Instruction. Elementary education is widely diffused in Denmark, the attendance at school being obligatory from the age of seven to fourteen. Education is afforded gratuituously in the public schools to children whose parents cannot afford to pay for their teaching. The University of Copenhagen has about 1,300 students. Connected with the university is a polytechnic institution, with 20 teachers and about 200 students. Between the university and the elementary schools there are 13 public gymnasia, or colleges, in the principal towns of the kingdom, which afford a 'classical' education, and 27 Realschulen. There are 5 training colleges for teachers. Instruction at the public expense is given in parochial schools, spread all over the country, to the number, according to the latest official statistics, of 2,940, namely, 28 in Copenhagen, 132 in the towns of Denmark, and 2,780 in the rural districts; with 231,940 pupils in all, or 123 per thousand of population. Crime. In 1885, 2,653 males and 872 females were convicted of crime. Before the police courts 1,888 persons were convicted of mendicity and vagrancy. Finance. By the terms of the Constitution of Denmark the annual financial budget, called the Finantslovforslag,' must be laid on the table of the Folkething at the beginning of each session. As to the annual financial accounts, called 'Statsregnskab,' the Constitutional Charter prescribes them to be examined by four paid revisers, two of whom are elected by the Folkething and two by the Landsthing. Their report is submitted to both Chambers, which, after due consideration, pass their resolution generally to the effect that they have no remarks to make on the balancesheet. The following shows the actual revenue and expenditure for the five years ending March 31, 1888 : The estimated revenue for 1889 was 54,457,514 kroner, and expenditure 57,251,480 kroner. The following is an abstract of the budget for 1890-91, sanctioned by provisional law of April 2, 1890: An important feature in the administration of the finances of the kingdom is the maintenance of a reserve fund of a comparatively large amount. On the 31st of March, 1889, the fund stood at 17,821,796 kroner. The object of the reserve fund is to provide means at the disposal of the Government in the event of sudden occurrences. The public debt of Denmark has been incurred in part by large annual deficits in former years, before the establishment of parliamentary government, and in part by railway undertakings and the construction of harbours, lighthouses, and other works of public importance. The following table gives the national liabilities at different periods, from 1870 to 1888: The debt is divided into an internal and a foreign. The total foreign debt amounted in 1889 to 11,677,700 kroner. The external debt is mostly at 4 per cent., and the internal mostly at 3 per cent. The entire charge of the debt for 1888-89 was set down as 7,176,940 kroner; after deducting productive investments, &c., the charge per head of population would be only about 28. The investments of the State, excluding the reserve fund, amount to about 82,000,000 kroner, which thus reduce the debt to nearly one-half, or about 31. per head of the population. Defence. In the session of 1882 an extraordinary vote of supply of four millions sterling was asked for fortifications and the navy. This was to be spent mainly in fortifying Copenhagen both on the sea and landward sides, and in constructing forts and entrenched camps at the most vulnerable points in the country. Copenhagen is the only fortress of importance. The army of Denmark consists of all the able-bodied young men of the kingdom who have reached the age of 22 years. They are liable to service for eight years in the regular army and its reserve, constituting the first line, and for eight years subsequent in the extra reserve. The drilling is divided into two periods: the first lasts six months for the infantry; tive months for the field artillery and the engineers; nine months and two weeks for the cavalry; and four months for the siege artillery and the technic corps. The second period of drill, which is for only a portion of the recruits of each branch of arms, notably those who have profited the least by the first course, lasts nine months for the infantry, eleven months for the cavalry, and one year for the artillery and the engineers. Besides, every corps has to drill each year during thirty to forty-five days. The kingdom is divided into two divisions or commands, the eastern and the western, the former subdivided into two and the latter into three brigades, and each brigade into two battalions. tingent of a brigade of infantry and one contingent is furnished one-half by the the second half by the three other ones. is furnished by the whole brigades. Every brigade furnishes the conregiment of cavalry. The artillery two first territorial brigades, and The contingent of the engineers The forces of the kingdom comprise 31 battalions of infantry of the line, with 13 of second reserve; 5 regiments of cavalry, each with 3 squadrons active and a depôt; 2 regiments of artillery, in 12 batteries, and 4 of reserve, and 2 battalions with 6 companies, and 5 companies of reserve; and 1 regiment of engineers. The total peace strength of the army (1890) is 294 officers and 16,318 men. Including the Citizen Corps of Copenhagen and Bornholm Island, the total war strength is about 60,000 men. This is exclusive of the extra reserve, only called out in emergencies, and numbering 14,000 officers and men. The navy of Denmark consisted, at the end of 1890, of 1 sea-going armour-clad, 8 coast-defence armour-clads; 2 protected cruisers; 1 torpedo ship; 4 sea-going torpedo-boats; 5 first-class torpedo-boats and 10 secondclass; 20 unprotected vessels; 16 troop-boats, and a few other vessels. There are building: 2 protected cruisers and I sea-going torpedo-boat. The following is a list of the ironclads completed or afloat :- 'Broadside ship. Turret ships. Barbette ships. Central battery. Protected cruisers. ⚫Slope of deck armour. The most remarkable of these ships is the Tordenskjold. It is a torpedo vessel, the largest in the Baltic, the lower deck covered with steel plates 14 inch thick on the horizontal part and 33 inches thick where it slopes down to meet the ship's side, besides a belt of cork. She is divided into 33 watertight compartments, has 8-inch armour on her barbette, and carries two swift torpedo launches besides appliances to shoot Whitehead's torpedoes, and is armed with one 14-inch Krupp breechloader, besides four 6-inch Krupp breechloaders, and two light guns. All the other armourclad ships, except the Helgoland, were constructed after old models. The Danish navy is recruited, by naval conscription, from the coast population. The budget of 1889-60 provides for 1 vice-admiral, 2 rearadmirals, 15 commanders, 36 captains, 82 lieutenants and sub-lieutenants, 45 ensigns, and 1,137 men. Production and Industry. The soil of Denmark is greatly subdivided, owing partly to the state of the law, which interdicts the union of small farms into larger estates, but encourages, in various ways, the parcelling out of landed property, and leaves the tenant entire control of his land so long as the rent is paid. Of the total area of Denmark 80 per cent. is productive; about onesixth of the unproductive area is peat bogs. Of the productive area 6 per cent. is forest, and of the remainder less than one-half is arable, and the remainder pasture and meadows. The total area under corn crops, according to latest returns, was 2,917,680 acres; potatoes, 110,306 acres ; clover, 396,418 acres; bare fallow, 638,116 acres; grass, meads, &c., 3,163,020 acres. The leading crops in 1889 were oats, 25,758,591 bushels; barley, 19,323,617 bushels; rye, 16,798,647 bushels; wheat, 4,825,311 bushels; potatoes, 16,913,832 bushels; other roots, 28,825,434 bushels; besides vegetables, hay, and clover. The total value of the produce in 1889 was 274,396,459 kroner; in 1888, 253,920,580 kroner; and in 1887, 243,483,000 kroner. GG DENMARK On July 16, 1888, there were in Denmark proper, 375,533 horses, 1,459,527 head of cattle, 1,225,196 sheep, 13,405 goats, and 770,785 swine. (In 1881 there were 1,470,078 cattle, and in 1871, 1,238,898.) In 1888 there were exported 17,753 horses, 89,404 head of cattle, 59,155 sheep and goats, and 16,926 swine. In 1888 there were in Denmark 134 distilleries (Copenhagen 40), whose output of brandy, reduced to 8°, was 6,665,612 gallons (31,352,928 potter). In the same year 16,287 tons of beet-sugar were produced at 6 sugar factories. Commerce. The following table shows the declared value, according to official returns, of the imports and the exports of home produce (including precious metal) for each of the five years from 1883 to 1888: Years Imports Exports 1886 1884 274,163,607 178,394,038 1887 1885 249,223,711 162,261,370 1888 Kroner 211,613,697 166,746,742 250,668,666 187,873,788 274,401,000 192,699,000 Kroner The commerce of Denmark was divided among the following classes in 1887 and 1888 : Imports, The principal articles of import and export in 1887 and 1888, with their respective values, were as follows: Imports, 1887 Imports, 1888 Exports, 1887 Exports, 1888 |