At the height of the recent great strike in Sweden this newspaper predicted that it would be followed by a wave of emigration, and consequent events show that we were right. A great number of workers have already emigrated, and many others are preparing to follow their example, and leave their fatherland, possibly never to return.

For many years the authorities in Sweden have busied themselves with bureaucratic investigations as to the causes of emigration, but have never reached any definite conclusions; neither have they made any constructive proposals aimed at an improvement of the existing situation. This lack of understanding was evident during the recent conflict and the period immediately following it. The all-pervading idea was to break the strike at any cost, and for that purpose the vilest methods were employed. While the workers were being 2accused of breach of contract, the other side was itself guilty of a breach of contract of the most brazen and brutal kind.

In many parts of Sweden emigration associations have been formed for the purpose of collecting funds for prospective emigrants, and these organizations are rapidly gaining in strength and numbers. Even from this country considerable aid is being given the unemployed at home.

In our opinion, Swedish-American organizations could most effectively help their unfortunate countrymen at home by making cash contributions to the above-mentioned emigration associations, and otherwise give them their support and co-operation.

Nobody should be urged to come to America, but this country is at the present time undeniably the land of opportunity for the man with the ambition to build a better future for himself and his family, and a desire to give his children a better chance in life.

The Swedish worker is sufficiently well informed to know that working conditions in America, as in any other country, are far from perfect, and that if he comes here he is likely to have a tough time for the first few years; but he should also know that it is the land of liberty, in the sense that it is not now, and is not likely ever to be, completely under the thumb of an employer oligarchy, as seems to be the case in Sweden at the present time.

Sweden has, fortunately, reached such a stage of civilization that it would be unthinkable simply to prohibit emigration by law, no matter how detrimental it may be to the best interests of the country. The only preventive so far proposed which might have some success in turning the tide is the plan to provide the worker with a piece of land, which will enable him to support his family. But this solution of the problem has many difficulties, and does not appeal to everybody. The Swede will not readily live on charity, and that is what this procedure would really amount to, and its most active supporters are exactly those who previously have done all they could to take the bread out of the mouths of the defenseless workers, and thus drive them out of the 4country.

The mass emigration which has now started may teach the powers that be in Sweden a lesson, if they are not too shortsighted to read the handwriting on the wall. The loss of so much of the country's best blood is highly regrettable, but it might turn out to be a blessing in disguise if it will help open the eyes of those who are responsible for the situation, and whose selfishness have brought it about.

Those who are seeking consolation in the hope that the loss will be compensated by returning Swedish-Americans will become disappointed. A self-respecting Swedish-American would never submit to the cheap, profit-hungry economic policies under which the Swedish working class has suffered. Sweden cannot keep its ambitious workers at home by throwing them crumbs from the table of the rich in the form of small parcels of land. The governments fundamental policies must be changed, and this cannot be done overnight.