The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

ADMINISTRATION—COLONIES. 71Assembly, consists of one hundred and two members for the whole monarchy,elected for three years, while the fifty-four members of the Landsthing, or UpperHouse, are chosen for eight years by electors composed partly of popular delegates,partly of the more highly taxed town and country voters. With the fifty-fourelected senators are associated twelve life members appointed by the Crown fromthe actual or any former members of the Assembly. Both bodies, formingcollectively the Rig&dag, or Diet, receive a uniform grant of about 7s. 6d. per dayfor their services. Every four years the Landsthing chooses from its own bodythe four assistant judges of the Hoiestcr, or Supreme Court, which is alone competentto deal with charges brought against the members of both Houses.The executive is intrusted to a responsible ministry of six members—theMinister of Finance and President of the Council, and the Ministers of ForeignAffairs, the Interior, Public Instruction and Worship, Justice and Iceland, Warand the Navy. The King must be a member of the Lutheran or State Churchhe has a civil list of £56,000, besides £6,520 for the Crown Prince.The judgesof the eighteen higher courts are named by the sovereign, as are also those of thetwo Courts of Appeal, one of which sits in Copenhagen for the islands, the otherat Viborg for Jylland. Till recently the judicial and administrative functionswere united in the same hands, but according to a law of 1868 the two areto be henceforth separated, though the change has not yet been completelycarried out.Civil processes, formerly conducted in writing, are now prosecuted in opencourt. The lawyers, combining the functions of barrister and solicitor, aredivided into three categories, those of the Supreme Court alone being entitledto plead before all tribunals. Of these higher advocates there were eleven onlyin 1872.Although Lutheranism is the State religion, freedom of worship is absolute,and except indirectly through the budget no one is called upon to contributetowards the maintenance of any creed besides his own. The faithful have evenacquired the right of forming themselves into distinct congregations, and foundingthe so-called "elective parishes," whose ministers they name and maintain.The seven bishops (Sjalland, Laaland-Falster, Fyen, Ribe, Aarhus, Viborg,and Aalborg, besides Iceland), although enjoying great privileges, have no seatin the Upper House. Not more than 1 per cent, of the population are non-Lutheran, the most numerous being theJews, and next to them the Baptists andMennonites, the Roman Catholics taking the fourth place.According to the Army Reorganization Act of 1867 all valid citizens fromthe age of twenty-two are bound to military service, eight years in the regulararmy, and eight in the reserve. But practically they serve only for periodsvarying from four to nine months, though a certain number of recruits are calledout for a longer term, and all regulars take part in the annual manoeuvres, whichlast from thirty to forty-five days.The regular forces are estimated at 35,000, the reserves at 13,000 of all arms.The navy is supplied by conscription, chiefly amongst the seafaring andg 2