GOVERNMENT. Denmark is a constitutional monarehy based upon the fundamental law of June 5, 1849, as revised in 1800. The law-mak ing power is vested in the King and in the Na tional Legislature, or Rigsdag, consisting of an Upper House (Landsthing) and a popular cham ber (Folkething). The Landsthing is composed of 00 members, of whom twelve are appointed for life by the Crown, and the remainder are chosen for a term of eight years. partlyby the representa tives of the highest taxpayers in the towns and rural districts and partly by the representatives f the people at large. The Folkething is at present composed of 114 Deputies, the constitu tional ratio being one Deputy for every 21.000 of the population. Member: of the Lower House are elected for a period of three years by all male citizens above the age of thirty not engaged in menial household service and resident for a year in the district in which they enroll. Legisla tion may be initiated in either House, but finan cial bills must be submitted in the first instance to the Folkething, and only on the initiative of the Crown. In practice the Upper House enjoys a very large degree of influence, owing to its fea ture of comparative permanency: and in con junction with the King, who wields an absolute veto on legislation, it is frequently in the posi tion of directing the action of Parliament. The
executive power is vested in a council of eight re sponsible Ministers. who preside over the depart ments of Foreign Affairs, Finance, 'Interior, Jus tice, War, Navy, Public Instruction and Wor ship, and Agrieultnre.
Justice is administered in the first instance by the judges of the hundreds in the rural com munities and by the city magistrates in the ur ban districts. Appeals from such courts lie to the superior courts of Viborg and Copenhagen. and in the last resort to the Supreme Court of 24 judges (Hojesteret I at Copenhagen. Together with four judges especially appointed by the Landsthing. the Supreme Court sits as a tri bunal for the cases of impeached Ministers.
ARm• AND NAVY. The Danish army is raised by conscription from among all citizens above the age of twenty-two. Substitution is not per mitted. The terms of service are eight years with the regular army and its reserve and eight years with the supplementary reserve. The standing army in 1900 approximated 825 officers and 10,000 men. The war footing of the nation is estimated at 00,000 men. The navy is main tained only for purposes of coast defense. See ARMIES AND NAVIES.