248 



DENMARK. 



and can steam 18^ knots. The other ironclads, 

 built on older models, have thin armor and lighter 

 guns. The " Tordenskjold," launched in 1880, 

 is a torpedo cruiser protected by deck armor, 

 carrying 1 heavy gun, a 50-ton or 14-inch Krupp 

 breechloader in an armored barbette, and 2 swift 

 torpedo launches, besides appliances for ejecting 

 Whitehead torpedoes. Her speed is 13 knots. 

 The " Fyen " is a protected cruiser, launched in 

 1888, of 2.700 tons displacement, capable of mak- 

 ing 18 knots, and having an armament of 18 

 light guns. The " Valkyrie," launched in the 

 same year, has a displacement of 3,000 tons, 2-i- 

 inch steel plating on the sloping deck, 2 10-ton 

 and 6 4^-ton guns, and engines of 5,000 horse- 

 power capable of propelling the cruiser at the 

 rate of 17 knots an hour. 



Commerce and Production. Nearly half 

 the area of Denmark is pasture and meadow 

 land, and one third arable land. In 1889 the 

 harvest of wheat was 4,825,311 bushels ; of rye, 

 16,798,647 bushels; of barley, 19,323,617 bushels: 

 of oats, 25,758,591 bushels ; of potatoes, 16,913,- 

 832 bushels ; of other root crops, 28,825,434 bush- 

 els. The value of the agricultural produce was 

 274,396,459 kroner. There were 375,533 horses 

 and 1,459,527 horned cattle in 1888, and during 

 that year 17,753 horses and 89,404 head of cattle 

 were exported, and besides these 59,155 sheep and 

 goats and 16.926 hogs. Provisions, live animals, 

 and cereals constitute 70 per cent, of the exports 

 of the country. The export of butter to Great 

 Britain has increased fivefold in twenty years, 

 and now represents about three quarters of the 

 exports of provisions, which make nearly half 

 the total exports of the country. The total value 

 of the imports in 1888 was 274,401,000 kroner, 

 and that of the exports was 192,699,000 kroner. 

 The values of the principal exports were as follow : 

 Colonial products, 6,735,888 kroner; beverages, 

 2,813,166 kroner ; textile manufactures, 4,450,466 

 kroner ; metals and metal goods, 3,106,926 kron- 

 er ; coal, 1.657,746 kroner; timber and wood man- 

 ufactures, 3,824,154 kroner ; grain, 15,466,086 

 kroner ; live animals, 29,799,234 kroner ; butter, 

 eggs, and pork products, 92,455,704 kroner. 



The share of each country in the imports of 

 1888 was : Germany, 100,280,790 kroner ; Great 

 Britain, 62,548,128 kroner; Sweden and Norway, 

 43,467.882 kroner; Russia, 25,657,146 kroner; 

 United States, 9,656,802 kroner; Holland, 6,401,- 

 988 kroner ; Belgium, 5,889,798 kroner ; France, 

 5,131,188 kroner ; Danish colonies, 3,321,818 

 kroner ; the rest of America, 567,360 kroner. Of 

 the exports, Great Britain took 116,126,046 kron- 

 er ; Germany, 35,969,988 kroner ; Sweden and 

 Norway, 25,5*89,412 kroner ; Danish colonies, 3,- 

 781,368 kroner; Russia, 3,516,570 kroner ; United 

 States. 1,979,136 kroner; France, 1,589,886 kron- 

 er; Holland, 1,012,098 kroner; Belgium, 818,- 

 226 ki'oner ; minor American countries, 22,590 

 kroner. 



The imports of precious metals in 1888 were 

 4,000,000 and the exports 2,500,000 kroner 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered 

 at Danish ports in 1889 was 26,833, of 2,034,140 - 

 tons, and the number cleared was 26,198, with 

 550,261 tons of cargo. Of those entered, 11,992, 

 of 1,335,099 tons, were steamers ; and of those 

 cleared, 11,854, of 424,318 tons. This was exclu- 

 sive of the coasting trade, which embraced 28,- 



381 vessels, of 498,649 tons, entered, and 29,617, 

 of 473,375 tons, cleared. 



The merchant fleet in 1890 comprised 8.096 

 sailing vessels, of 185,393 tons, and 311 steam 

 vessels, of 103,824 tons, showing an increase in 

 one year of 45 sail vessels, of 10,103 tons, and 

 in the steamers an increase of 18 in the number 

 and 8,173 in the tonnage. 



Communications. The state railroads in 

 1890 had a length of 1,000 miles. The total cost 

 was 160,240,362 kroner. There were besides 230 

 miles of private railroads. The length of tele- 

 graph lines was 3,674 miles, of which 2,700 miles 

 belonged to the Government. The total length 

 of wires was 10,280 miles. The number of mes- 

 sages in 1889 was 1,539,665, of which 545,493 

 were domestic, 960,908 foreign, and 33.264 official. 

 The post-office in 1888 conveyed 45,258,000 let- 

 ters and post cards, and 2,932,000 samples, circu- 

 lars, etc. 



Iceland. The chief of the dependencies of 

 Denmark is Iceland, which, under the charter of 

 Aug 1, 1874, legislates for itself and administers 

 its own affairs, under the direction of the Danish 

 minister for Iceland, through a governor, who 

 has under him an amtmand for the western and 

 one for the northern division of the island. The 

 legislative authority is vested in the Althing, 

 having 36 members, of whom 30 are elected by 

 the people and 6 are named by the King. The 

 area of Iceland is 36,756 square miles. The pop- 

 ulation in 1880 was 72,445. It has diminished 

 through emigration to the United States and the 

 Canadian northwest, and at the end of 1888 was 

 reduced to 69,224. 



Colonies. The habitable shore of Greenland 

 constitutes a Danish colony, which has an area 

 estimated at 46,740 square miles. The popula- 

 tion at the end of 1888 was 10,221, comprising 

 4,838 males and 5,383 females. The colony im- 

 ported from Denmark in 1889 goods of the value 

 of 453,425 kroner, and exported to Denmark prod- 

 uce worth 558,445 kroner. 



The most productive of the colonial possessions 

 of Denmark are the three little sugar islands in 

 the West Indies, called the Danish Antilles. St. 

 Croix, or Santa Cruz, is 74 square miles in ex- 

 tent, and has a population of 18,430 ; St. Thomas 

 has an area of only 23 square miles, but contains 

 14,389 ; and St. John, 21 square miles, supports 

 944 inhabitants. The bulk of the population 

 consists of negroes. The sugar exports have 

 greatly declined in recent times. 



Politics and Legislation. A section of the 

 Left, having grown tired of the barren struggle 

 between the executive and legislative branches 

 of the Government that has impeded legislative 

 progress and nullified the Constitution for twenty 

 years, entered into negotiations with the Con- 

 servatives during the session that ended on 

 March 31, 1891, and came to an agreement with 

 them on the question of the allotment of garden 

 land to agricultural laborers and on the sugar 

 duties. Subsequently they concurred in impor- 

 tant changes in the poor laws, and made the be- 

 ginning to a thorough revision of the tariff and 

 internal revenue laws. The constitutional con- 

 flict, which hinges on the question of responsible 

 or Parliamentary government, has riot been 

 abandoned by the Liberals who thus joined with 

 the Government party for the purpose of carry- 



