Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 8.djvu/319

 THE NORTH SLESWIC QUESTION 307

Danish " traitor," and whose fine, if it is deemed worth while to try to dampen their patriotic ardor, is remitted by the emperor ; spending half of his time in German jails serving sentences for treason and the majesti, while his assistants and his printers, who happen to be Danish subjects, are expelled the path of the Danish editor in Sleswic is not strewn with roses. As an offset he is given the most loyal support by the people whose cause he so courageously champions. The positions of honor and trust are for the greater part filled by newspapermen. Recently the editor of the leading Danish paper Mr. Jessen, of the Flensborg Avis who between 1886 and 1899 spent an aggregate of forty-five months in prison, was rewarded with the highest gift within the bestowal of his constituents by being chosen as their representative in the German Parliament.

Among the means adopted by a weaker force for defending itself against the encroachments of a stronger, coalition has come to be recognized as one of the most effective. The maxim that " in union is strength " has been universally accepted in modern democracies. North Sleswic early was awake to the necessity of fortifying its position in accordance with this principle. Asso- ciations of every kind educational, financial, agricultural, charitable, political were formed and ramified throughout the district. At a time when almost all the young men left the land, and help as a consequence became increasingly hard to get, while prices arose correspondingly, a remedy was sought in co-operation. Producers' and consumers' societies largely super- seded private enterprise. Under the leadership of men from Denmark, where this form of modern industrial evolution has reached its highest perfection, this movement has within recent years made rapid progress. When during von Keller's reign the expulsion of the hired men from the farms rendered the crisis acute, this centralization of energy, with its attendant reduction to a minimum of operating costs, enabled the population to endure with comparative ease the economic stringencies flowing from the abnormal political conditions. Von Roller's command to "pacify" was met by the response: "Organize!" In every walk of life forced to self-help, the people emerged from the