234 



DENMARK. 



that the ability of the Danish Government to 

 bring about the desired arrangement was very 

 doubtful. It therefore proposed to the Diet to 

 pass the following resolution: "While the 

 Folkething expresses the expectation that the 

 Danish Government will support any move- 

 ment that may be made for the establishment 

 of a Court of Arbitration for International 

 Affairs, it passes to the order of the day." 



In June a new ministry was formed under 

 the presidency of Estrup, a rich land-owner. 

 All the members belong to the Conservative 

 party of the Landsthing. The task of forming 

 the new cabinet had previously been offered to 

 Count Frijs of Frijsenborg. 



In July the King made a journey through 

 his dominions, in the course of which he every- 

 where received the strongest proofs of the 

 attachment of the people to their King and to 

 his royal house. Fierce as party strife may 

 have been of late, the traditional loyalty of the 

 Danes appears not to have been affected by it. 

 At Odensee, the capital of the isle of Fionia, 

 which the King had not visited for ten years, 

 the residents made the greatest efforts to make 

 a goodly show of banners and flowers. "When 

 the King, who was accompanied by the crown 

 prince and princess, Princess Thyra, and Prince 

 John, arrived at Odensee, the streets were lined 

 by the various trades with their banners, as 

 well as by members of various societies, all the 

 way to the palace, where the notabilities and 

 functionaries of the town awaited the arrival 

 of the King. The fetes were very splendid, 

 and one of the most interesting was the inau- 

 guration of the recently-restored church of St. 

 Kanut, one of the oldest and finest monuments 

 of mediaeval architecture. At this ceremony 

 all the clergy of the province were present, 

 and after its termination the King descended 

 the crypt, which had been discovered during 

 the work of restoration, and in which were 

 found the coffins of several of the ancient Dan- 

 ish kings. A grand banquet was given in the 

 evening in the town-hall, when both the King 

 and the crown-prince rose to propose or to re- 

 spond to toasts. After the banquet the King 

 and royal family proceeded to a wood, outside 

 the town, to assist at a popular fete, where 

 fireworks were exhibited; and on the return 

 of the royal party to the palace, a torchlight 

 procession passed through the illuminated 

 streets to the building, where the King ap- 

 peared on the balcony to greet afresh his lov- 

 ing people. All the deputies of Fionia, the 

 majority being members of the opposition, 

 were presented to the King personally at the 

 palace. Similar demonstrations greeted the 

 King in Jutland. From Fredericia the King 

 proceeded to Ribe, on the western side, near 

 the frontier of Schleswig, then along the west- 

 ern coast to Vard, whence an excursion was 

 made southward to Esbjorg, to inspect the new 

 harbor at that place. The King then turned 

 northward through the landes, to view the 

 progress made by the plantations, and then 



crossing Jutland to Hordens, proceeded thence 

 to Veile, where the steamer Slesvig waited to 

 convey his Majesty to Copenhagen. Every- 

 where the King was met with the most loyal 

 demonstrations, and addresses couched in the 

 most fervent spirit were presented. 



The Diet was reopened by the President of 

 the new ministry on the 4th of October. The 

 former President and Vice-Presidents, Krabbe, 

 Hogsbro, and Hansen, were reflected. The 

 Government at once adjourned the Diet to No- 

 vember 29th. This measure was very distaste- 

 ful to the party of the Left, and the split which 

 had existed in this party since the adoption 

 of the financial compromise at the close of the 

 last session was at once healed. The reunited 

 opposition issued a proclamation to the country 

 denouncing the ministry. When the session 

 was opened, on November 29th, the Minister 

 of Finance laid before the Diet the financial bud- 

 get which estimates the revenue for the coming 

 year at 50,008,842 krone (1 krone = $0.268), 

 the expenditures at 46,885,045 krone. The sum 

 demanded by the 'Minister of War is 8,605,221 

 krone. The minister again declared that there 

 was no need of a new tax to meet the ex- 

 traordinary expenditures the proposed forts, 

 war-vessels, and naval stations as the amount 

 required was distributed among eight years, 

 and only 6,000,000 krone annually were needed. 



The King and Queen of Sweden visited Co- 

 penhagen on their way to Berlin, May 23d, and 

 were received by the royal family of Denmark, 

 all the ministers, and the civil and military au- 

 thorities. The King of Sweden received an ad- 

 dress from the civil governor of Copenhagen, 

 and replied to it as follows: 



My most earnest wish has been that my first visit 

 should be to the capital of Denmark. With my sin- 

 cere thanks for the splendid reception you have given 

 me, allow me to express my true friendship toward 

 the King of Denmark, the royal family, and Den- 

 mark herself. 1 confidently hope that the fraternal 

 feelings which have long united Denmark with her 

 two closely-related neighbors may be still further 

 strengthened, to the profit of the people and their 

 sovereign. 



Subsequently, a painful impression was cre- 

 ated at Copenhagen by the speech which the 

 King of Sweden was reported to have made at 

 the banquet given to him in Berlin. The King, 

 when toasting the Emperor William, was re- 

 ported to have expressed the hope that the old 

 comradeship which had existed between the 

 Swedish and the Prussian armies might be re- 

 newed and strengthened. Attention was nat- 

 urally called to the fact that the last time 

 when the Swedes and Prussians fought side 

 by side was in the year 1814, that the common 

 foe on that occasion was Denmark, and that 

 the war resulted in the cession of Norway by 

 Denmark to Sweden. The King of Sweden 

 was never popular in Denmark, as he is sup- 

 posed to sympathize with the Germans against 

 the Danes, but he had, at least in certain cir- 

 cles, made a favorable and pleasing personal 

 impression during his recent visit. 



