental effect of

the law has been to make persons not fitted for factory employment dependent upon public relief. Consult Adams and Sumner's Labor Problems (1905); Commons's Trade Unionism and Labor Prob

lems (1905); Kelley's Som: Ethical Gains through Legislation (1905); Annual Reports of the National Consumers' League (1899-).

Sweden embraces the eastern and larger part of the Scandinavian peninsula, and is bounded on the E. by the Baltic and the Gulfs of Finland and Bothnia. While Norway is a rugged mountain land, Sweden on the whole forms a great plain, very slightly elevated above sea-level. Only the northern part along the Norwegian border is mountainous. The highest Swedish peaks are in Lappmark, where Kebnekaisse rises to 7,005 ft. and Sarjektjokko to 6,970 ft. The coast formation is much simpler than that of Norway; but, on the other hand, Sweden possesses a much more highly developed Skärgå.d (skerry grounds) or outer island formation than the sister kingdom. The innumerable islands which fringe her shores, affording as they do protection against winds and waves, are of the utmost importance to navigation. Sweden abounds with useful minerals. Extensive layers of iron ore, especially magnetic iron, are found in Dannemora and other parts of the country; copper ore exists at Tunaberg and Falun, zinc ore on the shores of Lake Wetter, and lead and silver ore at Sala. Sweden, like Norway, is exceedingly well watered. The principal rivers are the Torneå, Kalix, Luleå, Piteå, Umea, Angerman, Ljusna, and Mottala, falling into the Baltic; and the Göta and Klar, flowing into the Kattegat. Of the numerous canals, connecting the rivers and lakes, by far the most important is the Göta Canal, which, by means of the Göta R. and the lakes Wener and Wetter, unites the German Ocean with the Baltic. A peculiar feature of Swedish scenery is the quantity of lakes, covering 8.3 per cent. of the total area. After the Russian lakes Ladoga and Onega, Lake Wener, 144 ft. above sealevel and 2,150 sq. m. in extent, is the largest lake in Europe.

Sweden belongs to the Atlantic climatic zone. The rainy season is the late summer and autumn. In Lappmark, the northernmost district, the flora is of an arctic character, firs and pines predominating. The beech first appears in the province of Småland. The reindeer is nomadic in the extreme north. Stags and elks

are

rare. The lemming migrates as far north as 62° N. lat. The salmon is the principal

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Sweden

river fish. Sweden has an area of 172,876 sq. m. The population, 5,136,441 in 1900, has more than doubled since 1830. The great majority of the population is rural, only 22.2 per cent. living in the towns, of which only two, Stockholm and Gothenburg, have more than 100,000 inhabitants. The Swedish people form a branch of the Germanic race, and are closely akin to the Danes and Norwegians. The three Scandinavian languages, moreover, very closely resemble each other. Besides the Swedes, there are about 20,000 Finns and 7,000 Lapps in the country. The established religion is the Evangelical Lutheran, but absolute liberty of worship is allowed. Ecclesiastically, Sweden is divided into thirteen dioceses, the archbishop of Upsala being the primate. The Swedish people are well educated; perambulatory schools exist in sparsely populated districts. There are two universities one at Upsala and one at Lund-besides the Caro

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of the land (50.9 per cent.) is still covered by forest, and the quantity of good arable land only amounts to 8.7 per cent. of the whole area. The greater part of the land is owned by small proprietors. Barley is largely cultivated beyond 70° N. lat. Oats is exported mostly to England. Rye is the staple food of the people. The potato flourishes everywhere. Great progress has been made in cattle-breeding, and large quantities of butter (in 1903 $5,396,851), hides, wool, bacon, and live-stock are exported. The forests yielded timber and woodpulp to the value of $29,969,853 exported in 1903. The fisheries are important, particularly the herring fisheries. Mining, however, is the most productive of the Swedish industries. Excellent iron ore is found in the central provinces, and at Gellivare and Luossavare in Lappmark, the total output in 1903 being 3,677,520 tons. Woollen and cotton goods are the principal manufactured products. The annual production of spirits is valued at $5,516,177. Excellent harbors abound. The principal exports are timber, wood-pulp, butter, paper, iron and steel, and matches. The total value of the imports in 1903 was $143,339,823; that of the exports, $118,290,462. During 1905 Sweden imported goods valued at $6,795,670 from the United States and her exports to that country were valued at $3,620,444. Sweden is a limited hereditary monarchy. The nation is represented by the Riksdag, consisting of two chambers of equal authority. The members (150) of the First Chamber are elected by the provincial councils and special representatives of the large towns for nine years. The members (230) of the Second Chamber are elected by the town and country districts. On a peace footing the active army consists of about 40,000 men. Á peculiar feature in the Swedish military forces is the 'Indelta,' the privates of which are paid and maintained entirely by the large landowners, and in proportion to the extent of their estates. Each soldier in this force receives a cottage in addition to his pay as long as he continues to serve. Since the severance from Norway the forts along the Norwegian frontier have been rearmed and thoroughly brought up to date. See Sundbärg's Sweden (1905).

History.-Sweden proper was inhabited in ancient times by two closely related races (Sver and Goter), from whose conjunction the Swedish nation ultimately arose, and whose early kings, of the Ynglingar family, reigned at Upsala. Christianity was first preached in Svealand by St. Ans

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Sweden-Contours.

till 1250. During this period Finland was conquered and Christianized. Under the Folkungar dynasty (1250-1397) both the nobility and the clergy extorted considerable privileges from the impecunious monarchs; and finally the dominant aristocracy, resenting the efforts of King Albert of Mecklenburg to strengthen the monarchy at their expense, invited against him the aid of Margaret of Denmark, who united the three Scandinavian kingdoms beneath her sceptre by the union of Kalmar (1397). This union with Denmark and Norway, under kings of German extraction and arbitrary inclination, soon became intolerable both to the nobility and to the people. Rebellions were frequent; native monarchs were even elected in defiance of the union; and the attempt of Christian II. of Denmark to extirpate the Swedish magnates (Stockholm Bloodbath, 1520) led to a general rising under Gustavus I. of the Vasa family, who, in 1521-3, shook off the Dan

ish yoke, and was elected king at the Strengnas Riksdag (June 7, 1523). Peace was subsequently made with Denmark by the Malmö Recess (Sept. 1, 1524), the latter kingdom retaining the southernmost provinces of Sweden and the island of Gotland. Gustavus's financial embarrassments led him to break with the Roman hierarchy, which possessed most of the land; but the introduction of Protestantism was gradual, and at first encountered a stubborn resistance. The Synod of Orebro (1529) marks the turning-point in the struggle. Gustavus devoted himself during the latter part of his reign to the rehabilitation of his impoverished country, and a stable government was ensured by a compact at Vesteras (1544), which made the throne hereditary in Gustavus's family. Gustavus's two sons, Eric XIV. (1560-8) and John III. (1568-92), succeeded him consecutively. Both of them were weak rulers with Roman Catholic tendencies and vague ambitions, which involved them in abortive wars with Denmark and Russia. John's son and successor, Sigismund (1592-9), who was brought up a Roman Catholic, and had become king of Poland five years before his accession to the Swedish throne, was ultimately expelled from the kingdom by his uncle, Charles IX., the youngest son of Gustavus I., and a bigoted upholder of Protestantism, a capable if cruel prince, who reigned from 1599 to 1611. It was through his instrumentality that the Synod of Upsala (1593) confirmed and completed the Reformation in Sweden, and it was the dream of Charles's life to be the leader of a great Protestant league. But he was unfortunate as a statesman, and when he died he bequeathed to his son, Gustavus Adolphus (1611-32), three pending wars, with Denmark, Poland, and Russia respectively, The Danish War was terminated by the peace of Knäred (Jan., 1613), which made no territorial change. Much more lucrative to Sweden was the peace (Feb. 27, 1617) whereby Russia ceded Kexholm and Ingria, and was thus excluded from the Baltic for a century to come. The war with Poland dragged on, however, till 1629, when, by a six years' truce, Livonia and E. Prussia were provisionally surrendered to Sweden. It was then that Gustavus espoused the cause of the Protestants in Germany. In less than two years he crushed the forces of the Catholic League, notably at Breitenfeld; delivered the hardly pressed Protestants in the Rhenish provinces; and had penetrated into the heart of Bavaria, when Wallenstein's invasion of Saxony compelled him

to hasten back to defend that kingdom, only to fall victorious on the field of Lützen (Nov. 16, 1632). It was no vision of an imperial crown, as some have supposed, that tempted Gustavus to invade Germany. The hegemony of Sweden in the north was undoubtedly the object of his policy, and what is called Sweden's epoch of greatness is generally dated from the year 1617, when the Swedes gained possession of both sides of the Baltic. Though cut off prematurely, Gustavus at least saved the Protestant cause in Europe; while his domestic and military reforms, which practically created a strong centralized government in the hands of a capable council of magnates and soldiers, with a complaisant Riksdag behind them, enabled Sweden to proceed on the path of conquest for at least another century.

In

The minority of Gustavus's daughter and successor, Christina (1632-54), was made famous by the masterly statesmanship of the great chancellor Axel Oxenstjerna, and the victories of the Swedish generals Banér, Torstensson, and Wrangel. Sweden reaped her reward at the peace of Westphalia in 1648, when Upper Pomerania, with the adjacent island, Wismar, and the bishoprics of Bremen and Verden practically gave her the control of all the great German waterways, except the Vistula. Sweden was now the leading Protestant power in Europe, especially after the crushing defeat which Denmark drew down upon herself by a gratuitous invasion of Swedish territory in 1643, which cost her (peace of Brömsebro, 1645) the provinces of Halland, Herjedal, and Jemtland in the Scandinavian peninsula, and the islands of Osel and Gotland in the Baltic. 1654 Christina resigned the crown to her cousin, Carl Gustaf, a grandson of Charles IX., and he reigned as Charles x. from 1654 to 1660, and astounded all Europe by his military exploits, which aimed at realizing the ambitious dreams of Gustavus II., and making the Baltic a Swedish Mediterranean. The first Danish War (1657-8) was terminated by the peace of Roeskilde (1658), whereby Denmark was compelled to cede to Sweden all her remaining Swedish provinces, as well as the province of Trondhjem in Norway and the island of Bornholm. The refusal of Denmark to enter a pan-Scandinavian league led to a second war between the two kingdoms, when Charles's designs were frustrated by the heroic defence of Copenhagen. Poland, too, was more easily beaten in battle than permanently conquered. Nevertheless, by the peace of Copenhagen

(1660), Sweden relinquished Trondhjem and Bornholm, but retained all her other conquests from Denmark, thus gaining for the first time her true geographi cal boundaries in the Scandinavian peninsula. Peace with Poland was concluded by the treaty of Oliva (May 3, 1660), which definitively ceded Esthonia and Livonia to Sweden.

During the long minority of Charles XI. (1660-72), who was only four years old at his father's death, the government of Sweden was in the hands of magnates whose policy was wasteful at home and vacillating abroad. During this period Sweden was dominated by France, who induced her, in 1675, to plunge into a disastrous war with Brandenburg and Denmark, whence she only emerged without territorial loss in consequence of the energy and heroism of the young king, and the active diplomatic intervention of triumphant France at the peace of St. Germain in 1679. During the remaining eighteen years of his reign Charles devoted himself to crushing the influence and pruning down the estates of the nobility, who had enriched themselves at the expense of the crown. His methods were often cruelly severe, and hundreds of noble families were ruined; but the nation at large, which benefited by the new economical system, supported the king throughout. The prosperous condition in which he left his realm at his death (1697) materially assisted the martial enterprises of his heroic son Charles XII. That monarch has too often been regarded as a heroic swashbuckler, who for twenty years wantonly disturbed the peace of Europe. As a matter of fact, war was forced upon him by a combination of Russia, Saxony, and Denmark. Charles's radical defect as a ruler was his utter contempt of diplomacy (instilled into him by his father), which repeatedly prevented him from taking advantage of favorable conjunctures. His sudden and violent death in 1718 saved Sweden from utter ruin, though not from dismemberment, and it was the business of his successors, Ulrica Leonora (1718-20) and Frederick (1720-51), to compound as best they could with their numerous foes. Bremen and VerIden were ceded to Hanover in 1719; Hither Pomerania, as far as the Peene, to Prussia, by the peace of Stockholm (Feb., 1720); and Ingria, Esthonia, Livonia, Karelia, and part of Kexholm to Russia by the peace of Nystad (Sept. 10, 1721). Sweden now dropped to the rank of a secondrate power, but during the wise and pacific twenty years' rule of

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