Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1944, Page 48

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LE NORD
his counsellors decided to bestow the new political assemblies on
the people; it also studies the economic, social, political and
cultural problems that were debated by the Estates, thus giving
an almost complete picture of the important period 1830—48
when so many new ideas and political forces gained supremacy
in Danish public life. Apart from this, Hans Jensen’s work has )
its place in Danish historiography by starting a rehabilitation of
the Danish absolute government in its latest phase, a process which
has been continued by other scholars.
On June 5th, 1849, King Frederick VII signed the con-
stitution which had recently been formed by a Constituent
National Assembly. Hereby absolute government was abolished
and replaced by a limited monarchy while at the same time the
whole range of civil liberties was guaranteed the people. To
commemorate this decisive event in modern Danish history, the
present Parliament has decided to publish a history of the Danish
Rigsdag on the iooth anniversary of the signing of the Consti-
tution of 1849. With this end in mind, Parliament has, through
the intermediary of the Ministry of State, invited the Institute
to plan and edit such a work, find the necessary collaborators \
and supervise the manuscripts.
“Den danske Rigsdags Historie,« as the work will be called,
is planned in five volumes, the first two of which will describe
the development and changes of the Constitution during the
hundred years in question. The remaining three volumes are
planned to include studies of the social origins and the juridical
position of members of Parliament; treatises on the relationships
between Parliament and the courts, Parliament and the Executive,
and Parliament and the press; analyses of the development of
the technique of parliamentary life in all its aspects and finally
accounts of the way Parliament has handled questions dealing
with Greenland, Iceland and the Færo Islands during the past
century.
\
Index of Old Newspapers
To carry out its program of research in Danish social history,
it was naturally of great importance that the Institute be able
to utilize the vast quantities of facts buried in the files of old
newspapers. As a matter-of-fact it would also be most valuable
in every other kind of historical research if the rich mines of
source material newspapers so decidedly are were made more