LONDON CONFERENCE. 



LOUISIANA. 



475 





werke. It is also necessary for the security of Den- 

 mark that the Germanic Confederation should not 

 erect or maintain fortresses, nor establish fortified 

 ports in the territory ceded by Denmark. An equit- 

 able arrangement of the public debt and the re- 

 nunciation" by Austria, Prussia, and the German 

 Confederation of all right of interference in the 

 internal affairs of Denmark, would serve to complete 

 the friendly relations between Germany and Den- 

 mark. A question remains which would not form 

 the object of the treaty of peace, but which interests 

 Germany, and cannot be passed by in silence. In 

 the opinion of the plenipotentiaries of Great Britain 

 it should be understood that the future destiny of 

 the Duchy of Holstein or the Duchy of Lauenbursr, 

 and of the southern part of the Duchy of Schleswig 

 which will be annexed to the duchy of Holstein, 

 shall not be settled without their consent. If the 

 King of Denmark consents to the sacrifices of terri- 

 tory which are required of him in the name of peace, 

 it would be just that the independence of his kingdom 

 should be guaranteed by the great European powers. 



The neutral powers accepted tins proposal. 

 The German plenipotentiaries accepted the prin- 

 ciple of the plan, reserving to then- courts the 

 right of making counter propositions on the va- 

 rious questions of detail of -which the projected 

 firrangemeut was proposed. Denmark, on June 

 2d, also accepted the plan with certain reser- 

 vations, -which were stated in a declaration of 

 M. de Quaade. The Danish plenipotentiary said 

 that the King of Denmark was not opposed to 

 a territorial cession, if the powers of Europe 

 wished to abandon the Treaty of London, pro- 

 vided that he assumed thereby an independent 

 and perfectly autonomous existence as regards 

 the remainder of his States, and that the future 

 destiny of the territories ceded be not decided 

 without their consent. But there were limits 

 to the sacrifices which it was desired to impose 

 upon Denmark to which the Danish Government 

 could not accede. The new frontier must pro- 

 vide for both her military and commercial in- 

 terests, and that frontier must be protected by 

 sufficient guarantees. To the cession of the 

 duchy of Lauenburg the King of Denmark could 

 only consent under special conditions, as this 

 duchy was acquired by the King of Denmark in 

 exchange for a part of Pomerania, to serve as 

 an equivalent for the kingdom of Norway, and 

 as it was essentially unconcerned in the d'ispute 

 which has caused the present war. Finally, the 

 Danish Government must claim the liberty to 

 resume the position which they have invariably 

 maintained on the ground of the Treaty of Lon- 

 don, if a just and equitable arrangement should 

 not be agreed upon. 



In the same sitting of June 2d, the ambassa- 

 dor of Russia announced to the Conference that 

 the emperor, desiring to facilitate as far as de- 

 pended upon him the reestablishment of peace, 

 had ceded to the grand duke of Oldenburg the 

 eventual rights which section 3 of the protocol 

 of Warsaw of May 24 (June 5), 1851, reserved 

 to his Majesty, as chief of the elder branch of 

 IIolstein-Gottorp. 



The Danish plenipotentiaries, after a good 

 deal of hesitation, agreed on the 6th of June to 

 a further suspension of hostilities, but they in- 



sisted upon limiting the armistice to a fortnight, 

 unless there should appear to be a fair probabil- 

 ity of agreement upon a point so vital as that 

 of the frontier. 



The first line of demarcation adopted by the 

 Danish Government had been traced from Eck- 

 ernfOrde to Frederickstadt, a little to the south 

 of the line proposed on the 28th of May by the 

 plenipotentiaries of Great Britain. Later, the 

 Danish plenipotentiaries were authorized to ad- 

 here to the line of the Schlei and the Dannewerke, 

 but with the express understanding that no other 

 arrangement whatever would be entertained. 

 The plenipotentiaries of Prussia and Austria at 

 first proposed the line from Apenrade to Ton- 

 dern. Subsequently Count Bernstorf declared 

 his readiness to recommend to his Government 

 a line from Flensburg to the north of Tondern 

 at Hover. The Austrian plenipotentiary did 

 not at first consider himself authorized to adopt 

 this line, but subsequently he received permis- 

 sion to do so. When, however, the Danes ad- 

 hered to their determination not to entertain 

 the proposition of any line south of the second 

 line proposed by them, the plenipotentiaries of 

 Austria and Prussia recurred to their first line 

 traced from Apenrade to Tondern, and this prop- 

 osition formed the extreme limit at which they 

 finally took their stand. The efforts of the 

 neutral powers to induce the belligerent powers 

 to come to an understanding or a compromise 

 about the intermediate territory between the 

 Danish and the German line, proved fruitless. 



On the 18th of June Lord Russell proposed 

 arbitration, but to this proposition neither of 

 the belligerents consented. The plenipotentiary 

 of Denmark explained this refusal by the ne- 

 cessity which obliged him to regard the boun- 

 dary proposed on the 28th of May as being in- 

 tended by England as an ultimatum. Lord 

 Clarendon combated this view. The line indi- 

 cated on the 28th of May had been proposed in 

 the interest of Denmark and of peace, and not 

 with the intention of laying down a principle 

 from which there could be no departure. The 

 plenipotentiaries of Russia, France, and Sweden 

 concurred in the opinion of Lord Clarendon. 



Then came a proposition from the French pleni- 

 potentiary, that a vote should be taken in the 

 mixed districts of Schleswig. Lord Russell said 

 that the English plenipotentiaries would be dis- 

 posed to concur, if the Danish Government 

 thought proper to give their adhesion. M. de 

 Quaade replied, that his instructions forbade 

 Mm to consent to any other line than that pro- 

 posed by the English plenipotentiaries on the 

 28th of May, and accepted by Denmark. 



This declaration closed the debates of the 

 Conference. 



LOUISIANA. The proceedings relative to 

 the formation of a State Government for Lou- 

 isiana were continued early in the year. The 

 basis of this State Government was the procla- 

 mation of President Lincoln of Dec. 8th, 1863- 

 On Jan. llth, 1864. Maj.-Gcn. Banks issued his 

 proclamalion providing for the election of State 



