1857. Great Britain paid 28.90 per cent. of
the indemnity, Russia 27.80 per cent., Prussia
12.60 per cent., and the United States 2.08 per
cent. or $393,011.—The domestic shipping trade
of Denmark is very large, and as no inland
point is much more than 40 m. from the sea,
most of the internal communication is carried
on by water. The Daneskfold canal is in the
island of Seeland, and that of Odense connects
the capital of Fünen with the sea.
The principal railroad line runs from Copenhagen via
Röskilde to Korsör on the Great Belt; another
line goes through the island of Fünen, and
there are several lines in Jutland running from
Aalborg to the frontier of Schlesvig with
branches. The total length of railroads at the
beginning of 1872 was 530 m. In 1870 there
were 1,225 m. of telegraph, with 3,160 m. of
wire and 150 stations. The high roads, which
are wide, macadamized, and well kept, are
under the care of a corps of royal engineers.—The
inhabitants of Denmark are almost
entirely Scandinavians. The business language
is everywhere Danish, even in the West India
islands. In Iceland, and less purely in the
Faroe islands, the old Norwegian or Icelandic
is spoken. The Danes are an industrious,
patient, and contented people, and make good
soldiers and seamen. They have regular
features, blue eyes, and light hair. The religion
of Denmark is Lutheran, but all creeds
are tolerated. The national church is
governed by seven bishops nominated by the
crown. It embraces almost the whole population,
and has at Copenhagen a missionary
college founded in 1777, and a seminary for
approved candidates in divinity. According to
the census of 1870, the Lutherans numbered
1,769,583; Jews, 4,290; Baptists, 3,223;
Mormons, 2,128; Roman Catholics, 1,857;
Reformed, 1,433; free congregations, 1,211; other
sects, 811; and 205 were without any creed.
The Baptists have about doubled their number
during the last ten years. Some progress was
also made by the Catholics, who are under
the administration of a vicar apostolic. In
1873 this office was filled by the Prussian
bishop of Osnabrück. Great attention is paid
by government to education, and there is in
the ministry a department of public worship
and instruction, under which are superintendents
for the several divisions of the kingdom.
The ministers appoint teachers and
regulate the course of studies in the public
schools, of which some are free. Every village
has at least one school, and there are moreover
22 gymnasia and 7 normal seminaries.
There are asylums for the deaf and dumb, and
literary and scientific institutions of various
kinds are established throughout the country.
Every child between the ages of 7 and 14 is
obliged by law to attend some school, and it is
rare to meet a Danish peasant, however poor,
who cannot read and write. The university
of Copenhagen, which dates from 1478, has 40
professors and upward of 1,100 students, and
there are colleges in all the large towns,
besides 2,940 public schools. The number of
periodicals is large in proportion to the
population.—The government of Denmark is a
hereditary constitutional monarchy. By the
constitution of June 5, 1849 (which was modified in
some important respects in 1855 and 1863, but
was restored, with various alterations, by a
statute which received the royal sanction July
28, 1866), the king must confess the Evangelical
Lutheran religion, and give his oath to the
privy council of state that he will maintain the
fundamental laws. He attains his majority at
the age of 18. All his ordinances must be
countersigned by the minister of state, who is
appointed by him, and is responsible to the
king or diet before the supreme court of the
state. The king appoints officers, declares
war, and concludes treaties of peace, alliance,
and trade; but he cannot alienate the territory
or essentially modify the political
relations of the state without the consent of the
diet. By the organic law of 1866 the Danish
diet or Rigsdag consists of two chambers, the
Folkething or lower house, and the Landsthing
or upper house, which assemble every
year on the first Monday in October. The
proportion of representation in the lower house is
one deputy for 16,000 inhabitants, the deputies
being elected for three years. The upper house
numbers 66 members, of whom 12 are
nominated for life by the king, the rest holding
their office only for eight years. The diet
proposes laws, which are not valid till sanctioned
by the king; and taxes cannot be imposed
without its consent. The supreme court of the
kingdom consists of 15 members, 5 of whom
are chosen from the diet, and 10 from the high
courts of the country. Personal freedom, freedom
of the press, religious freedom, the
inviolability of private residences, and the right
of public assembly are secured. The highest
court of the kingdom is the privy council of
state, presided over by the king. The
administration of the government is carried on by
eight responsible ministries: of foreign affairs,
of interior affairs, of justice, of public worship
and instruction, of war, of naval affairs, of
public works, and of the finances. The budget
of 1873-'4 estimates the net receipts at 23,736,161
rix dollars, and the expenditures at 22,989,633.
(The rix dollar is about 60 cents.) The
chief source of revenue is from indirect taxes,
which bring nearly 10,000,000, while the greatest
expenditure is for the payment of the interest
on the debt, which with the sinking fund
demands upward of 7,000,000. The national debt,
March 31, 1872, was 114,660,781 rix dollars.—Every
able-bodied male inhabitant of the age of
22 is bound to enter the army, the term of service
being four years in the line and four years in the
reserve; and every person who has served his
time is also liable to be enrolled under the second
call. The infantry numbers 20 battalions of the
line and 10 of the reserve, besides a battalion
of royal guards; the cavalry consists of 5 regi-
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