Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/1399

Rh The expenditure for the Church is chiefly defrayed by theparishes and out of the revenue of landed estates belonging to the Church, and the amounts do not appear in the budget estimates. The expenses for public instruction are in great part defrayed by the parishes.

On January 1, 1912, the puplic liabilities of the Kingdom, contracted entirely for productive purposes (railways, &c.), were as follows:—

All the loans are paid off gradually by means of sinking funds. The debt amounts to about 6 £. per head of the population, and the interest to about 4 s.; but as the receipts from railways and outstanding loans, &c., amount to about the whole interest, the charge per head is nominal. The total assets of the State on January 1, 1912, amounted to 1,565,168,376 kronor; thus the financial situation of the State shows a surplus of assets of 959,072,203 kronor.

The income of the communes in 1910 was 178,630,252 kronor, and the expenditure 192,857,052 kronor. Their assets amounted to 825,957,178 kronor, and their debts to 593,144,686 kronor. The revenue of the provincial representative bodies was 11,207,989 kronor, and expenditure 12,498,481 kronor; their assets 38,498,157 kronor, and debts 16,106,911 kronor.

Defence.

.

The military forces are a militia recruited on the principle of universal service, but aided by a voluntarily enlisted personnel which forms the permanent cadres for training purposes.

Liability to service commences at the age of 21, and lasts till the end of the 40th year. The men belong to the first 'ban' of the active army or Beväring for 8 years; then for 4 years to the second 'ban'; and finally for 8 years to the Landstorm. The initial period of training is 150 days for the infantry, garrison artillery, heavy field artillery, and train. It is 281 days for cavalry, horse and field artillery, and engineers. The infantry, &c., are called up for exercise 3 times in the first period of their service, for 30 days each time. The cavalry and artillery have 2 trainings, each of 42 days.

The field army is likely to consist, in the first instance, of 6 divisions, each of 2 brigades of 2 regiments (12 battalions), with a regiment of cavalry (4 squadrons), a regiment of field artillery (11 batteries of 4 guns each), a company of engineers, a pontoon train, a telegraph detachment, a supply company, a bearer company, ammunition column and train. There would be also a cavalry division of 4 battalions and the horse artillery division (16 squadrons and 3 batteries). The total would amount to about 100,000 combatants. The first ban of the Bevaring would be able (as far as numbers go) to furnish a nearly equal number of reserve troops, while