THE NORTH SLESWIC QUESTION 305
Of course, the request was flatly refused. The whole popu- lation arose as one man in defense of a principle so vital to all as freemen and as Danes. Herr von Roller possibly realizing that he had gone a step too far, and foreseeing ultimate defeat in the higher courts ; or perhaps also acting upon a suggestion from Berlin, where the matter had been aired in spirited sessions of the representative bodies soon, however, dropped this feature of his scheme, and reverted to the safer method of banishment.
The expulsions continued unabated as long as he filled the gubernatorial chair. To a deputation having the temerity to ask him why and for how long this war was being waged he gave, in substance, this characteristic answer : " I want peace ; but peace on my terms, not on yours. Stop your agitation ; dissolve your organizations ; keep quiet ! Do as I say, and the expulsions will cease ; if not, the war will go on." His terms were not accepted, and the war went on.
In 1901 von Keller's services for the aggrandizement of his fatherland were rewarded by his promotion to the governorship of Alsace-Lorraine, where the French are now presumably being initiated into the mysteries of the "policy of the fist." Under his successor, Herr von Wilmowski, relative quiet has hitherto prevailed in Sleswic, occasionally interrupted by a few sporadic cases of expulsion. That the present incumbent is in fullest accord with the spirit and methods of his predecessor there can, however, be little doubt. Modern German aggressiveness is not apt to retrace its steps. The whole in last analysis resolves itself into a question of expediency. The temporary lull may at any moment give place to a renewed outbreak of the storm. Ill- boding clouds are still lowering in the horizon. In the meantime the army of defenders is sleeping on its shields.
II. THE POPULAR RESPONSE.
Turning now briefly to this little army of a hundred and fifty thousand farmers what, and whence derived, are its means for carrying on the unequal struggle?
A potent factor throughout the campaign has been the close- ness of the relations with Denmark. It is hardly an exaggera-
