The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-05-06
People of Denmark Adore Their Mild
ly Despotic Ruler.
(Pau Mall Gazette


The Danes, as a nation, are demo-
Gratis. Their country is too small for
class distinctions, they will tell you.
smiling good humOredly the while, as
if we'll content that it should be thus.
And, strange to say. the most thorough
going democrat among them is King
Christian TX himself. There is not a
sovereign in all Europe who is more
loved and respected by his subjects
than King Christian. Indeed, the rela-
tons between him and them are in
many respects, quite ideal They look
on him as a father, though, rather than
as a ruler, as a wise and experienced
counselor, one to whom they can ever
turn for guidance when difficulties
arise. They do not always take his
advice, it is true. On the contrary, as
often as not they receive it with cavil-
ling, and tell him rOundly they will
have none Of it-that they will follow
their own devices, in fact And the
king, when ae hears this, only smiles
and Shrugs his shoulders; for he knows
full well that, sooner or later. his peO-
pie viii come round to his way of
thinking. Meanwhile, he pays not the
slightest attention to what they NAV
say or do, bub just arranges matters
as he thinks best for the country at
large. For, as most democrats he is
at heart more than a touch of a des-
pot, a kindly and benevolent despOt. it
is true and he would as soon think of
flying as Of allowing the freaks and
fancies of party politicians to infiu-
ence his policy, or throw his kingdom
out of gear
Englishmen who visit Denmark often
profess themselves quite scandalized at
the unconstitutional state of things
they find there. Why, $50 years ago
we cut off our King Charles head for
doing precisely what your king is doing
now" one Of them exclaimed, the other
day, after listening to an account of
the way in which the Danish kingdom
is governed.
'Ah! yes! so you did" replied his
Danish host with the utmost noncha-
lance. But then, you see, your King
Charles was not popular;
whereas our King Christian is the most
popular man in all Denmark"
Is that a reason why he should be
allowed to trample on popular rights
to set at defiance the wishes of his
peoples representatives and levy what
taxes he choOses?" demanded the Eng
lishman, all agIow with virtuous indig-
nation.
yes. surely the best of reasons" re-
proud of our king; he is the handsom-
est old gentleman in Europe and ne
has the best manners 1t is quite a pic
tuTe to see him with his beautiful
daughters Then, we trust him i'm
plicitly. (NOw, if I remember rightly.
you never did trust King Charles.) We
know that his one wish is to do what
is best for US all, and we have faith in
his judgment. Thus, whenever there
IS q dispute between him and the rigs
dag, the great mass of US take up our
stand by his side, for we know the
chances are that he is in the right, and
they are in the wrong. OF course we
should be very glad if he could recon-
Gle himself to the idea Of choosing his
ministers from the ranks of the party
that are in a majority in the house
But ne cannot, il seems, and we are
not going to let him be worried about
the matter any more. He is an old
man, you see; it is natural, therefore.
that he should object 10 the changes .
Strange to san although the King Of
Denmark is a democrat, and the over
wneiming majority Of his subjects are
Democrats, too. the Danish govern-
ne1t Is, and has been for years, con-
seryatiKe. And this in spite of the