DANISH NEUTRALITY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 80, 25 August 1914, Page 7

DANISH NEUTRALITY.

AN UNFORTIFIED COUNTRY. A WEAK Si VI IN CERMAN ARMOR. (11. T. 1!. I!;\ w, in Wellington P04.) Little 1 1 !: i .!a i'.iy in- two , de-•-lured !<,:■ it.-iura.liLy in the prosi »t war. ho.. ;ii • c ou| of the Dane v il! h-irn with.n 1; at the i.eccssit} i( " .I-i:oi[!. '\\lu> of all ui- ; »:r, bub ,is.i Danes should curse his ieek at hav.r.g to hold his hand while ■ •tliers light :ui inveterate foe? Denmark his bien forced t'> declare ecutrality ;niii to leave lio doubt about ■ ier intention to preser.e it, solely be ia.u»e of the power of fc'ie German to erulsh her. Strategically Denmark is a vastly important state to either British, Germans or Russians. II Dennurl: I'nd not been conquered "by < ermany fifty odd years ago, and if SclileoviirHolstcin had not been taken from he; and her fortifications and armies and money reduced to virtually nothii.» Germany would have no Kiel Canal for nee as nn alternative entry into the Baltic Sea, and Kiel, her second great est arsenal, would not then la witmr iXi mil'? of the North Se.i, with an entry into that fighting arena guarded ly the powerful gun? o; Heligoland. Cut Denmark's "powerful fighting guns have been reduced to ashes, and she, perforce, recnains quie.scent while ot .en fight. The Powers stood still and calmly allowed Gel-many to force her to a cowardly battle, and then despoil and cripple her. England, appealed to, shook ler head and declined to interfere. England's then Princess 1 , a daughter of tin Danish King, wept on her knees for help for her country; Englai.<. ; pitied her, and thousands of Englishimn, bjrned with indignation, bat Bismarck's course, was not staye'l uptil lie had i rushed the little kingdom and appropriated the rich, populous provinces of ISchleswig-1101.-itein. Bishop the then Premier of Ocnmark, broken in spirit, left his country and settled amongst us here in New Zealand. And Denmark, seeing no possibilities of national greatness, abandoned th, ( swot.l, and fashioned not the eannon but plough stares. Commercially she hai risen to a country of high repute, and in that Ws served the best to her own c;ds; But Britain to-day probably regrets the policy which gave strategically-situated Denmark over to the enemy. Germany can break Denmark's neutrality. almost any day, and fear little or no retaliation. She could shelter in Copenhagen 'harbor and rest secure. The straits which separate Dwimaik from the Scandinavian Peninsula are so narrow that from. Queen Alcxainlia's c'aiat<'.'iii, a few miles down the coast from the capital, you can see the white shores of Sweden. Yet Denmark cannot lold this narrow strait, for she has no navy, no forts and virtually in arinv. A few torpedo boats lie at anchor in Copenhagen harbor, but generally without crown, because of tile diversion of the money, that should pay and o<|is;i them, to more peaceful pursuits. "Eng land destroyed our naval ambitions," tie-, say, and Tecall Nelson's entry into their waters; and, with still r-e-iter bitterness, thev itdd that England had left them to their fate Gcnnany uiarcheci agtiinst them. Hut for all that, the nation s attached to Britain; it has also very ox ten sive commercial tics with Russia, since almait the Whole <-f the .Siberian and Russian butter industry is controlled bj Danes. Therefore, if there appear 'reasonable prospect of the defeat of Germany, Denmark ntay find it l to her interests, on some pretext or unoiher, to throw aside her neutrality an<] allow an invading force to 1 land on her shores, and march down upon Kiel, upon 'Lubcck and Hamburg, to attack the Ger•irans in their hinder ]>arts- tuy. Danes may even join in the attack, hyp i»; : rius to win b:vk Sclilowig-llolstein, her Alsace-Lorraine. And, strange to say, Germany is vn poorly protected at 'this point. She has not fortified against Denmark, be .tuse Denmark herself has no such woiks Five it six years ago an agitation arose in Denmark to raise an army, build a navy. and erect a chain of fortification-s.'.a-s hor mainland. but (icnnatK • threatened such an extensive, countermove that, the idea was ali.tivtoiu" 1 . Consequently the way down 1o Kiel is dear. Two country is ail deadly Hat, mid ail army could march right to '.he eanul with scarcely any interference, and the Germans would* find difficulty in K-pidlv concentrating to protect tlitmtclves because of the distance froan their chief bases. A small German garrison exists at Ohristiun~lield, on tie; Danish fiontiffr, hut the Germans have no considerable force in these parts. The German (leet is the only safeguard against, mch a movement; with its destruction the enemy enters Germany in it:- weakest and most vulnerable icirt; and !.;in. no doubt, is one reason why the German iteet refuses fur a time at least, in (inverge and risk ft fight whic i mav reduce its resistive capacity to a neglig'Me <|iiantity. Similarly, it mnv be a reason for an expensive das.li 1 at tile enemy on the part of the British fleet. Brit..in before has fought through difficulties to land troops ji the nianshy norlo. lit anv <a-e, it is not stmving out?!-! 1 the grounds of possibility to pr'-'li< t tluit, should Gennany l>e lefeate I in the pre-e.nt war, one of the ultimate lertns of settlement will be 'he return to Denmark of Selil"- \v ( t-: I T . - ; 11. What Denmark will lo towards gaining tho l * provinces remii'n.s to b" wen. But a move, may be expected from her soon. The temper of tin; people it, to say nothing "I i.le historv behind t.heim. But witn a nei'jlrbour so pswert'ul, and which ha ; so tvr.ninii-.illy »-t'd them, IJie/ will be cautions, and meantime will caret'iilv watch upon whom, the war-gods will '.e----s tew their favors.