46 FRANCE-DENMARK 



enthusiasm, and promptly put into operation. 

 The Government of France reahzes to the full 

 the enormous latent wealth of her ag-ricul- 

 tural community. The huge indemnity of 

 £200,000,000 after the Franco-German War 

 was forthcoming within a few days, and solely 

 because of the accumulated savings of her 

 peasant owners. No argument can be more 

 conclusive of the importance of a large and 

 prosperous rural population than the remark- 

 able manner in which France has recovered 

 her wealth and prestige after the staggering 

 blow of 1870-71. 



The crisis in agricultural conditions which 

 overtook this country in the nineteenth cen- 

 tury affected Denmark to an almost equal 

 degree. But the geographical and national 

 difficulties which that country had to over- 

 come were not apparent here. The marvel- 

 lous recovery of her agricultural industry is 

 in striking contrast to the absolute demoraliza- 

 tion of our own, and forms one of the most 

 sensational achievements of recent years. 

 Denmark was fortunate at the time in possess- 

 ing one or two individuals whose foresight 

 and initiative laid the foundations of the 



