Neutral 13

At Stockholm's Royal Palace last week, 13 men stood before old King Gustaf V and took their oaths of office. They were the Cabinet Ministers who formed Sweden's new coalition Government. Among them were a few familiar faces. Easygoing, affable, fanciful Premier Per Albin Hansson had also headed the outgoing Cabinet. But there were some missing faces, and conspicuous among these was that of disillusioned Rickard J. Sandier, who had served as Foreign Minister the past seven years. He was going back to his old job as head of the Central Bureau of Statistics and his absence at the Palace told a story of the confusion of purposes and the divided counsels that today grip Scandinavia's key country.

Early this month the Nazi press in Germany trained its biggest propaganda guns on Foreign Minister Sandier, accusing him, among other things, of "pro-British" actions. But that was not what removed him. Long had Foreign Minister Sandier advocated fortifying, with Finnish cooperation, the strategic Aland Islands guarding the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia. He especially urged it when Russia began her diplomatic pressure on Finland. Moreover, Mr. Sandier was the spokesman of those friends of Finland who believed that Scandinavian neutrality was indivisible.

Nor was there much doubt that the great majority of Swedes firmly seconded Mr. Sandler's ideas. At monster rallies all over Sweden, huge collections were taken up for the Finnish cause. Women threw their jewels, men emptied their wallets into big barrels. At Stockholm's Finnish Legation, large gifts poured in. At least one Swedish physician turned a sizable fee over to Finland. Socialist Chairman Frederick Strom of the Stockholm City Council was cheered far & wide when he suggested that every Swede give one day's income.

Sweden was moved by the Russian aggression as nothing else has moved her for years, but public opinion for once differed from Government policy. The Palace--i.e., the King and his advisers--and the minority Conservative and Liberal parties turned thumbs down, demanded strict neutrality. Their ideas stood, and Mr. Sandier fell.

In Mr. Sandler's place last week stood tall, 53-year-old Christian E. Guenther, one of Sweden's smoothest diplomatists. Onetime Minister to Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, he has more recently served as Sweden's envoy to Norway. A playwright, novelist and poet, Foreign Minister Guenther belongs to no political party, like all good diplomats has long cultivated the habit of keeping his mouth shut and his ears open. Unlike Mr. Sandier, he can scarcely be accused of being for or against anybody--yet.

In its first statement to the Riksdag (Parliament), the Cabinet declared that it "shares the wish that Finland should be assisted as much as possible, both materially and morally," but significantly added that it would "direct its effort to maintaining the independence and neutrality of Sweden." This was believed to mean that the Government would allow other countries to ship materials through Sweden, but would not itself supply arms or munitions.

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