DENMARK AND THE DANES 



129 



present King of Denmark, Christian X, 

 son of Frederick VIII and grandson of 

 that clever Queen Louise, who earned 

 the name of "the maker of royal mar- 

 riages," and, according to Bismarck, "the 

 cleverest man in Europe," is related to 

 nearly every crowned and uncrowned 

 monarch in Europe except the Pope and 

 the Sultan. 



He is the cousin of the present King 

 of Greece, the brother of the King of 

 Norway, the cousin of the Queen of 

 Norway, the cousin of the late Tsar of 

 Russia, the brother-in-law of the late 

 Crown Prince of Germany, the cousin of 

 the King of Sweden, and, through the 

 marriage of his uncle, Prince Valdemar of 

 Denmark, with the daughter of the late 

 Due de Chartres, he is parente with the 

 Bourbons in all their French, Italian, and 

 Spanish branches, and, through his Eng- 

 lish connections, "kin" to the Queen of 

 Spain ! 



It is no wonder, then, that Copenhagen, 

 the capital of Denmark, has been known, 

 since Princess Alexandra married the 

 then Prince of Wales and her sister mar- 

 ried the father of the late Tsar, as the 

 royalest court in Europe. 



It does not follow from this that the 

 Danes themselves are an aristocratic na- 

 tion or not in love with real democracy. 

 Even their highest classes in the social 

 scale are much less aristocratic than 

 Swedes of the same rank, and almost as 

 democratic as the Norwegians, who are 

 probably the most democratic people in 

 the world. 



A LAND OF COOPERATION 



Denmark is, above all, a land of co- 

 operation and a land whose people are 

 very highly civilized. In fact, no people 

 existing are more literate, more inter- 

 ested in things of the mind, or more ad- 

 vanced socially than the Danes. 



It may seem strange that the royalest 

 court of Europe should exist in a country 

 which is largely constructively socialistic. 

 It seems even stranger to us that the 

 farmers in Denmark, who are the most 

 influential part of the population, should 

 take to socialistic methods. 



It does not follow, as it does in Sweden 

 and in Germany, that socialists in Den- 

 mark should hate a king. They are some- 

 times in conflict with the existing govern- 



ments and would doubtless use all their 

 influence to obtain a republic if nearly 

 all that can be gained through the appli- 

 cation of democratic ideas to government 

 had not been already achieved. 



In truth, in Denmark, under a very 

 liberal constitutional monarchy, the gov- 

 ernment has become so much a part of 

 the people that it is their government. 

 This has, in the eyes of the more con- 

 servative Danes, some disadvantages just 

 now, as the present government exists 

 mainly for the poorer classes. 



When one speaks of socialism in Den- 

 mark, one does not mean exclusively the 

 Socialistic Party. What is called the 

 Socialist-Radical Party is second in num- 

 bers in the state; but the moment any 

 party in Denmark ceases to work in the 

 upper and lower houses — the Landsting 

 and the Folketing — for the general good 

 of the farmers, the electors act at once 

 and the party is fused into a minority. 



CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY AT ITS BEST 



There is one especially admirable quality 

 that strikes the observer in Denmark — 

 'that is the capacity of the Danes for 

 "team-work." When it comes to the 

 question of a reform which the people 

 have thought about and have come to the 

 conclusion that they need, there is no 

 time lost in putting it into activity. To 

 think, among Danish folk, is to act. In 

 this they are unlike their favorite hero 

 of tragedy, Hamlet. 



It is refreshing, too, to discover that 

 no great affair concerning the good of the 

 people is undertaken thoughtlessly, and 

 the Crown does not oppose in any way 

 reforms that may lessen its privileges or 

 prerogatives. 



King Christian X is a Dane of the 

 Danes, and yet sympathetic and tolerant 

 of the legitimate claims of other nations; 

 and in Denmark one sees a constitutional 

 monarchy at its best. Wliatever one's 

 prejudices and traditions may be, one is 

 forced to admit that a constitutional 

 monarchy under such circumstances is an 

 ideal institution, especially for a small 

 state. 



The population of Denmark is about 

 3,049,000. The statisticians have not 

 included North Schleswig, recently re- 

 turned, under pressure, by Germany, in 

 this calculation. The area of Denmark 



