The Swedish militia is commanded by officers of the regular army.  No man can receive a commission in the militia unless he has spent at least sixteen months in the military academy and passed the required examinations.  About a thousand young men are graduated each year from the several schools situated in different parts of the country, which are a part of the regular educational system of the nation.  Thus the government has at its command abundant material for the military organization.  The officers are promoted as vacancies occur, are retired on half pay when they are aged or disabled—­generals at 65 years, colonels at 60, lieutenant colonels and majors at 55, and captains at 50.  Militia officers are eligible to appointments in the civil service; they may be elected to the riksdag, and they have the same social standing at the palace as the officers of the regular army.  The palace is the center of the social system in Sweden, and only certain persons are eligible to invitations to the king’s balls and dinners.  All officers of the militia are included in the list, and all peasants in the riksdag, although their wives are never invited.[h]

CHAPTER IX

PUBLIC EDUCATION

There are few countries in which education is as free as in Sweden.  From the grammar school to the university in all its stages, the cost is defrayed entirely by the state or the parish.  Education is thus not a privilege of the wealthy, but a benefit common to all.

In Norway you are scarcely ever out of sight of a schoolhouse, and Professor Nielsen, of the university, on being asked concerning the ratio of the illiterates, looked surprised and replied that he was not aware of any illiterates; that he did not recollect having seen any statistics on the subject, and ventured to assert that anybody in Norway could both read and write.

Education is free throughout the entire primary system, a course of seven years, between the ages of seven and fourteen, when the law prohibits the employment of children in any occupation, and requires them to attend school at least thirty hours a week for twelve weeks each year in the country and fifteen weeks in the cities.  The maximum term is forty weeks in both city and country districts.  There are in the kingdom 5,923 school districts, governed by Skolestyret—­boards consisting of the parish priest, the president of the municipal council, and one of the teachers chosen by themselves.  There is also a board of supervisors, composed of three men or women, elected by the parents of the parish.  Childless people are not allowed to vote.  This board of supervisors does not appear to have any definite function except to advise and find fault.  The school board elects the teachers, determines the courses of study and methods of discipline, and submits recommendations and estimates for appropriations annually to the municipal council.  In both city and country what is called “voluntary instruction” is provided outside of the legal school hours, which may be taken advantage of by people who are willing to pay for additional attention from the school teachers, but it is neither free nor compulsory.