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, 1868, the Fund stood at 7,660,000l., or considerably more than the national revenue for three years, but it was reduced to 6,500,000l. in 1869, and further reduced to 4,200,000l. in 1871, and to 3,850,000l. in 1872. It is contemplated gradually to reduce the Reserve Fund, to 1,780,000. The object of the Reserve Fund is to provide means at the disposal of the government in the event of sudden occurrences demanding action, such as war.

The public debt of Denmark, 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, amounted to 105,784,299 rigsdaler, or 11,653,811l., on March 31, 1875. The debt has been in course of reduction since 1866, as shown in the following table, which gives the national liabilities at six different periods, from 1866 to 1875 :

The annual charge of the national debt, comprising interest, management, and a sinking fund, is gradually diminishing. It amounted to the following sums in each of the financial years 1867-69, and in the estimates of 1875-76:—

The debt is divided into an internal and a foreign. The latter consisted, March 1875, in part of an English loan contracted in 1825, of the original amount of 5,500,000%., which is to be paid off entirely in 1878, and of another loan, raised in London in 1864, the last portion of which, 500,000l., was ordered to be paid on the 1st of January 1876.

Army and Navy.

The army of Denmark consists, according to a law of re-organisation, passed by the Rigsdag on July 6, 1867, of all the ablebodied young men of the kingdom who have reached the age of 21 years. They are liable to service for eight years in the regular army, and for eight years subsequent in the army of reserve. The drilling is divided into two periods: the first lasts six months for the infantry, five 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 from thirty to forty-five days. By the terms of the law of 1867, the kingdom is divided into five territorial brigades, and every brigade into four territorial battalions, in such a way that no district and no town, the capital excepted, will belong to more than one territorial battalion. Every territorial brigade furnishes the contingent of a brigade of infantry and one regiment of cavalry. The artillery contingent is furnished one-half by the two first territorial brigades, and the second half by the three other ones. The contingent of the engineers is furnished by the whole brigades. The forces of the kingdom, under the new organisation, comprise 20 battalions of infantry of the line, with 10 depôt battalions, and 10 of reserve; 5 regiments of cavalry, each with 2 squadrons active and 2 depôt; two regiments of artillery, in 12 batteries; and two battalions of engineers. The total strength of the army was as follows at the commencement of September 1875:—

The staff of the army was composed, in September 1875, of 25 commissioned and 37 non-commissioned officers.

The navy of Denmark comprised, at the commencement of September 1875, the following vessels, all steamers :

1

The ironclads of the Danish navy are converted ships, on the French model, with the exception of the Rolf Krake, the Lindormen, the Goum, and the Odin. The Rolf Krake, built by Napier, of Glasgow, is plated with 4 inch iron, and has two turrets, which carry three 60-pounders. The Lindormen is plated from stem to stern with 5-inch iron, over 10 inches wood-backing, and armed with 12 tons rifled Armstrong cannon. Similar in construction to the Lindormen is the Goum. The most powerful of the ironclads in the Danish navy is the Odin, constructed at the dockyard of Nyholm, near Copenhagen, begun in 1870, and completed in 1873. The Odin is plated with 8-inch iron amidships, and 5-inch fore and aft, and carries four 10-inch guns, of 19 tons each, sheltered under a rising turret on mid-deck, covering not only the guns but also the base of the chimneys and the upper part of the engines. The prow

E

carries a steel battering-ram more than a foot square, and protruding six feet, so arranged as to be screwed back into the hull.

The Danish navy is recruited, by naval conscription, from the coast population. It was manned, in September 1875, by 911 men, and officered by one admiral, 15 commanders, and 81 captains and lieu

tenants.

Area and Population.

The area and population of Denmark, according to the last census, taken February 1, 1870, are as follows:—

Included in the official returns as forming part of the kingdom are the three European dependencies of Denmark, namely, the Færoe, or Horse Islands, Iceland, and Greenland. The Færoe, a group of 22 islands, of which 17 are inhabited, have a total area of 495 English square miles, with a population of 9,815 in 1868. The area of Iceland is estimated to contain about 30,000 English square miles, less than half of which is capable of being inhabited; and the area of Greenland on the west coast, where the Danish establishments are situated, is described as embracing a territory of 25,000 English square miles, the remainder of the ice-bound peninsula, or island, being unknown. At an enumeration made in 1868, Iceland was found to possess 68,563, and Greenland 9,352 inhabitants.

The proportionate increase in the population of Denmark in recent years has been larger in the towns than in the country districts, averaging in the former 10-29 per cent., and in the latter only 5.99 per cent. in the course of 15 years. The following was the population of the four chieftowns at the enumerations of 1855, 1860, and 1870 :

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. It was found at the last census that out of an average of 1,000 people, 395 live exclusively by agriculture.

Emigration carried off, chiefly to the United States, 4,359 persons in 1869; 3,525 in 1870; 3,906 in 1871; 6,893 in 1872; 7,241 persons in 1873; and 3,322 in 1874.

Trade and Industry.

The commerce of Denmark is carried on mainly with Germany and great Britain. The precise value of the commercial transactions with foreign countries is not known, as the Danish official returns do not give the value of the imports or exports, but only the weight of the same. The following table shows the comparative total weight of the imports and exports for each of the years 1870 to 1874:

The imports of 1874 were valued at 115,364,448 kr., or 6,409,136l., and the exports of 1874 at 85,525,515 kronor, or 4,751,4127.

The commercial intercourse between Denmark, including Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland, and the United Kingdom is shown in the subjoined tabular statement, exhibiting the value of the total exports from Denmark to Great Britain and Ireland, aside with the imports of British and Irish produce and manufactures into Denmark, in each of the ten years 1865 to 1874: