262 



DENMARK. 



passed. The election of the Minister of Jus- 

 tice, Klein, in the district of Aalborg (by 850 

 against 841 votes) was declared by the Folke- 

 thing invalid (by 58 against 26 votes). On 

 April 1st, the Diet was closed. 



On April 26th the Minister of Justice, Klein, 

 whose election as member of the Folkething 

 has been declared by the Folkething invalid, 

 was reflected over the candidate of the Left, 

 by 1032 votes against 894. 



In June the Minister of Finance, Krieger, 

 offered his resignation, and after a protracted 

 ministerial crisis, lasting for several weeks, 

 the offered resignation of the entire ministry 

 was accepted, and a new cabinet formed, 

 under the presidency of Fonnesbech, hitherto 

 Minister of the Interior. Of the members of 

 the old cabinet, the Minister of Foreign Af- 

 fairs, Baron von Rosenorn-Lehn, the Minister 

 of Justice, Klein, and the Minister of the 

 Navy, Ravn, remained. Tobiesen, hitherto 

 president of a section in the ministry of the 

 Interior, was appointed, in place of Fonnes- 

 bech, Minister of the Interior ; Privy Council- 

 lor Worsaae, a celebrated writer on antiqui- 

 ties, Minister of Instruction and Public "Wor- 

 ship; and the Minister of the Navy, Eavn, 

 assumed, pro tempore, the ministry of War. 

 Subsequently, General Steinmann was appoint- 

 ed for this position. General Steinmann is a 

 native of Schleswig, who has never taken an 

 active part in politics; he was commander of 

 the troops on Alsen when this island was oc- 

 cupied by the Prussians. 



The relations of Denmark to Germany ap- 

 peared to be, on the whole, of a friendly char- 

 acter. In May, the public funeral of Herr 

 Gunther, a German engineer at Copenhagen, 

 who had lost his life in an attempt to rescue a 

 drowning man, called forth a grand demon- 

 stration, several ministers and other high au- 

 thorities, with an immense crowd of people 

 of all classes, taking part in it. The German 

 minister had an audience of the King to con- 

 vey to his Majesty the thanks of the Emperor 

 of Germany for the sympathy evinced on the 

 occasion. He has also thanked the Danish 

 authorities, in the name of the Emperor, for 

 their presence at the funeral. Subsequently, 

 the good understanding between the two Gov- 

 ernments seemed to be somewhat disturbed by 

 the expulsion of some Danish subjects from 

 Schleswig. The National Gazette, of Berlin, 

 admitted that Danes had been expelled from 

 North Schleswig, and explained that this was 

 due to the continuous system of agitation car- 

 ried on by certain Danish electors. The meas- 

 ure, it added, was not general, but individual, 

 in its application, and could not give .rise to 

 diplomatic negotiations, it being lawful for 

 Germany to expel foreigners from her territory 

 without explanation. It was intimated, more- 

 over, that the relations between the two Gov- 

 ernments were of the most friendly character. 



On October 5th King Christian opened the 

 new session. In his speech from the throne 



his Majesty said that he had felt himself bound 

 personally to convey to the members the greet- 

 ings of the inhabitants of Iceland and the 

 Faroe Islands. He expected that the new 

 cabinet and the Parliament would harmoni- 

 ously cooperate in their deliberations upon the 

 proposed reforms. To carry out the measures 

 necessary for the defense of the kingdom and 

 the improvements of the public service, fresh 

 grants would be required. With foreign pow- 

 ers the relations were amicable. The political 

 situation would not yet allow of a settlement 

 of the North-Schleswig question, but the Gov- 

 ernment still maintained the hope that a satis- 

 factory solution would be arrived at, which 

 was the desire of both himself and the Danish 

 people. The Queen of Denmark, the Crown 

 Prince and Princess of Denmark, the Princess 

 of Wales, and the Princess Thyra, were present 

 at the ceremony. The hope of the new minis- 

 try to effect a reconciliation with the United 

 Left was disappointed, and at a large political 

 meeting J. A. Hansen, in the name of the 

 United Left, announced that the new ministry 

 would be opposed by his party as much as the 

 old, especially on account of the finance law 

 and a ministerial bill on preachers' salaries. 

 In the North-Schleswig question the party dep- 

 recated a hostile attitude toward Prussia, but 

 expected more from the Prussian sense of jus- 

 tice. On November 10th, the Folkething, after a 

 debate lasting five hours, by a vote of 54 against 

 28, expressed its continuing want of confidence 

 in the ministry, on the ground that the police 

 had interfered with the right of meeting by 

 suppressing an assembly of Mormons. A mo- 

 tion to express want of confidence in the Min- 

 ister of Public Instruction for having reproved 

 a school-teacher who had used toward the King 

 the words " the man who calls himself King," 

 was almost unanimously negatived. A motion, 

 by one of the prominent leaders of the United 

 Left, Berg, deputy for the town of Kolding, to 

 abolish all diplomas of nobility, titles, and 

 orders, was, notwithstanding the protests .of 

 the ministers, passed by 55 against 11 to a 

 second reading. On January 18th the Diet ad- 

 journed to January 6, 1875. 



On January 5th the King sanctioned the new 

 Constitution of Iceland, which substantially 

 agrees with the fundamental law of Denmark. 

 A special minister will in future be responsible 

 for guarding the Constitution of Iceland. The 

 Governor of the island is appointed by the 

 King. The Althing will consist of 6 members 

 appointed by the King and of 30 elected by the 

 people. 



On July 15th the King, attended by his son, 

 Prince Waldemar, the Minister of Justice 

 Klein, and the Minister of Public Instruction 

 Worsaae, left Copenhagen in order to embark 

 for Iceland, where a millennial anniversary of 

 the settlement of the island was to be cele- 

 brated with unusual solemnities. On his voy- 

 age to Denmark he also visited the Faroe 

 Islands, where he was received with great en- 



