Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-20

| tionalize the Danes of Sohleswig immediate
| ly after the close of the Danish-Prussian
| war of 1864 and has renewed the attempts
| rg4-- along.
Success Not Very Great
"Germany's success in this respect, how
| ever has not been very great said a
prominent diploma yesterday. Acts of gross
| injustice have been laid at the door of
Germany. For instance many Danes born
and reared in the province have been dis
| franehised simply for voting In opposition
TO The repressive policy of the Prussian
government The Danish tongue Is for
hidden In schools and churches, and numer-
Gus fines and other punishments are i'm
poseu for the most trifiing offenses Life is
mace 1ntolerable in order that the people
might be compelled to Become German. And
yet according to clause of the peace
treaty between Denmark and Prussia the
Danes who wished and voted so were to be
accorded the privilege of remaining united
with Denmark Bismarck however, failed
to keep the solemn word of the Prussian
government by finding a technical flaw in
the wording of the clause. AS a result the
Schleswig- Holstein question is added to
the problems which are pressing for solu-
ton before the German empire today.
All prominent Danes struggle against
| 'Prussitication,' and the last twenty-five
years have witnessed many political con-
f1icts between the contending forces. In
campaign against the empire the Danes
maintained that Notwithstanding the great
intellectual and economic achievements of
German culture during the past fifty years,
1t cannot be denied that 1t Is in the battle
field that Germany has won her greatest
victories For that very reason, the Danes
maintain, the victories are incomplete
Cannot Assimilate by the Sword.
While you can conquer sword in hand,
| you cannot assimilate an alien race by the
sword. But the Germans have drilled into
| such excellent soldiers that they have be-
come saturated by the military instinct and
| fail to this simple truth. That is the
| opinion of the Danes. They say further,
| In struggling against oppression, that the
| subjugated races, being unwilling to dis
| card their mother language and national
culture in order to become Germans, must
be forced and coerced-that this is the
only means the imperial government has at
hand to achieve its matter of-course' pur-
pose.
The drawback of the PIussian ruling
classes is their inability to understand that
the evils of repression are not cured by
mere repression. The national and ecorom-
ic awakening of the Poles and Danes and
Firms is simply the reaction against force
of the downtrodden races. The Danes, L
believe, have it even worse than the Poles,
because the latter are rapidly increasing
in numbers and wealth, while the Danes
are mere handful against all the might
of Prussia.
When Bismarck repealed clause of the
Prague treaty which ended the Prusso-
Danish war continued the diplomat,
many Danes, discouraged at the prospect.
became Germans or sold out to them. To-
day all the machinery OF the powerful Ber-
lin government is applied to denat!onahze
these Danes. The German language is
taught in the schools; the country is del
uged with officials All that is rich and
noble belongs to the dominant race by
principle.
Population Does Not Waiver.
But the population does not waver.
Danish literature and art are the mental
property, so to speak, of even the peasant
or farmer, and when the children. who do
not emigrate any more, have grown up,
they are sent to Danish colleges to improve
their education. And they return firm in
their resolution to take up the battle where
the old generation left it.
This is the reason why in spite of her
oyerpowering strength, Germany has been
unable to make any impression on the lit
tie band of Danes on her northern frontier
In spite, also, of German colonization as
sociations, in spite OF German land banks,
in spite of the German government which
employs the large funds belonging to the
crown lands and forests for the purpose
of buying lands from the Danes-in spite of
all this, the Danes are slowly reacquirng
their paternal soil
I'm conclusion" said the diplomat II
will say that the plowshare, the greatest
weapon of defense, will conquer the sword.
And as the former belongs to the Danes
they will perforce conquer Germany's
sword"