No. 98.
Mr. Cramer
to Mr. Evarts.
Copenhagen, March 1, 1878. (Received March 18.)
Sir: Referring to my dispatch No. 458 of the 12th ultimo, contradicting the report of the contemplated occupancy by Danish troops of Schlesvig, &c., I have now the honor to further inform you that the Danish minister of foreign affairs, having recently been questioned on the subject by a member of the Rigsdag, took occasion, in a public session of said Rigsdag, not only to deny the truth of said reports in the most formal manner, but also to warn the public against giving credence to similar reports that have been or may yet be invented and circulated by unscrupulous newspaper reporters. He also expressed both the hope and likelihood of Denmark being able to keep herself aloof from the present European complications.
Equally wanting in truth are more recent reports, according to which Denmark and Sweden-Norway intend conjointly to participate in the great politico-diplomatic questions of the day, and thus force the so-called “North Schlesvig question” upon the attention of Europe for a final settlement.
Although the Swedish Government has not seen fit, so far as I know, to formally deny this report, yet the Swedish-Norwegian Correspondence, a journal of influence and standing, and generally well informed on home affairs, published in Stockholm, utterly repudiates it as having not the slightest foundation in fact or truth.
I am, &c.,