I have read with great interest your criticism of Norwegian-Americans which was reprinted from a recent issue of Tidenstegn. Certain paragraphs have cause me particular distress because they are written by one who represents the arts in the Norwegian Advisory Committee of the American-Scandinavian Foundation, and because of that fact, as well as your prestige in the world of letters, are interpreted as the voice of authority. It has not been my misfortune to meet any of the swaggering class of Americans of Norwegian birth whom you describe. If they exist, they are a reflection, not upon Norway, but upon our American civic life which has failed to train them to become representative citizens. The Norwegian-Americans whom I know personally, and they happily number thousands, are quiet earnest citizens, modest in their relations with other men. They are men and women of the type that you say you met in the Jubilee Summer of 1914, a credit both to the land of their origin and the land of their adoption, striving 2in the true spirit of adopted children to plant the seeds of their inherited culture in the virgin soil of the younger land.

I will not discuss the problem of why they left Norway, or why Norway relinquished them so readily, but now that they are here their first duty is to the land of their citizenship. America has entered the great war to preserve democracy, with idealistic motives that Norway, the land of ideals, can appreciate better, perhaps, than any other country. The first duty of American citizens of Norwegian descent is to aid our government in the successful prosecution of the war. There are many other acts of the spirit, which, at the same time they can perform and are performing in an international direction; but America must come first.

Although faithful to this first duty, thousands of them have found time and energy to cultivate Norwegian speech, literature, art, and ideals in order to impress the best they have brought with them or the American communities in which they reside. At the present time more than a thousand Norwegian-American clergymen 3are preaching the Gospel in the resonant syllables of the fjords and fjelds. Laymen have incessantly urged the introduction of the Norwegian language along with French and German. Instruction in Norwegian is now given in eight states, in more than forty-three high schools. These are but two examples of the great cultural work being done by Norwegian-Americans which I hope you will some day have the opportunity of seeing for yourself by visiting our country.

As to what you say about the opportunity of Americans of Norwegian descent for helping the mother country during the present embargo, may I add a few words? I am acquainted with scores of Norwegian-Americans who, both in conversation and in the press, advance the cause of Norway. The editors of Norwegian newspapers in this country have, without a single exception, done what they could to clarify the situation in a spirit of warm sympathy for the land of their forefathers. Nor have these public and private efforts been without effect. The public mis-apprehension and adverse propaganda circulated by friends of the rigid embargo have been laid low, and a general sympathy for Norway has grown up all over the 4country. If this friendliness has not shown more immediate economic results, it is due to the fact that the question of Norwegian-American relations is but one item of the stupendous task which today faces the food depot of the world. America has first our own soldiers to feed, and then our Allies, and then those people who are actually starving by the thousands, such as the Armenians.

I can speak from personal knowledge of what the officers and associates of the American-Scandinavian Foundation have done in the present crisis. We are the only institution in this country which represents in a judicial, scientific, and disinterested way the work which is being done for the correct interpretation of Norwegian art, science, and conditions of life. Since your commissioners have been in this country, we have spared no effort to introduce them to our American friends. We have given them every opportunity in our power to present Norway's case. Before their arrival, the staff of the Foundation prepared, on the basis of all the material then available, the bulletin for the press, a copy of which I enclose.

As to the part played in this respect by Norwegian-Americans, I can speak with personal experience for the work of the staff of the Foundation. Hanna Astrup Larsen, literary editor of the American Scandinavian Review, during the time of the greatest pressure against the neutrals last spring, compiled from various reports and other reliable sources the bulletin to which I have just referred. The bulletin was sent out by the Associated Press, and appeared in newspapers all over the country from Maine to California. She has prepared other reports of the same nature for the press, and her articles, which I enclose from the Outlook, a weekly magazine of national circulation, shows the friendly part played by Norway in aiding the Allies during the first three years of the war. All during the year Miss Larsen followed the correct interpretation of Norwegian economic conditions through the editorial columns of the American Scandinavian Review.

Last week an American citizen born in Norway, Mr. C. Henry Smith, of San Francisco, placed at the disposal of the American-Scandinavian Foundation the sum of five 6thousand dollars with which to publish a large and beautiful Illustrated History of Scandinavian Art. Mr. Smith is now on a visit to Christiania. The description of Norwegian art, for the work which he so generously endowed, is now being prepared by Director Jens Thiis.

In conclusion, may I express my grief and disappointment that the American-Scandinavian Foundation has not received more tangible co-operation in its work from your countrymen in Norway. They must realize that the income of $17,000 from the Poulson Endowment, generous in itself, is not enough to meet the great task of interpreting Norway to America and America to Norway, to which the public demand has devoted us. Recently very heavy additional expenses incurred in behalf of the extended work of the Foundation have been borne by Americans who have no Scandinavian affiliations. It is but natural that they look for recognition in the way of co-operation from Norway. We understand that many of your countrymen have grown opulent through trade during the war, and have already manifested their power of philanthropy by endowing other institutions. Five students should come 7to America from Norway each year to study, instead of two; as many more young American men of the first caliber ought to be studying in Norway, thus cementing the bonds of international understanding. This is but one part of the international service rendered through the Foundation. As a member of our Advisory Committee in Norway, you realize this need. You ask us to help you. Will your countrymen strengthen our hands?

[Translators note: The American-Scandinavian Foundation, as its name implies, does its work for Denmark and Sweden also. Many Chicagoans are on the staff and Advisory Committee.]