The new

A few days later it was also passed by the Lagting. law, which took effect on April 1, imposes a tax of 10 per cent. on all food and beverages consumed in restaurants.

On May 29 the Government suffered a defeat in the Odelsting on a relatively unimportant matter-a proposal to abolish the franking privilege of the municipalities, which was rejected by 56 to 51 votes. The Premier declared that the Government would await the result of the vote in the other House before deciding its course of action. In the Lagting the Bill was carried by the President's casting vote. It was then sent back to the Odelsting, which decided to give way. The Bill was, consequently, passed, and the Government remained in power.

In July a Government crisis was narrowly averted for the third time. The Government, in order to balance the Budget, invited the Storting to increase the income tax by 10 per cent. Strong opposition being offered by the Conservative and Agrarian Parties, the Government, after protracted negotiations, consented to an increase of 5 instead of 10 per cent., the balance to be obtained by an increase of the tobacco duty and a further cutting down of expenditure. This proposal was carried in the Storting by a small majority, three members of the Agrarian Party voting with the Radical Left and the Labour Parties in support of the Government.

Opposition to the League of Nations is gradually dwindling in Norway. In the debate in the Storting on March 17 on the Government's request for 308,000 kroner as Norway's share of the League's expenses, only the Communists declared themselves hostile to Norway's adherence to the League. The grant was passed by a very large majority. It is significant that the Socialists, who previously were pronounced adversaries of the League, have changed their opinion, and voted for the Government proposal.

A proposal of the Communist Party calling on the Government to submit to the Storting a Bill for complete disarmament, was rejected on April 3, securing only 30 votes. Another Communist proposal, that a referendum should be taken on the disarmament question, was also rejected by a large majority, only the Labour Parties voting in favour of it. Outside Labour circles there is in Norway very little sympathy for disarmament, the general opinion being that Norway should take no isolated step in this matter, but co-operate with the other European Powers under the auspices of the League of Nations. The Storting was prorogued by the King on July 18.

In the municipal elections, which took place in October in the country districts, and in December in the boroughs, the bourgeois parties maintained their lead all over the country, the Communists suffering a crushing defeat. Except at Bergen and Trondhjem, where they are still an important minority, they

have practically ceased to exist. In Oslo, the capital, they were all but wiped out, and only narrowly succeeded in obtaining one representative on the municipal council. The Labour Party has now practically regained its old position, although the elections proved that the small Social Democratic group is not wholly dead. In Utsire, a small village in Western Norway, the election had the surprising result that only one man was elected, all the other municipal councillors-eleven in number-being women. The former Mayor's wife was elected Mayor, she being the first of her sex to fill such a position in Norway.

Norway assumed sovereignty over Svalbard (Spitsbergen) with a simple ceremony at Longyear City, on August 14. The Minister of Justice, Mr. Paal Berg, presided, and read a proclamation from the Norwegian Government. The Svalbard Treaty, signed by the great European Powers, the mining law, and the Norwegian law on the administration of the islands came into force simultaneously. The papers gave great prominence to the event, emphasising the importance of this extension of Norwegian territory. The Norwegian envoy at Paris, Mr. Wedel Jarlsberg, who was largely instrumental in bringing about the Svalbard Treaty, was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav, with chain. As Governor (“ sysselmann ") of Norway's new Arctic possession the Government appointed Mr. I. G. Bassöe, who had been head of a department in the Ministry of Commerce since 1916.

On the initiative of the Norwegian Government, negotiations were opened at Oslo in November between Norwegian and Swedish delegates with a view to the conclusion of an unconditional arbitration Treaty. Complete agreement having been reached, a Treaty was signed on November 25 by which Norway and Sweden pledge themselves to refer all disputes without any exception to the permanent international court at the Hague. Negotiations for an arbitration Treaty of the same character with Denmark and Finland were opened in December, but had not been concluded by the end of the year.

In December a new commercial Treaty was signed with the Russian Soviet Republic, replacing the temporary Treaty of 1921. A new shipping Treaty with Finland was also signed. The negotiations with Great Britain regarding the Norwegian territorial limit led to no result, the Norwegian fishing population strongly opposing the British proposal for changing the Norwegian territorial limit from four to three miles.

At the International Labour Conference at Geneva in May, Norway was given a seat on the Governing Body of the International Labour Office. The Government appointed Mr. Lars Oftedal, Minister of Social Affairs, Norwegian delegate, with Mr. Th. G. Thorsen, Secretary-General of the Ministry for Social Affairs, as deputy delegate.

In the sphere of industry the year was calm. No strikes occurred; in all industries employers and workers agreed to the introduction of new wages tariffs. Economically, the most interesting feature of the year was the sensational rise of the Norwegian krone, as a result of the skilful exchange policy of the Bank of Norway. Although gratifying as a testimony to the economic improvement of the country and the increased confidence it inspired abroad, the rise of the krone at the same time caused serious difficulties to the export industries, so that unemployment increased during the last months of the year.

Although 1925 was a difficult year for the shipping of Norway as of all other countries, the Norwegian merchant fleet was considerably increased, and is now bigger than the fleets of Denmark and Sweden together.

A review of Norwegian activity in 1925 would be incomplete without mentioning Roald Amundsen's Arctic flight and the Maud's return after forty months' voyage amid the ice of the Polar Sea. Captain Amundsen and his companions were given a Royal welcome on their arrival at Oslo on July 5. The King conferred decorations on the members of the expedition, and the Storting decided to double the annuity which was granted Mr. Amundsen after his return from the South Pole in 1911, making it 12,000 kroner in all.

FINLAND.

In the internal affairs of the country, the outstanding event of the year was the election of the new President, on February 16. Dr. Lauri Kristian Relander, a Democrat of the Right Wing and a Republican, was chosen by the votes of the Agrarian Union, the Finnish Coalition Party, and the Swedish Party, to be President for the ensuing term of six years, from March 1, 1925 to March 1, 1931. The new President, who was born in 1883, is a scientific agriculturist, and was twice chosen by the Agrarian Party as their representative in the Diet. He was Speaker of the Diet in 1919, and in the following year became Governor of the Province of Viipuri (Viborg).

At a Conference that met at Helsingfors on January 16 the Foreign Ministers of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Poland discussed a number of questions affecting their common interests, including the pacific settlement of international disputes and disarmament. The delegates unanimously decided to recommend to their respective Governments a permanent co-operation directed towards the realisation of the principles embodied in the Protocol drawn up at the first meeting of the Assembly of the League of Nations, and they also attained unanimity with regard to the procedure to be adopted in arbitrations on disputes arising between the countries represented at the Conference.

Early in the year the Diet sanctioned the raising of one or more

bond loans in foreign currency to a nominal amount not exceeding the equivalent of 800,000,000 Finnish marks, which was to be used chiefly for building a power station at the Imatra Rapids, and for granting credits for colonisation purposes. On March 17 an Agreement was signed with a syndicate of American banks, whereby the latter undertook to procure for the Government of Finland a loan of ten million dollars, for 25 years, at 7 per cent. interest.

A Cabinet crisis was precipitated in March by the action of the Diet in rejecting a proposal of the Government to amend the Electoral Laws of 1906 in order to provide for the representation in the Diet of political parties in a manner corresponding with the number of votes cast in their favour. On the invitation of the President, Professor Antti Tulenheimo formed a new Government composed of members of the Coalition and Agrarian Parties and of non-party politicians. Mr. K. G. Idman became Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Mr. H. M. Relander, Minister of Finance. The new Government, which entered office on March 31, could count upon the support of only 41 per cent. of the votes in the Diet. On April 3 the Diet suspended its session till September 1.

On May 21 the President of the Finnish Republic visited Estonia, where he was given a cordial reception by all sections of the people. The visit the first paid to a foreign country by the Head of the Finnish State since the foundation of the Republic was acclaimed in Estonia and Finland as an outward sign of amity between two peoples connected by ties of blood and common interests. On June 19-21 the President paid an official visit to Sweden as the guest of the King and Queen. The warmth and splendour of the welcome accorded to the President by the Swedish Court and people likewise gave general satisfaction in Finland. On August 21 the King of Sweden, accompanied by his consort and one of the royal princes, returned the visit by coming to Helsingfors. This was the first occasion on which a Swedish sovereign visited Finland since the separation of the two countries in 1809.

On September 1 the Diet formally re-assembled for the purpose of receiving the Government's estimates for revenue and expenditure for 1926, adjourning almost immediately till October 20, when the ordinary autumn session began. In the course of the session the Government submitted a proposal for a new currency law, and new regulations for the Bank of Finland. Both measures were passed by December 12, when the Diet closed its autumn session. The refusal of the Diet to sanction the expenditure required by the Government's programme of naval construction led to a second Cabinet crisis; on December 10 Professor Antti Tulenheimo's Government resigned. By the end of the year a new Government was formed by Mr. Kyösti Kallio,

with the support of the Coalition and Agrarian Parties. Professor E. N. Setälä became Minister for Foreign Affairs and Mr. Järvinen, Minister of Finance. There was general regret in Parliamentary circles that the Social Democrats adhered to their policy of declining the responsibility of taking part in the formation of a Government, since as long as this policy continued all Governments would rest on an unstable foundation.

During the year commercial Treaties were made and ratified with U.S.A., Poland, Latvia, and Spain; Conventions were concluded with Soviet Russia in regard to railway traffic between the two countries and to the exercise of control in the ex-territorial waters of the Gulf of Finland; and arbitration Treaties were concluded with Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.

CHAPTER VII.

THE MIDDLE EAST AND INDIA: PERSIA

AFGHANISTAN-IRAQ

PALESTINE-SYRIA-ARABIA-INDIA.

PERSIA.

THE year 1925 witnessed the culmination of the career of the most remarkable figure produced by Persia in the present generation, Riza Khan Pahlevi, known for some years as the Sardar Sepah. From the time that, in 1921, he had, at the head of his Cossacks, brought about the coup d'état which caused the dismissal of the Sipahdar Azam, this unlettered soldier had been the dominant force in Persian politics, making and unmaking Ministries at his will. Thanks to his reorganisation of the army and his successful military exploits, his prestige steadily rose till his attempt to establish a Republic, in March, 1924 (vide ANNUAL REGISTER, 1924, p. 249). This brought him into conflict with the clergy, to whom he deemed it prudent to defer, and his influence suffered a set-back in consequence. But a pilgrimage to the Holy Places of Iraq and a successful campaign in the latter part of the year, in which he reduced the Sheikh of Mohammerah to subjection, restored him to popular favour, and when he returned to Teheran on the first day of 1925, he was received with demonstrations such as had never been made in honour of any Shah.

The supreme command at this time belonged to the Valiahd, the Shah's brother, who was acting as Regent during the Shah's absence in Europe, but Riza Khan, to secure himself the greatest possible freedom of action, persuaded the Mejliss shortly afterwards to appoint him "chief of all the defence forces of the country." In this position he continued his work of pacifying the outlying parts. Early in the year the Turcomans in the north had risen in rebellion owing to the arrest by the Persians of the Sardar of Bujnurd, their chief town, north-west of Meshed. In