DENMARK 



1759 



DENMARK 



THE EXCHANGE, COPENHAGEN 



The commercial and monetary clearing house of the kingdom. It is one of Denmark's finest orna- 

 ments, and a monument to King Christian IV. The tower of the building represents four dragons 

 with their tails twisted together. 



populations of over 10,000, are the beautiful 

 capital, Copenhagen, with nearly half a mil- 

 lion people ; Aarhuus, Odense, Aalborg, Horsens, 

 Randers, Esbjerg, Vejle, Fredericia, Kolding, 

 Helsingor and Svendborg. The most important 

 of these are described under their titles in 

 these volumes. 



Government. Denmark is a constitutional 

 monarchy, governed until June 5, 1915, under 

 the constitution of June 5, 1849, with its re- 

 vision of 1866. Agitation for constitutional 

 reform commenced in 1913, and the adoption 

 of the new constitution in 1915 reduced the 

 political powers of landholders and extended 

 full suffrage to women. 



Executive power is vested in the king, who 

 must be a member of the Evangelical Lutheran 

 Church, and in a council of nine ministers. 

 The right to make and amend laws rests with 

 a Parliament or legislative body, called the 

 Rigsdag, or Diet, acting with the sovereign. 

 The Rigsdag is composed of two houses, the 

 Landsthing, or Upper House, and the Folke- 

 thing, or House of Commons. There are sixty- 

 six members in the Landsthing, twelve nomi- 

 nated for life, the rest for terms of eight years. 

 Every citizen over twenty-five years old and 

 a legal resident of his district is eligible to the 

 Landsthing. The Folkething consists of 114 

 members, elected by popular vote for a term 

 of three years. According to the Constitution 



every 16,000 people may be represented in the 

 Folkething by one member. Every citizen of 

 good reputation and over twenty-five years old 

 is eligible to membership. 



All men and women who have reached their 

 twenty-fifth year, who are not in receipt of 

 public charity and who have lived for one 

 year in the electoral district in which they are 

 listed are allowed to vote. 



Members of the Rigsdag receive payment 

 of $2.68 a day, including Sundays and holidays, 

 for the first six months of each session, which 

 commences the first Monday in October, and 

 $1.50 a day for each day thereafter. Free 

 second-class passage on railways is .given to 

 them, and they may charge traveling expenses 

 to and from Copenhagen at the beginning and 

 end of the session. 



The government must present all money 

 bills first to the Folkething; in other respects 

 the houses have equal powers. Every four 

 years the Landsthing appoints from its mem- 

 bership four judges, who with others form the 

 Rigeret, a tribunal which tries parliamentary 

 impeachments. The nine ministers may speak 

 in either house, but may vote only in the one 

 in which they are members. 



For the purpose of local government Den- 

 mark is divided into eighteen counties, or am- 

 ter, each amt having a governor, or amtmand. 

 The counties are divided into hundreds, or 



