Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/161

* DENMARK. 127 DENMARK. represented exports from Denmark. Among the principal imports from the United States are corn, cotton, iron and steel manufactures, cotton- seed, and oil. Tlie value otMie lish caught in J 800 was aliinit ^'i.OOO.OOO. B.XK.s. Denmark has 81 banks. The assets of the Xational Hank approximated $38,000,000 in 1901, about 42 per cent, of which was in spe- cie and bullion. Its note circulation was over .*-2i;.oO.000. Its capital is about $7,250,000. The number of savings banks in 1000 was iiS.i, with 1.1.")0.2.33 aceounls and more than $177,000,- 000 deposits. Nearly 47 per cent, of the popula- tion are depositors, with an average individual deposit of over $154. Government. Denmark is a constitutional monarchy based upon the fundamental law of June 5, 1849, as revised in 18G6. Tlie law-mak- ing power is vested in the King and in the Xa- tional Legislature, or Eigsdag, consisting of an I'pper House ( I.andsthing) and a popular cham- ber (Folkething) . The Landsthing is composed of 06 members, of whom twelve are appointed for life by the Crown, and the remainder are chosen for a term of eight years, partly by the representa- tives of the highest taxpayers in the towns and rural districts and partly by the representatives of the people at large. The Folkething is at present composed of il4 Deputies, the constitu- tional ratio being one Deputy for every 21,000 of the population, ilembers of the Lower House are elected for a period of three years by all male citizens above the age of thirty not engaged in menial household service and resident for a year in the district in which they enroll. Legisla- tion may be initiated in either House, but finan- cial bills must be submitted in the first instance to the Folkething, and only on the initiative of the Crown. In practice the Upper House enjoys a very large degree of influence, owing to its fea- ture of comparative permanency: and in con- junctifm with the King, who wields an absolute veto on legislation, it is frequently in the posi- tion of directing the action of Parliament. The executive power is vested in a council of eight re- sponsible Ministers, who preside over the depart- ments of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Interior, .Jiis- tice. War, Xay. Public Instruction and Wor- ship, and Agriculture. .Tustice is administered in the first instance by the judges of the hundreds in the rural com- munities and by the city magistrates in the ur- ban districts. Appeals from such courts lie to the superior courts of Viborg and Copenhagen, and in the last resort to the Supreme Court of 24 judges (Hojesteret) at Copenhagen. Together with four judges especially appointed by the Landsthing, the Supreme Court sits as a tri- bunal for the cases of impeached ilinisters. Abmy and X.wy. The Danish army is raised by conscription from among all citizens above the age of twenty-two. Substitution is not per- mitted. The terms of service are eight years with the regular army and its reserve and eight years with the supplementary reserve. The standing army in 1000 approximated 82.5 ofTicers and 10.000 men. The war footing of the nation is estimated at 60.000 men. The navy is main- tained only for purposes of coast defense. See -Vrmies and Xavies. Finance. The national budget for 1002-0.3 bal- anced at about $19,000,000. Five-sevenths of the revenues are derived from indirect taxes, for the most part customs and excise. Direct taxes and the income from national assets furnish nearly all the remainder. Of the expenditures, the fol- lowing are the largest items: Improvement of State property and reduction of debt, about one- fifth : Ministry of War, one-seventh; interest and expenses on State debt, one-tenth; ^linistry of Public Worship and Instruction, Ministry of Marine, and ilinistry of Interior, each about one-twelfth. A noteworthy feature of the finances of the kingdom is a reserve fund of comparatively a large amount, being about ■$4,800,000 in 1901. It was f(n-merly very much greater, having been about $31,155,000 in 1867. The fund was started after the war of 1804 and is designed to furnish means for the Govermuent in case of sudden emergency. The ]uiblie debt is relatively small, amotmting in 1901 to about $58,000,000, and being less than the value of the State railways alone. Over 70 per cent, of the debt is held abroad and is mostly at 3 per cent. Colonies. Of the Danish possessions, Iceland, with an area of about 40,000 square miles, has about 70,000 inhabitants; Greenland (the por- tion free of ice, which is but a small fraction of the territory belonging to Denmark), with an area of about 35,000 square miles, has about 10.000 inhabitants; and the Danish West Indies (Saint Croi.x, Saint Thomas, and Saint John), with an area of 138 square miles, have a popu- lation of about 30,000. In 1900 the value of their imports into Denmark was about $885,000 and of the exports to them from Denmark $910,- 000. Of this total trade Iceland furnished 80 per cent, and Greenland 17 per cent. For further particulars, see Iceland; Greenland, etc. Population. According to the census of 1901 the population of Denmark was 2,447,441, show- ing an increase of nearly 13 per cent, since 1890. The urban population (five-twelfths of the total) increased during the same decade about 30 per cent., while the rural population shows a gain of but 4 per cent. There were 3570 emigrants in 1900, mainly to the United States. The emigra- tion figures for the last four or five years of the nineteenth century were quite below the general average for the country since 1881. Almost the entire population is native-born. The Danes are a Teutonic people of the Scandinavian group. Height, 1.G85 meters; hair, wavy, light brown or chestnut; eyes blue; complexion pale white, swarthy or very light brown. The established Church is the Lutheran, but its seven bishops in Denmark have no political powers. Primary edu- cation is free and compulsory between the ages of seven and fourteen, and is very thoroughly diffused. The numerous high schools, mostly pri- vate, have an attendance of over 56,000. Den- mark has one luiiversity, that of Copenhagen. There are also an agricultural and a veterinary college, 21 agricultural or horticultural schools, the Royal Academy of Art (founded in 1754), the Polytechnic Institute, two academics (Sorii and llerlufsholm), and about 100 technical and com- mercial institutions. History. Of the primitive history of Den- mark nothing is known apart from the revela- tions made by investigators in the field of archiE- ology. The kitchen-middens and other primitive remains of a very ancient character indicate the early ])resencc of paleolithic man in the Danish peninstila. The sagas hand down myth^; and traditions of later but still early ages, when the