WILL DENMARK FIGHT?

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 213, 6 September 1916, Page 8

WILL DENMARK FIGHT?

. VISITING DAKE SAYS SHE WHX I : WOT. ; A NEUTRAL OUTLOOK UPON THE WAR. GERMANY.. EQUAL TO ANOTHER GREAT BLOW. The war cables etate •• that insistent rumours circulating in Germany suggest the probability of Denmark joining the Allies. Some • interesting opinions on this point were obtained by a "Star" representative thi3 morning from Mr. Sigurd Lestrup, the visiting Danish singer, who was at Kiel in the early stages of the war. "I don't believe it," was the remark of the visiting Dane, as lie proceeded to explain that, in the first place, Denmark was not financially strong enough to face the losses incurred by war. Further, she had comparatively speaking a mere handful of trained men—something like 100,000 in the field—who were the product of the mild form of compulsory training which prevailed in his country. "Looking at everything," he added," I think it will be absolutely impossible for poor old Denmark to go to war." • Aβ to whether the heart of Denmark is with the Allies was, of .course, quite a different matter, Mr. Lestrup added. j The relationship which existed between the Royal families of Denmark, England, and Russia was a very real bond, Queen Alexandra being especially well-loved. Speaking of England on the one hand and Germany on the other, the visitor said that, although the former took the Danish fleet in the beginning of the nineteenth century, that was regarded as [small compared with ivhat Germany J took in 1860, namely, Sehleswig-Holstein. I "The way the Germans have since treated the people of Schleswig," he added, "is absolutely maddening. 1 will give you an example. If the military guard sees two people standing together in the street for purposes of conversation, they will be shown out of the country in less than twenty-four hours. If they wear the colours contained in the Danish Hag (red and white) they will be arrested and prohibited from doing 60 again." "Has that feeling been accentuated since the outbreak of war?" the visitor 'was asked. "In one way, yes," was his ! reply. Mr. Lestrup remarked that since ' he came to New Zealand (through Germany, Switzerland, and Italy), he had ! regularly received Danish newspapers, ] and from these he learned that the old feeling of antagonism had been intensified. The people of Schleswig cherished a dream of reverting to Danish rule. Their case was different 'from that of Holstein, where the population was largely German, even before 18C6. Therefore Denmark -would be excedingly happy to secure the return of Schleswig alone. In fact, it Avas thought that this should be an essential part of any settlement which aimed at maintaining the future peace of Europe. Asked if it "was probable that his country expected the return of Schleswig without participating in the war, Mr. Lwtrup replied in the affirmative. "Let the 'Allies return Sc.hlesw.ig to Den mark." ho observed, "and .declare .the Kiel Canal a neutral_zone to be protected by armed forces from the Allied

countries. That is what Denmark regards as 'her lawful right. The soldiers of Schlcewig, under the German system of compulsion, have hcen fighting with the Central Powers all through, and the Germans say that they arc very clever soldiers, but their sympathies are with Kngland all the time. They fight in the German army because they are cora-f-elled. In Schleswig- alone there aro ]-robab]y 200,000 soldiers as compared with 100,000 in the whole of DcnmarK. The Danish people feel very keenly for the Sehleswig eofdiere, and have " been doing a lot for their wounded and for

• flit) dependents of those who have fallen, s Both hope that some day they will be n reunited." 1 It is interesting to note that Mr 2 Lcstrup holds the strong conviction that r the Allies will not be able to inflict a i military defeat upon Germany, but that c the- latter will bo starved into eubmis- • sion by the tightening blockade. Being 0 an officer in the Danish army, the visitor ijhas also spent seven years in Germane, .land he claims to know quite a lot about r her military machine. U A blow of the 1 trumpet and the whole thing swings into r perfect motion," die remarked, when

epealdng of the early days of the war. His impression of the Kaiser/is that he is a finer character than admitted by hie enemies, but nothing too bad can be said about the Crown Prince or the Prussian war lords. Finally, the visiting neutral believes that Germany is etill of sufficient military strength to deliver another great blow, and 'that thenar ■will extend to the European summer of next year.