9 86 DENMARK 



to order a public investigation of the affairs of the savings bank connected with Alberti 

 the supreme control of the savings banks being vested with the Ministry of Iriteriorl ' 



During 1910 politics were stagnant. The next elections to the Folketing took place 

 on May 20, 1911. While the united Radicals and Socialists maintained their figures the 

 Conservatives lost eight seats to the Left Reform party, once more reunited under the 

 leadership of M. Christensen, who thus controlled 56 out of the 114 members of the 

 Chamber. 



The State trial of M. Christensen and M. Berg was concluded on June 17, when 

 M. Christensen was acquitted though admonished and M. Berg sentenced to a fine; 

 In December, when the criminal trial of Alberti himself came on, after two years of 

 judicial investigation of his affairs, he was condemned to eight years' penal servitude! 



Soon after the opening of the special session of the Rigsdag, M. Zahle made way (July 

 4) as Premier to M. Klaus Bernsten (b. 1844), the leader of the moderate section of the 

 Left. Several of the new ministers, including M. Neergaard and Count Ahlefeldt, who 

 both returned to their former posts, belonged to this political group. 



On July 19 a bill sanctioning a temporary loan of 2,000,000 was introduced in the 

 Folketing; and during 1911 the chief political debates were concerned with financial 

 matters. Another temporary loan of 3,111,000 was sanctioned by the Rigsdag, two 

 millions of which was in renewal of the previous temporary loan. M. Neergaard intro- 

 duced that year a scheme of new taxation, comprising extra stamp duties, increased 

 railway fares, a special tax on amusements, increased taxation of beer and spirits, and 

 an increase of income tax on a graduated system; A question long before the Rigsdag 

 was also settled by the establishment of local church councils. 



On February 14, 1912 a debate took place on the foreign policy of Denmark, the For- 

 eign Minister once more advocating the necessity of Denmark following a policy of 

 absolute neutrality. As was stated by Count Ahlefeldt, Denmark was neither directly 

 nor indirectly bound by verbal or written agreements, still less by treaties or alliances 

 tending to infringe this principle. The military and naval works agreed to by the Rigs- 

 dajg in 1910 were now taken in hand, and a number of Volunteer Corps, armed with the 

 quick-firing " recoil " rifle, were formed in various parts of the country during 191 z. 



The death of King Frederik VIII (1843-1912) took place with tragic suddenness on 

 May 14 in Hamburg, where the King was staying on his way back to Denmark after 

 having spent some time as convalescent at the Riviera after a serious illness earlier in 

 the year. The Crown Prince, Christian Carl Frederik Albert Alexander Vilhelm (b. 

 September 26, 1870), who married Princess Alexandrine Auguste, Duchess of Mecklen- 

 burg-Schwerin (b. December 24, 1879) on April 26, 1898, was proclaimed as Christian X 

 the following day in Copenhagen. The new king at once established his popularity 

 by a speech from the balcony of the Palace of Amalienberg, in which he promised to 

 guard the " happiness, independence and liberty " of Denmark. The burial of King 

 Frederik took place on May 24 at Roskilde cathedral, the chief mourners including the 

 Kings of Sweden, Norway and Greece. The ceremony was unique in the meeting of 

 three Scandinavian kings after a lapse of nearly 550 year's. 



A loan of 4,000,000 was agreed to by the Rigsdag in June, z| millions being sub- 

 scribed in Great Britain. 



The speech from the throne at the opening of the Rigsdag in October announced a 

 Reform bill amending the revised constitution of 1866, on the lines of a return to the 

 principles of the original Grundlov of 1849. The measure was introduced on October 

 23 and passed the Lower House on Dec. 13 by 95 votes to 12. By it women 

 were given the vote and the right to sit in the Folketing; the minimum age for 

 votes was reduced from 30 to 25; the possible number of members of the Folketing 

 was raised from 114 to 132; the duration of the Folketing was extended from 3 years 

 to 4 (that of the Landsting remaining at 8 years); election by privilege and royal 

 nomination to the Landsting was abolished; of the 66 members of the Landsting 54 

 were to be elected by electors chosen by town and parish councils from among their 

 members in proportion to the number of the inhabitants in their town or rural district, 



