THE CRISIS IN DENMARK.
AFFAIRS in Denmark are in a bad way, and between an Opposition whose Radicalism has a rather deep Socialist background, and a King and Conservative party who apparently fancy that unconstitutional government is the best to prevent revolutions, it is not easy to see how matters are going to im- prove. It is quite plain that all the fundamental principles of Parliamentary administration have been long since openly set aside by the Conservative party, which is unfortunately begin- ning to be spoken of as the King's party, and it is becoming plain that some at least of the Opposition leaders are inclined to meet unconstitutionalism with unconstitutionalism, and the partisanship of the Palace with the partisanship of the streets. This is the third dissolution of the Danish Parliament during the past couple of years, and this is the third time that a Dissolution has resulted in a majority for the Left. Never- theless, there is still no sign of the King making trial of a Left Cabinet to cure or to mitigate the existing discontents. At present, the Conservatives are simply nowhere in the Lower House, or Folkething. Out of one hundred and two Deputies, but twenty-eight are supporters of "the King's party." Is it not high time, according to all constitutional usage, as well as all sane reasoning, for the King to change his party ? If he does not, if Christian IX. persists in trying to govern in the teeth of the Constitution, and by a mere majority in the Lands- thing, or Territorial Senate, his Majesty may be set down at once as the arch-revolutionist of his little, but most important kingdom. The situation of Denmark makes such a contingency as an attempted revolution a subject of European interest. It would be impossible for Prince Bismarck to permit the ascendancy of a semi-Socialist party on the very borders of Germany, at a time when Socialist agitation already forms one of the leading embarrassments of German statesmanship. Yet what would be the result of intervention ? The question is hard to answer, but it is significant that, even without the excuse of "saving society," the ambition of Berlin is distinctly recognised as in the highest degree formidable at Copenhagen. Curious as it may appear, the present discord in Denmark invites the Prussian danger from both sides. It is the cry of the Con- servatives, or so-called " National Liberals," that increased armaments are required against Bismarckism. The Radical- Socialist opposition refuse these armaments, in order to put pressure, and no unconstitutional pressure either, on the King to choose his Ministers from the majority. The retention of the Conservatives in power thus means the continued denial of means of indispensable defence against the foreigner, and the victory of the Opposition might amount to such a catas- trophe as would immediately provoke the intervention of that very foreigner. It is to be hoped, however, that Denmark will not be obliged to sit on either horn of this dilemma.
The seriousness with which the country has set itself to declare its want of confidence in the present Government be- comes all the more evident in connection with the question upon which the Ministry chose to dissolve the late Folkething. At any moment, the anxiety which prevails in Denmark as to the future designs of Prussia would call for notice ; but
when even that anxiety is avowedly subordinated to •the demand for overthrowing the Ministry, the case against his Danish Majesty's present advisers is strengthened in a high degree. The National Liberals have been beaten not only on their own merits, but notwithstanding the for- tuitous but powerful aid which they derived from being entitled, at least according to appearances, to denounce their political oppo- nents as factious obstacles to the increased security of the country. It is difficult, and would be probably unprofitable, to determine the reasons which led or forced the Opposition to take their final stand on the question of the proposed Armaments and Forti- fications Bill. They had taken a stand on so many questions, in the endeavour to reduce the Ministry to some decisive alternative, that we are authorised to conclude that it was with a full knowledge of the consequence of a rejection of the Armaments and Fortifications Bill that they did not shrink from such a step. Their conduct, however, which certainly was as defensible as the familiar Par- liamentary expedient of refusing the supplies, gave the Cabinet an unwonted opportunity. From one end of Denmark to the other, people of all shades of politics are agreed that, in its present state, the country could be overrun by a Prussian army in a time so short as entirely to preclude the arrival of foreign succour. A couple of years ago, the hopes of the Danes went so far as to lay some stress on the possibility of a general defence of the kingdom; but, with few exceptions, it is now recognised that Danish efforts are not equal to much more than the defence of Copenhagen. It seems hard for the Danes to have to contemplate the probability of having to retire within the very walls of the capital, and abandon the shrunken remnant of the Danish provinces to the tender mercies of a German General. Unquestionably, however, the more modest is also the wiser scheme ; yet, modest as it is, the ex- penses which it involves are an inordinately heavy tax on the resources of so small a State. To increase the Army, to build a number of ironclads and gunboats, as well as a fortified har- bour on the Zealand coast, for refuge against a superior fleet, and to make Copenhagen the centre of a system of outlying forts, capable of sheltering the concentrated military forces of the kingdom, requires a great outlay. Though, however, that outlay might be somewhat diminished in details, the general voice appears to be unanimous upon the necessity of the adop- tion of the plan in all its essential features, and the fact that the Royal Message was able to throw on the Opposition the blame of hindering the execution of such " urgently indis- pensable " measures, was an immense help to the Ministerialists in their electoral campaign.
In spite of all this, the Ministerial defeat has been universal throughout the country, with the single exception of Copen- hagen. In every province indifferently there have been four or five Oppositionists elected to each Ministerialist. There is thus the curious spectacle presented once more, and in still stronger relief, of a rural and semi-rural population voting in mass for the propositions of an extreme Liberalism, while a policy of Conservatism is found to recommend itself to the voters of the capital city. Part of the explanation as regards the Danish country parts is undoubtedly to be found in the antagonism between the schoolmaster body and the clerical and squirearchical classes. The Danish schoolmasters are Radical, and even semi-Socialist, to the backbone. Elevated by their culture far above the level of their rank, as compared with the gentry and the parsons, while, at the same time, closely connected in blood with the peasantry and " lower- middles," their relationships and their wounded pride combine to array them in regular antagonism to the usual rural dignitaries and personages. They are not suspected of any over-belief in the supernatural, and they are the less accessible to influences of much potency in ordinary country parts. Besides, they are honestly convinced that many, if not most, of the evils of modern society flow from the artificial system enforced by the domination of those two pernicious superiorities, " capitalism " and " caste." Such as they are, it is possible that their fellows in other lands, England not excepted, are nearer to their sentiments, and might be brought nearer to their action and influence than a Tory, or a Whig either, might like to contemplate. In Copenhagen, the influences of the Court, the Press, and the intense Conser- vatism which so often marks the trader who has made his way, give a clue to the prevalence of anti-Radical feelings. Even in Copenhagen, Pie, the Socialist leader, has just gamed a thousand votes in an electoral district where he could for- merly reckon on a mere couple of hundreds ; and Berg, the principal notability of the Opposition, has ventured on the
perilous menace that armed revolution is sometimes among the duties of peoples resolved to be free. Within a week, Christian IX. will have to make his choice between a Radical Cabinet and a further attempt to govern by the Upper House and the Army, if, indeed, the Army can be blindly depended upon against the Constitution.
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