660 



DENMARK. 



Statistics. 



Holstein. 



Police. 



Valdemar IT. in 1240. Tt is easy to perceive, however, 

 that these lavs must have been subjected to many al- 

 terations in modem times. Several districts and cities 

 have faws of their own, as Heligoland, Femern, Eys- 

 tersted, F.rested, Husum, and Fredericstadt. The laws 

 of Holstein are contained in several voluminous col- 

 lections, and consist of a number of charters, ordonances, 

 and rescripts, which have appeared at different periods. 

 Tliey acknowledge the Roman law in some instances, 

 and the decrees of the diet of the empire have also some 

 authority. The police of Denmark is in general the 

 same as that of the other countries of Europe. It em- 

 braces many useful regulations, and is by no means of 

 that inquisitorial description which is commonly found 

 under arbitrary governments. The details will be given 

 under the descriptions of the cities. 



CHAP. VII. 



Finances. 



Finances. 



ftevenue. 

 Demesnes. 



Toll of the 

 Sound. 



Land-tax 

 in Den- 

 mark. 



The revenue of the kings of Denmark arise from the 

 following sources. From the royal demesnes, which, 

 before the revolution, formed their only income. These 

 have since been portioned out to different proprietors 

 for the advantages of agricultural improvements, and 

 the quit-rents still produce a considerable revenue. 

 Tidies, &c. From the tithes in Denmark and Norway, which, since 

 the Reformation, the king has divided with the clergy. 

 The king's share of the tithes of Denmark have been sold 

 to ten individuals. From licences for the distillation 

 of spirits, from the mint, from grants and dispensations, 

 from licences for hunting and shooting on the royal 

 estates, from lotteries, from the toll on the Sound, &c. 

 In 1770, the toll of the Sound produced 459,890 rix 

 dollars; and since that time it must have produced year- 

 ly, at an average, at least half a million. Besides these, 

 which are considered as more peculiarly the rights of 

 the crown, the necessities of the state have imposed 

 various other taxes. Of these, the land-tax is one of 

 the most considerable. This tax is levied, according to 

 a valuation, even originally, in many respects objection- 

 able, made in the reign of Christian the Fifth. The 

 standard employed in this valuation was the Danish 

 measure of the ton of Hartkom, which is such an ex- 

 tent of land as would sow three tons of grain, one of 

 rye, one of barley, and one of oats. The quantity va- 

 ries of course according to the quality of the soil, but 

 the ton of Hartkom may be considered, on an average, 

 about six English acres. The pasture grounds, woods, 

 and mills, are likewise estimated by this measure. The 

 land tax per ton of Hartkom, is for the arable and pas- 

 ture grounds, one rix dollar, forty-two shillings, and for 

 the woods and mills, one rix dollar, eighteen skillings, 

 amounting to about one shilling and eightpence ster- 

 ling per English acre. The lands of the nobility are 

 exempted from this tax. The privileged lands through- 

 out all Denmark was, in 1786, estimated at 55,377 tons, 

 and those subject to the tax, at 310,100. Besides the 

 above, the possessors of land are subjected to another tax, 

 called the corn-tax, paid partly in money, and partly in 

 kind, which amounts to about one rix dollar, one marc, 

 four skillings per ton for the arable and pasture grounds, 

 and to three marcs ten skillings for the woods and 

 nulls. In 1800, in the assessment for the following 

 year, the price to be paid for the grain was fixed by 

 government, and the privileged lands, and even those of 

 the counts and barons, were also taxed, and at the same 

 rate with the others. The valuation of the duchies was 



made in 1657. Some districts have been valued more Statistics, 

 recently, and are taxed by the plough, which is nearly "^ "Y"*" 6 '' 

 equivalent to nine tons of Hartkorn. All estates are inthfedu- 

 subject to the tax, and pay between three and four rix chies. 

 dollars per plough monthly. A poll-tax has long been p ti.tax. 

 levied in the Danish dominions. Formerly the inha- 

 bitants of the country only were subjected to it; but in 

 1762, it was extended, without distinction, also to those 

 of the cities and towns. Every individual above twelve 

 years of age, pays one rix dollar. The children of pea- 

 sants who are farmers, and those of day-labourers, do 

 not pay this tax until they have completed their six- 

 teenth year. This tax has been abolished in Norway 

 and another substituted in its place, the peasants having 

 considered it as a badge of slavery. The towns of Al- 

 tona and Bomholm are also exempted from it on the 

 payment of an annual compensation. The tax former- Marriage- 

 ly levied on marriages, was very properly suppressed tax " 

 in 1792. It still exists in Copenhagen as a city-tax. Tax on 

 A tax on ranks was introduced in 1764, and laid in ranks. 

 the following proportions. 



1st class taxed at 80 rix dollars per annum. 



70 

 40 

 24 

 18 

 15 

 12 



6 



Tax on pla- 

 ces and 

 pensions. 



Widows pay the half of this tax, with the exception of 

 those whose annuity is below a hundred rix dollars. 

 In 1768, a tax was laid on all places and pensions ac- 

 cording to the following gradation : 



Incomes of 100 rix dollars to 150 taxed at 2 per cent. 



150 200 3 



200 250 4 



250 300 5 



300 350 6 



350 400 7 



400 450 8 



450 500 9 



500 and upwards 20 



The clergy were at first taxed at 10 per cent, on their 

 incomes of every description; but since 1770, they 

 have been rated in the same proportions as the civil 

 and military officers. All collateral successions have 

 been taxed at 4 percent, since 1792. The stamp duties Stamp 

 were introduced by Frederic the Third in 1657. All nat,ef - 

 the proceedings of the courts of justice^ commissions, 

 letters patent for all public employments and titles : 

 All kinds of contracts, conventions, obligations, receipts, 

 and all public acts, must be written on stamped paper. 

 The lowest stamp for bonds, &c. is two shillings, and 

 the highest for all pecuniary bargains is ten pounds 

 sterling. The smallest receipt stamp is two-pence, and 

 the highest L.2, 8s. The patent for creating a count 

 with a county, must be written on a stamp of the va- 

 lue of L.6'0; for a baron with a barony, L.40. The 

 commissions of all the great officers of the crown and 

 state, of the first class, must be written on a stamp of 

 L.20, of the second class L.16; thus diminishing with 

 the rank and class until the lowest is only sixteen shil- 

 lings. The customs and excise form one of the most Customs 

 productive branches of the public revenue. This de- 

 partment is regulated on principles similar to those 

 established in other commercial states. The expence of 



