DENMARK. 



191 



47,543,367 crowns ($12,742,000), against 44,- 

 170,634 crowns in 1879-'80. The budget for 

 1882-'83, voted May 12th, provides for a total 

 expenditure of 52,624,199 crowns ($14,103,- 

 000), and states the revenues at 49,856,050 

 crown? ($12,093,000). Of the total receipts, 

 9,117,000 crowns are raised, by direct taxes im- 

 posed on land and houses ; 30,791,000 crowns 

 are raised by indirect taxation, of which about 

 20,000,000 crowns come from customs, 7,000,- 

 000 crowns from stamps and fees, and 3,000,000 

 crowns from the excise duty on liquor; 1,176,000 

 crowns are the net revenues from the domains 

 and forests; 3,134,200 crowns the net profits on 

 the railroads, 840,000 crowns the profits of the 

 Government lottery, 849,000 crowns the in- 

 terest from the reserve funds, and 1,055,000 

 crowns the interest on improvement loans. 

 The postal service shows a slight surplus reve- 

 nue, balanced by a small deficit in the telegraph 

 service. The gross receipts from the railroads 

 are 11,440,200, and the running expenses 8,306,- 

 000 crowns. The principal expenses are 9,879,- 

 800 crowns for interest on the public debt, 

 9,004,309 crowns for the army and 5,732,585 

 crowns for the navy, 7,539,174 crowns for pub- 

 lic works, and 2,227,100 crowns for subsidies 

 and advances, about 3,350,000 crowns for pen- 

 sions and 1,125,000 crowns for the civil list 

 and appanages, 1,340,000 crowns for worship 

 and instruction, 2,500,000 crowns for the ad- 

 ministration of justice, 3,000,000 crowns for 

 administration of the finances, and 3,798,000 

 crowns for extraordinary expenditures in the 

 various departments. 



The public debt amounted on March 31, 

 1880, to 173,326,628 crowns, and the assets of 

 the Government to 98,059,731 crowns, leaving 

 a net indebtedness of 75,266,897 crowns. The 

 funded domestic debt amounted to 156,489,841 

 crowns, besides 858,914 crowns which were 

 payable. The floating liabilities were 2,074,- 

 206 crowns. The foreign debt amounted to 

 13,903,667 crowns, most of which consisted of 

 English loans borrowed at 4 per cent. The 

 assets comprised 33,117,722 crowns, invested 

 in productive public works; 37,142,992 crowns 

 in loans and securities, constituting the reserve 

 fund ; and 27,799,017 crowns in various assets. 

 The total amount expended on the Govern- 

 ment railroads up to that date was 72,115,731 

 crowns. 



ARMY AND NAVY. Military service is uni- 

 versal and obligatory, according to the military 

 laws of July 6, 1867, and July 25, 1880. The 

 term of service begins at the age of twenty- 

 two, and lasts sixteen years, eight in the line 

 and eight in the reserve. Not more than six 

 to eleven months of actual service are required 

 from the infantry and twenty months from the 

 cavalry, only enough men being kept with the 

 colors as are necessary for garrison duty. The 

 number of soldiers in the first ban, or active 

 period of service, in 1881, was 35, 293: in the 

 infantry, 26,992; cavalry, 2,180; artillery, 

 4,755 ; engineers, 1,366. The number in the 



second ban, or reserve, was 10,925 infantry 

 and 2,793 artillery, together 13,718. The total 

 war strength of the army, counting officers and 

 men, is 50,522. (See NAVIES OF EUROPE.) 



POLITICAL EVENTS. Owing to the large per- 

 sonal power retained by the King in Denmark 

 and the diversity of representation in the two 

 Legislative Houses, Denmark is governed by a 

 ministry which is not in accord with the ma- 

 jority of the Lower House, and a conflict has 

 occurred between the majority on the one side, 

 and the Government and the Upper House on 

 the other. This culminated in a constitutional 

 crisis, the elements of which were described 

 in the. "Annual Cyclopedia" for 1881. A 

 compromise on the disputed items in the bud- 

 get was finally arrived at in May. The Radi- 

 cal majority in the Folkething triumphed in 

 the main points. The increase of official sal- 

 aries was not granted for those who draw over 

 2,500 crowns a year, and the deficit of the 

 University of Copenhagen must be covered by 

 drawing on its capital funds or by a loan. The 

 extraordinary outlays for military purposes 

 projected by the ministry were agreed to by the 

 Lower House. The struggle was mainly over 

 the interpretation of the Constitution, the 

 Folkething, which had been twice dissolved and 

 for the third time returned with a Radical major- 

 ity, claiming the exclusive right to vote the bud- 

 get, and demanding that its votes on money bills 

 should be simply registered in the Landsthing. 

 The vast plans of the ministers for works of 

 military defense were postponed until the fol- 

 lowing session. In November, in the early 

 part of the regular annual session, the project 

 was laid before the Diet again, but augmented 

 by several millions. It involves the expendi- 

 ture of 72,283,500 crowns, to be spread over 

 ten years. The chief items, are 34,000,000 

 crowns for land fortifications and 13,270,000 

 crowns for sea fortifications at Copenhagen, 

 8,800,000 crowns for enlarging the navy, 

 6,900,000 for a fortress atHelgenas, on the east 

 coast of Jutland, and 3,425,000 for a navy- 

 yard. The rest is for minor fortifications. 



In the primary elections for the Landsthing 

 in September, the Right, the party of the Gov- 

 ernment, gained largely, carrying many dis- 

 tricts which had recently returned Radical del- 

 egates to the Folkething. 



FAMINE IN ICELAND. The severe polar win- 

 ter of 1881-' I 82 caused a famine in Iceland. 

 Owing to the masses of ice which collected on 

 the northern coast, winter temperatures and 

 snow lasted until the autumn of 1882, render- 

 ing agriculture impossible in some districts, 

 and destroying large numbers of cattle and 

 ponies, which perished for lack of fodder. In 

 the northern part of the island the hay-crop 

 failed entirely. Epidemics of small-pox and 

 measles increased the distress of the people. 

 Provisions were sent to the suffering Icelanders 

 from England and Denmark. More timely as- 

 sistance would have been rendered if the reports 

 of the calamity had not been contradictory. 



