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312 absolute German majority in two of the three districts embracing the disputed territory, is never polled. It will be observed, then, that, while the German column shows a steady, though slow, rise, the Danish vote constantly decreased down to 1886, when it reached its lowest level. As almost literally all sons of Danish parents had left home (the total emigration from North Sleswic 1867-90 amounted to 51,000), this result was bound to follow. The ranks of the older generation, by the natural course of human events, were gradually decimated; none there were to fill their places.

The year 1887 signalizes the turning of the tide. The young men, no longer shirking their responsibilities, were reaching the voting age. Every election since then marks a notable increase in the number of Danish votes, even relatively larger than that of the opponents. At a by-election held last spring to fill the vacancy caused by the death of the Danish representative in the Reichstag, the Danish vote, although on its face showing an actual diminution, virtually represented substantial progress, as the loss was considerably less than the number of names arbitrarily stricken off the registration lists on the eve of election, on the pretext that they belonged to persons whose Prussian citizenship was in doubt, although they had exercised their right of suffrage unchallenged for a number of years. "In this respect," writes Kieler Zeitung commenting on the result, "this newest phase of the 'policy of the firm hand' shows no progress." As a German estimate of the situation, this is not without interest.

In attempting to trace the line of reasoning pursued by German apologists of the policy of denationalization in North Sleswic, due account must be taken of the fact that this, politically speaking, is primarily an internal Prussian affair, for which the nation as a whole cannot justly be held responsible. This aspect has been repeatedly emphasized by politicians and writers refusing to be identified with Prussian administrative methods. As a natural outcome of their mode of election, the