FEWER COMMUNISTS IN SWEDEN

Grey River Argus, 7 September 1948, Page 8

FEWER COMMUNISTS IN SWEDEN

(From Thomas Harris, Reuter’s ' Correspondent). STOCKHOLM (By Airmail), j Sweden’s Communist Party has lost • 25 per cent, of its potential voters I since the establishment of the Cominform and the sharpening of the i tension between Russia and the' Anglo-Saxon Powers, according to Labour experts here. To support their' estimate, the experts point to the Communists’ recent losses in L.O. ; (the Swedish Trades Union Federa- i tion), contrasting with their peak' period, 1946, when they were strong' enough to win 11.2 per cent, of all ; the votes cast in the Municipal elections, comparea with the Agarians’ 13.6, the Conservatives, 14.9, the Liberals’ 15.6, the Social Democrats 44.4, and the Independents’ 0.3. In 1948 Communists control only 15 of the 323 District Councils of L. 0., compared with 35 in 1946. None of the Communist-held councils comprise more than 3500 workers and many have only half this number. Moreover, the chairman of - L.O.’s 45 nation-wide unions and • the members of its executive and General Council are to-day all non-Communists. L.O. covers about 93 per cent, of Swedish labour but is supplemented by a second -influential movement called the “Swedish Syndicated Workers’ Federation.” This organisation stands four square against Communism and has included in its constitution a provision barring Communists from becoming members. Communism has, slightly among the "white collar workers.’” ’ Thee Central of Sal-1 aried Employees, covering one-third of the country’s salaried class reports Communist infiltration into a few of its local branches, particularly in the big towns where “keeping up appearances” is expensive. Parliament now has 17 Communist Members (15 in the Lower House and two in the Upper House) compared with 40 Liberals (26 and 14), 56 Agrarians (35 and 21); 69 Conservatives (39 and 39) and 198 Social Democrats (115 and 83). Although the Communists are strongly criticised by the other parties for their servile advocacy of Russian policy in theii’ press and propaganda, none has acted unconstitutionally. None has been accused of storing arms, organising a terror campaign against blacklegs during unofficial strikes or being seditiously in communication with the Russian Embassy—charges frequently made against Finland's Communists over the border. In spite of this record of docility, Sweden’s Communists are expected to lose heavily in the general elections next, autumn for the following five reasons: — (1) The conduct of some Soviet Union officials in Sweden has increased the traditional fear of Rus- I sia and the distrust of any movement influenced by her. Rusisan mili- | tary attaches, for example, have been found cycling and sketching in forbidden "military zones, while the Soviet Embassy, on one occasion tried to censor a Swedish radio programme provoking indignant protests from all newspapers except the Communist. (2) The ill-treatment of Swedish sailors in Polish ports and the arrest of Swedish ship’s chandler in Gydnia in spite of protests from the Foreign Office here has increased popular fear of everything lying behind the “iron curtain.” (3) Sweden’s 1,000,000,000 crown credit to the Soviet Union, praised by the Communists as a means of stimulating trade, has proved a failure and cost Sweden dollars to fulfil. (4) The popular conviction here, as expressed in private conversations, editorials and readers’ letters in the newspapers, is that responsibility for the present world tension lies much more with Russia and Communism than with the Western Powers and democracy. (5) The Social Democrat Party still the most heeded in the country, has taken a firm stand against Communism, launched a campaign aimed at completely driving Communists out of the Trade Unions and warned the public against the dangers of the police State. In the meantime, Sweden’s Communists are strongest in the Northern Forestry and Mining regions, where a hard climate, baron country and few amenities of civilisation give the population real reasons for feeling dissatisfaction with existence. For example. in the 1946 Municipal elections, 40.12 per cent, of the total votes cast went to the Communists in Kiruna, in the Arctic North, where summer lasts only six weeks and winter is so cold that a theYmos flask will freeze to the lips if drunk from in the open, but there are exceptions. In the hard, industrial Hoganas in the south, only 0.7 pei cent, of the votes cast went to the Ccmmunists. while in the Vimmerby in the same region, the Communists won 1.7 per cent, of the total. That, the Labour experts saj, is part of the Communist enigma.