Jaabœk, a gifted peasant proprietor, who was also destined to
become a prominent figure in the political history of the country,
Foundation of
the Norwegian national party.
formed an alliance, with the object of guarding against
any encroachment upon the liberty and independence
which the country had secured by the constitution of
1814. This was the foundation of the great national
party, which became known as the “Venstre” (the
left), and which before long became powerful enough to exert
the most decisive influence upon the political affairs of the
country. When, therefore, the proposed revision of the Act of
Union eventually came before the Storthing in 1871, it was rejected
by an overwhelming majority. The position which the
government had taken up on this question helped to open the
eyes of the Norwegians to some defects in the constitution, which
had proved obstacles to the development and strengthening of
the parliamentary system.
In 1872 a private bill came before the Storthing, proposing that the ministers should be admitted to the Storthing and take part in its proceedings. After a number of stormy debates the bill was successfully carried under the leadership of Johan Sverdrup by a large majority, but the government, evidently jealous of the growing powers and Question of admittance of ministers to seats in the Storthing. influence of the new liberal party in the Storthing, advised the king to refuse his sanction, although the government party itself had several times in the preceding half-century introduced a similar bill for admitting the ministers to the Storthing. At that time, however, the opposition had looked with suspicion on the presence of the ministers in the national assembly, lest their superior skill in debate and political experience should turn the scale too readily in favour of government measures. Now, on the contrary, the opposition had gained more experience and had confidence in its own strength, and no doubt found that the legislative work could better be carried on if the ministers were present to explain and defend their views; but the government saw in the proposed reform the threatened introduction of full parliamentary government, by which the ministry could not remain in office unless supported by a majority in the Storthing. Before the Storthing separated the liberals carried a vote of censure against the government; but the king declared that the ministers enjoyed his confidence and took no further notice of the vote. Two of the ministers, who had advised the ratification of the bill, resigned, however; and a third minister, who had been in the government since 1848, resigned also, and retired from public life, foreseeing the storm that was brewing on the political horizon. Numerous public meetings were held all over the country in support of the proposed reform, and among the speakers was Johan Sverdrup, now the acknowledged leader of the liberal party, who was hailed with great enthusiasm as the champion of the proposed reform.
This was the political situation when King Carl died (18th September 1872). He was succeeded by his brother who ascended the throne as Oscar II. In the following year he gave his sanction to the bill for the abolition of the office of viceroy, which the Storthing had again passed, and the president of the ministry was afterwards Death of Carl XV.; accession of Oscar II. recognized as the prime minister and head of the government in Christiania. Fredrik Stang, who was the president of the ministry at the time, was the first to fill this office. In the same year Norway celebrated its existence for a thousand years as a kingdom, with great festivities.
In 1874 the government, in order to show the people that they to some extent were willing to meet their wishes with regard to the great question before the country, laid before the Storthing a royal proposition for the admittance of the ministers to the national assembly. But this was to be accompanied by certain other constitutional changes, Proposals by the Storthing for full popular control. such as giving the king the right of dissolving the Storthing at his pleasure and providing fixed pensions for ex-ministers, which was regarded as a guarantee against the majority of the assembly misusing its new power. The bill which the government brought in was unanimously rejected by the Storthing, the conservatives also voting against it, as they considered the guarantees insufficient. The same year, and again in 1877, the Storthing passed the bill, but in a somewhat different form from that of 1872. On both occasions the king refused his sanction.
The Storthing then resorted to the procedure provided by the constitution to carry out the people’s will. In 1880 the bill was passed for the third time, and on this occasion by the overwhelming majority of 93 out of 113. Three Storthings after three successive elections had now carried the bill, and it was generally expected that the king and The king’s veto. his government would at length comply with the wishes of the people, but the king on this occasion also refused his sanction, declaring at the same time that his right to the absolute veto was “above all doubt.” Johan Sverdrup, the leader of the liberal party and president of the Storthing, brought the question to a prompt issue by proposing to the Storthing that the bill, which had been passed three times, should be declared to be the law of the land without the king’s sanction. This proposal was carried by a large majority on the 9th of June 1880, but the king and his ministers in reply declared that they would not recognize the validity of the resolution.
From this moment the struggle may be said to have centred itself upon the existence or non-existence of an absolute veto on the part of the crown. The king requested the faculty of law at the Christiania university to give its opinion on the question at issue, and with one dissentient the Struggle between the king and the Storthing. learned doctors upheld the king’s right to the absolute veto in questions concerning amendments of the constitution, although they could not find that it was expressly stated in the fundamental law of the country. The ministry also advised the king to claim a veto in questions of supply, which still further increased the ill-feeling in the country against the government, and the conflict in consequence grew more and more violent.
In the midst of the struggle between the king and the Storthing, the prime minister, Fredrik Stang, resigned, and Christian August Selmer (1816–1889) became his successor; and this, together with the appointment of another member to the ministry, K. H. Schweigaard, plainly indicated that the conflict with the Storthing was to be continued. Elections of 1882. In June 1882 the king arrived in Christiania to dissolve the Storthing, and on this occasion delivered a speech from the throne, in which he openly censured the representatives of the people for their attitude in legislative work and on the question of the absolute veto, the speech creating considerable surprise throughout the country. Johan Sverdrup and Björnstjerne Björnson, the popular poet and dramatist, called upon the people to support the Storthing in upholding the resolution of the 9th of June, and to rouse themselves to a sense of their political rights. The elections resulted in a great victory for the liberal party, which returned stronger than ever to the Storthing, numbering 83 and the conservatives only 31. The ministry, however, showed no sign of yielding, and, when the new Storthing met in February 1883, the Odelsthing (the lower division of the Impeachment of ministers by the Storthing, 1883. national assembly) decided upon having the question finally settled by impeaching the whole of the ministry before the Rigsret or the supreme court of the realm. The jurisdiction of the Rigsret is limited to the trial of offences against the state, and there is no appeal against its decisions. The charges against the ministers were for having acted contrary to the interests of the country by advising the king to refuse his sanction—first, to the amendment of the law for admitting the ministers to the Storthing; secondly, to a bill involving a question of supply; and thirdly, to a bill by which the Storthing could appoint additional directors on the state railways.
The trial of the eleven ministers of the Selmer cabinet began in
May 1883 and lasted over ten months. In the end the
Rigsret sentenced the prime minister and seven of his
ministers to be deprived of their offices, while three,
who had either recommended the king to sanction
the bill for admitting the ministers to the Storthing, or hadThe ministry sentenced by
the Rigsret.
