258 



DENMARK. 



249,033,125 kroner. Of the different classes of 

 goods, articles of food rank highest, the imports 

 amounting to 130,900,000 kroner, and the exports 

 to 197,200,000 kroner; raw products come next, 

 the figures being 108,800,000 kroner and 25,600,- 

 000 respectively ; manufactured articles third, 

 the imports amounting to 71,700,000 kroner, and 

 the exports to 13,300,000 kroner ; and lastly 

 means of production, of which the imports were 

 valued at 23,200,000 kroner, and the exports at 

 12,900,000 kroner. The following table shows 

 the values in kroner of the principal classes of 

 imports and exports for 1891 : 



The trade with the principal foreign countries 

 in 1891, in kroner, is set forth in the following 

 table : 



Navigation. During 1891 there were 58,516 

 vessels, of 2,629,603 tons, entered, of which 15,- 

 719 were coasting vessels, of 203,622 tons, 14.045 

 coasting steamers, of 336,944 tons, 16,700 ocean 

 sailing vessels, of 183,479 tons, and 14,219 ocean 

 steamers, of 1,404,529 tons. There were cleared 

 59,663 vessels, of 1,073,904 tons. The merchant 

 marine, including the colonies, on Jan. 1, 1892, 

 numbered 3,607 vessels, of 310.952 tons, of which 

 353 were steamers, of 117,054 tons. 



Communications. In 1891 there were 1,247 

 miles of railroads open for traffic, about 1.000 

 miles of which were owned by the State. Up to 

 March 31, 1890, the Government had expended 

 164,141,474 kroner for the construction of its 

 railroads. 



'In 1890 the post-office forwarded 50,671.000 

 letters and postal cards, and 4,796,000 samples 

 and printed matter. 



At the end of 1891 there were 3,674 miles of 

 telegraph lines in Denmark, with 10,280 miles 

 of wire. The Government owned 2,816 miles of 

 lines. During 1891 there were 625,940 domestic, 

 1,002,637 international, and 37,560 official mes- 

 sages transmitted. 



Dependencies. The Danish colonies consist 

 of Iceland, Greenland, and the Danish Antilles. 

 (For the latter, see the article on the WEST IN- 

 DIES in this volume.) Iceland has an area of 

 39,756 square miles, with a population in 1890 

 of 70,927. Greenland has an area of about 46,740 

 square miles, and a population of 10,516 inhab- 

 itants. The value of imports from Greenland 



into Denmark in 1891 amounted to 502,013 

 kroner, and the exports from Denmark into 

 Greenland to 417.554 kroner. 



A new constitution for Iceland, establishing 

 home rule in a fuller measure than before, was 

 signed by the King on Jan. 5, 1893, and went 

 into force on Aug. 1. Iceland will possess its 

 own Legislature and administration for all local 

 affairs. The legislative authority rests in the 

 hands of the King and the Icelandic national 

 representative body, the Althing, and the execu- ' 

 tive power in the hands of the King alone. 

 Having no representation in the Danish Rigs- 

 dag, Iceland will contribute nothing to the 

 revenues of the General Government. A secre- 

 tary for 'Iceland in Copenhagen is responsible 

 for the maintenance of the new constitution. 

 The King nominates a governor for the northern 

 island, and if the Althing complains of any acts 

 of the governor the King will decide how he is 

 to be brought to account. The Althing will 

 henceforth consist of 2 houses the upper house, 

 composed of 6 members nominated by the 

 Crown, and 6 chosen by the other house; the 

 lower one, of 36 members, of whom 30 are 

 elected by the people, and 6 are named by the 

 King. 



Politics and Legislation. There were 

 grounds for expecting in 1893 an amelioration 

 of the abnormal situation that has existed for 

 years in Denmark, where the Estrup ministry 

 has governed unconstitutionally, levying imposts 

 that are rejected by the Polkething, and apply- 

 ing a budget that receives the approval of only 

 one of the chambers of the Rigsdag. The Oppo- 

 sition in Parliament seemed to have become less 

 uncompromising, and the Cabinet appeared to 

 show a more conciliatory disposition and a will- 

 ingness to make concessions. The Moderate 

 Liberals had separated from the Radicals and 

 the Socialists, and in the last elections the Radi- 

 cals had lost their majority. In the previous 

 session the ministry had profited by this situa- 

 tion, and had carried various useful bills by the 

 aid of the Moderates. One of the leaders of the 

 Moderate group, Glaus Berntsen, arranged a 

 plan of reconciliation, by which the conflict of 

 ten years would be ended with a bill of indemni- 

 ty for the financial irregularities of the Cabinet. 

 Other Liberals were less disposed to capitulate, 

 and when they demanded reductions in the budg- 

 et, notably in the military estimates, which the 

 ministry would not accede to, the negotiatons were 

 broken off, and the Folkething again separated 

 on April 1 without having voted the budget, 

 which was consequently adopted only by the 

 Landsthing and promulgated by executive de- 

 cree in the form of a provisional financial law. 

 The ministry offered to make considerable re- 

 trenchments 'if the Folkething would pass a bill 

 of indemnity legalizing the provisional laws of 

 past years, and a majority was found to approve 

 such a compromise, when the Minister of War 

 made new demands for the partial reorganiza- 

 tion and refused to modify his project for the 

 fortification of Copenhagen on the land side. 



In the spring a new agrarian party was or- 

 ganized in Fiinen and Jutland, which has for its 

 main objects the reduction of protective duties 

 and the revision of the law relating to agricul- 

 tural laborers. 



