NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE week has been one of unusual dulness, the most noteworthy fact being the progress of the Danish question towards an armed solution. All the proposals made have been rejected by the Holsteiners, whose bitterness seems to have been increased by an unfortunate diplomatic blunder. France and England, it appears, recommended the Danish Government to submit the budget of the monarchy to Holstein. The Government accepted the proposal, but in a sense distinct from that intended by their advisers. The Diet at Itzehoe was empowered to express its free opinion on the budget, but not to pass a definitive vote re specting it. The Holsteiners are, accordingly, angry at what they consider a fraud, white the Danes argue, with reason, that to submit the entire budget to Holstein would be to disarm the kingdom, as the first act of the Holsteiners would be to refuse the means demanded for defence against Germany. There the discussion rests, but the real question at issue, the determination of Holstein to establish its union with Schleswig, and combine the two Duchies into a single member of the German Federation, is wholly unaffected. Meanwhile the armed preparations continue, and Denmark has applealed to France, England, and Russia to prevent the execution of the German menace of occupation. That menace is looked upon in Denmark as implying the dismemberment of the monarchy, and will be resisted with all the strength of the kingdom. The armies at the disposal of the Diet, however, exclusive of Aus- tria, number at least two hundred thousand men, while the total armed force of Denmark, reserves included, is less than fifty thousand. No second army can be raised except by a levy en mane, and even that desperate resource is insufficient, Denmark without Schleswig-Holstein and Lauenburg—i. e. with- out its Germanized provinces—containing only 920,000 inhabi. tants, or less than 250,000 men capable of bearing arms. Man for man a Dane is far superior as a soldier to a German, but the monarchy has not, we believe, adopted the arms of precision or rifled cannon. Her sole superiority is in her fleet, which can protect Zea- land, Ffinen, and the other islands, with their half-million of inha- bitants, until Europe has time to interfere. There are rumours abroad of assistance promised by the French Government, but no negotiations tending to that result have yet transpired.
