DENMARK. 



227 



erenoe to the support of the preachers, which 

 had been in debate for a year, had been de- 

 ciiK-il. The Folkething rejected a bill which 

 had been passed by the Landsthing to extend 

 thy Interest-guarantee of a private banking 

 company which hud undertaken the construc- 

 tion Hi' a railroad-bridge between the islands 

 <>)' I.aaland and Falster. In the latter part of 

 January, a bill relating to the responsibility 

 ol" the- ministry was introduced into the Folke- 

 thing. It imposed conditions which would 

 bear very hardly against a ministry obnoxious 

 to an Opposition majority, and render their 

 speedy retirement from office certain, while to 

 a ministry acceptable to them it would operate 

 to give a prolonged lease of power. It pro- 

 vided substantially for the continuance of a 

 ministry for so long a period as the majority 

 of the Chamber should make no complaint 

 against it. This bill was passed in February, 

 by a vote of 64 to 32, but was summarily laid 

 aside by the Landsthing. The session of the 

 Legislature, having reached its constitutional 

 limit at the beginning of February, could not 

 be continued longer, except by the express 

 permission of the King. This had been given 

 regularly whenever occasion required till 1863. 

 After that time the session had been prolonged 

 only once, in 1860 ; since then, for fifteen 

 years, it had adjourned promptly at the end of 

 its allotted time, whether its business was com- 

 pleted or not. None of the necessary bills 

 having been passed, the King now authorized 

 the prolongation of the session for two months, 

 to give time for the consideration of the finan- 

 cial, ecclesiastical, and military bills. On the 

 17th of February the Folkething passed the 

 bill for a system of land defense, but with a 

 reduction of the sum asked for by the Govern- 

 ment, and with the addition of a supplementary 

 clause, directing that the money be raised by 

 a tax on property and incomes. On the llth 

 of March the Folkething adopted, by a vote of 

 63 to 7, the bill for the organization of the 

 army, with certain amendments which had 

 been proposed by the Array Committee, pro- 

 viding for a reduction of the standing army, 

 and the conversion of a part of the force into 

 Landwehr, or militia. In the finance bill the 

 Government had had inserted an appropriation 

 of 380,000 crowns for completing the iron- 

 clad ship Heligoland. This was stricken out by 

 the Folkething, whereupon the Government 

 asked for 280,000 crowns for the ship. The 

 sum of 204,000 crowns was granted. The bill 

 as passed also provided for a tax of 300,000 

 crowns for the pay of the teachers in the pub- 

 lic schools. The sum was less than had been 

 asked for by the Government, and was de- 

 clared by the Minister of Instruction to be in- 

 sufficient, but the House refused to increase it. 

 March 29th the Fo2keth ing adopted the amend- 

 ments to the army bill which had been pro- 

 posed by the Left, by a vote of 56 to 39, and 

 then rejected the bill by a vote of 47 to 47. 

 While the Lower House adhered to the modi- 



fications it had adopted in the bill for the for- 

 t ideation of the country, the Upper House aa 

 strongly insisted upon the adoption of the 

 plans of tiie Government. With these im- 

 portant bills in this shape, and without reach- 

 ing any agreement on the financial bill, the 

 Legislature came to an end March 29th. On 

 the same day the Folkething was dissolved by 

 a royal decree, for the reason, as assigned, that 

 while measures for the defense of the country 

 were of pressing necessity, this House had re- 

 fused all the measures asked by the Govern- 

 ment, and an understanding could not be 

 hoped for with the Folkething as then con- 

 stituted. 



The elections for a new Folkething were 

 held on the 25th of April. They resulted in 

 large gains for the Left, or Opposition. While 

 this party had had 60 members in the old 

 Folkething, they now returned 74 members, 

 and only 27 supporters of the Government 

 were elected. 



The new Folkething met on the 15th of May. 

 The next day the Minister of War laid before 

 it three drafts of laws, which the Government 

 desired adopted : 1. Of a law providing a sys- 

 tem of defense for the country, in the form in 

 which it had been adopted by the Landsthing 

 at the former session, but in which the Folke- 

 thing had refused to concur; 2. Of a law for 

 the provision of the army with horses and 

 wagons in case of war ; 3. Of a bill for pro- 

 curing and making field-guns. The bill for the 

 provision of the army with horses and wagons 

 was adopted on the 23d. The reintroduction 

 of the fortification bill, in the same form as 

 the one which the previous Folkething had 

 refused to accept, was very unacceptable to 

 the Opposition. Boisen, one of the leaders 

 of that party, offered resolutions declining to 

 consider the propositions of the Government 

 in their present shape, and directing that a 

 committee be chosen to consider whether a 

 different basis could not be arranged upon 

 which this matter could be settled with the 

 Government. To these motions the Minister 

 of Finance, President of the Council, Estrup, 

 replied that if the Government could not re- 

 ceive the help of the Chamber in advancing 

 its plans, it would give up the whole scheme. 

 Boisen remarked that he thought the ministry 

 ought not to attempt to remain in power after 

 such a declaration, whereupon Estrup replied 

 that no one would be more ready than himself 

 and his colleagues to surrender their positions 

 if men could be found who would be better 

 able than they to carry out what they con- 

 sidered necessary for the defense of the coun- 

 try. The committee chosen in accordance 

 with the motion of Boisen consisted of 15 

 members, of whom 11 were of the Opposi- 

 tion and 4 of the Right, or of the supporters 

 of the Government. On the 23d of May the 

 committee asked the ministry whether they 

 were ready to consider with the Rigsdag the 

 propositions adopted by the Folkething at the 



