210 



DENMARK. 



the deficit of the university from the public 

 treasury, while the Folkething proposed to 

 cover it out of the capital fund of the uni- 

 versity, as has been done before. The differ- 

 ence with reference to the army appropriations 

 was not serious. The question of raising the 

 salaries of officials has long divided the two 

 Things, the Landsthing wishing to extend the 

 benefits of the measure to the intermediate 

 officials, and the Folkething to confine theui 

 to those of lower grades. 



The Government was still unable, after six 

 months of strife, to induce the legislative ma- 

 jority to adopt any part of its programme. 

 On May 7th the King dissolved the Legislature, 

 declaring that " it lacked either the capacity or 

 the will to discharge even a small part of the 

 weighty business which was laid before it." Of 

 112 projects for legislation brought into the 

 two Houses, 80 had not yet been passed upon, 

 including the budget bill, the matter of sup- 

 plementing officers' salaries, regulation of the 

 salaries for certain posts, a system of intend- 

 ancy for the army, the inspection of merchant- 

 vessels as to seaworthiness, and other impor- 

 tant and pressing measures. The elections 

 took place on the 24th of May. The composi- 

 tion of the new Parliament was not materially 

 different from the last. The majority of the 

 members were re-elected. The 102 represent- 

 atives in the Folkething were chosen from the 

 different social classes in the following propor- 

 tion: 87 were farmers; 20 officials and law- 

 yers; 14 teachers; 11 writers, capitalists, etc.; 

 10 land proprietors; 8 officers, and 2 trades- 

 men. Copenhagen and the surrounding dis- 

 trict elected most of the members of the 

 Right, Northern Funen and Northern Jutland 

 the Moderates, Northern and Middle Jutland 

 the seceders, who formed the new Center 

 party, and Southern Funen and Southern Jut- 

 land the so-called Radicals. There were 17 

 new men elected. The body was as badly 

 split up into factions as the Folkething which 

 had been dissolved. The Radical Left counted 

 29, the Moderate party 23, the Right 33, and 

 the ultra-Conservatives 17. The Moderates and 

 Ultras elected the president, Krabbe. Hol- 

 etein-Ledreberg declared, on the part of the 

 Left, that his party would not recede from the 

 position they had taken in the former Parlia- 

 ment. Estrnp, president of the Council, an- 

 swered that then no budget could be voted, 

 since the Landsthing were in accord with the 

 Government. The temporary allowance for 

 the current necessities of the Government, 

 which had been voted, expired June 30th. The 

 Minister of Finance requested the continuance 

 of the provisional appropriations until an agree- 

 ment on the law should be reached. This was 

 granted. Although the Right conceded point 

 after point until the sum of the items in dis- 

 pute was reduced from 1,115,000 to 200,000 

 crowns, the Left would listen to no compro- 

 mise. The ministry were not disposed to re- 

 sign and confide the direction of the Govern- 



ment to the hands of the Radicals. Conse- 

 quently, the Folkething was again dissolved, 

 July 6th. The new election on the 26th re- 

 turned a still stronger majority of the Left to 

 the Folkething. The Radicals gained 3 seats 

 and counted 32 votes ; the Right lost 2 and num- 

 bered 22 ; the Moderates were 24 in number in- 

 stead of 22 ; and the Ultras counted 19 votes, a 

 gain of one. The Opposition numbered 76 to 

 26 ministerialists. The Parliament assembled 

 August 8th. The Crown Prince prepared the 

 address, in the absence of the King in Austria, 

 which was read by the Minister-President, 

 Estrup, without eliciting the usual cheers. 

 Krabbe was again elected president. The min- 

 istry announced that in case the Parliament 

 failed to pass a financial bill it would not again 

 be dissolved, but would be prorogued to the 

 regular session, commencing October 3d, while 

 the Government must content itself with the 

 provisional supplies. The Landsthing made 

 only four amendments in the financial bill as 

 it came up from the Folkething, involving less 

 than 200,000 crowns, omitting all the other 

 points of strife. The Folkething rejected the 

 amendments by a vote of 71 to 21, and the 

 Landsthing, by a majority of 49 to 7, insisted 

 upon the four items. The extraordinary ses- 

 sion was then closed by the Crown Prince, on 

 the 30th of August. Parliament opened Oc- 

 tober 3d without an address from the throne, 

 and, after organizing, adjourned to November 

 29th. 



The political condition of Denmark is in 

 many respects peculiar. Over one half of the 

 population are engaged in agricultural pursuits. 

 This body of agriculturists are prosperous, in- 

 telligent, and exceedingly active politically, and 

 progressive in their opinions. Yet within a 

 life-time this same class languished in a state of 

 practical serfdom. Strachey, an English stu- 

 dent of Danish affairs, says: "The Danish 

 Jorddrot (landlord) was, till recent times, the 

 scourge of the peasantry. Under his parental 

 love the Danish Bonde (farmer) was a mere 

 hewer of wood and drawer of water; his lot 

 was no better than that of the most miserable 

 ryot of Bengal. The Bonde is now the freest, 

 the most politically wise, the best educated of 

 European yeomen." This social reform has 

 been accomplished by the co-operation of all 

 classes. The advance from the feudalism of 

 the middle ages to the van of modern progress, 

 accomplished in a short period, has brought 

 about a combination of political ideas and so- 

 cial habits not found in other countries, and 

 resulted in a political organization and legal 

 arrangements which are peculiar and in some 

 respects worthy of imitation. The Danish 

 nobility, who have so lately abdicated the 

 privileges of their order, naturally hold very 

 enlightened and advanced political and social 

 theories. Naturally, also, they preserve much 

 of the pride of feudal barons and the habits of 

 social caste. In feudal society, the spirit of 

 caste runs through all ranks, and in Denmark 



