320 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
got the better of their discretion, Danish was made church and school language in several districts where it was spoken by a minority only, contrary to the spirit of the ordinances. Thus in Angeln, whose originally Danish population had become alienated as a consequence of the purblind policy of the Danish govern- ment, an attempt was made to regain the lost ground upon the same principle as is now underlying the German propaganda in Alsace-Lorraine. The tenability of this "historic right" dogma may well be drawn in question. In Sleswic, at any rate, the mistakes it fostered were few and of short duration. Neither in point of time and extension of territory, nor in severity, can a parallel justly be drawn between the acts of the Danish govern- ment in those days and the coercive measures of the present Prussian regime. This is openly admitted by unbiased Germans. It was for voicing this conviction that Professor Delbriick was disciplined. "What the Danes then did in Sleswic," he wrote, "was mere child's play compared with the violence with which we ourselves now rule that country." A glance at the appended map which is self-explanatory will demonstrate how true to the facts this statement is. From a Danish Tillisch in 1851 to a German von Koller in 1899 is a pretty far cry.
Yet, mistakes were made and realized. Already in 1852 the language ordinances were amended. An honest effort was made to incorporate such provisions as would "insure perfect equality and efficient protection to both Danish and German nationalities." According to the new rescript, all laws and admin- istrative announcements were to be promulgated in both lan- guages ; in the legislature, all communications by the government were to be read, and all debates reported, in both, while the deputies were at liberty to use either. All departments of the administration, secular and ecclesiastical, as well as the court of appeal, were subject to the same rule, and all examinations of candidates for office were to be conducted in Danish and Ger- man both. In regard to the "mixed" districts, Danish was made the language of the school, but with a liberal provision for instruction in German ; while in the churches the two languages were to alternate, and in the local courts of justice the use of either was permitted at the choice of the defendant.
