Kraks vejviser 1927 Handelsregister

6 ment of inodern trade with its increasing industrial character and international intercourse. Denmark has however during the last few decades fully made good in most, domains, which for instance appears from the faet, that whereas from 1801 to 1914 the total population of Europe inereased by abt. 150%, that of Denmark inereased by 215.% during the same period. About the year 1800 the population of Denmark was 5.2% of the aggregate population of Europe, 6.4% in 1901 and 7.3% in 1921. Considered in proportion to the size of the popu­ lation Denmark’s foreign trade intercourse is greater than that of any other European state with the exception of Belgium and Switzerland. In the year 1913 the aggregate valnes of exports and imports, coinputed in Gold Francs per head of the respective populations, were as follows: Belgium....... . 1107 Sweden....... .. 418 Switzerland .. . 801 Germany.. . . 395 Denmark........ . 709 France......... .. 391 U. K............... . 651 ltaly............. . . 171 Norway......... . 543 Spain........... . . 118 The conditions have later changed in favour of Denmark,.. but fluctuating currencies and prices preclude any exact comparison. From 1913 to 1925 the value of Denmark’s foreign trade apart from the enhanced prices inereased by about 37% whereas that of most other European countries showed a decrease. This faet is accounted for partly by Denmark’s ex- eeptionally favourable situation as the key to the Baltic (see map of Baltic region page 138), and partly by reason of the peculiar physical conditions of the country having influenced the development of trade of Denmark. Denmark is a lowland country offering good conditions for agriculture, but unlike Eng­ land, France and Belgium, it has no coal, nor does it. possess the lnige resources of water power of countries like Norway, Switzerland and Austria; mueh less oilfields like those of North America, Caucasus and Rumania. The power resources in this country represented by peat, wood for fuel, water and wind normally furnish barely more than about 3% of the consumption, and with respect to minerals the country is equally poor. Borings in the strata of the earth apart from those undertaken in the rocky island of Bornholm have nowhere reached through the chalk formation, so that Danish soil yields no iron or other metals, potash or other Chemical products of importance. Neither does the country produce cotton, oleiferous seeds, rubber, timber, tobacco etc. Consequently it was the Danish agriculture which must give the impetus to the great industrial development and this took place in the eighteen-seventies and eighteen-eighties whenas a consequence of the development of prices on the world’s market the Danish agriculturists acted with unparalleled promptness and from cultivating chiefly grain took up the intensive production of raw materials for use in connexion with the process of melioration of animal products (butter, bacon, sugar etc.), which again was principally adapted for exportation. Simultaneously with this revolution in agriculture began also the growth of the indu- stries proper, both those which served agriculture by finishing its products and those which supplied agriculture with implements etc. The towns grew apace, the means of transportation were improved and a great many new demands were made on industry which for a time had enough to do to supply the home market. The three largest private banks of the country were established in 1857, 1872 and 1873 and in addition to these a further factor of parti- cular importance as facilitating the large scale export trade was the establishment of the United Steamship Company in 1866, and also the Great Northern Telegraph Company in 1869. From 1867 until 1913 the total commerce of the world quadrupled (from about 40 to 160 milliard Kroner) but in the same period Denmark’s foreign trade inereased six-fold. The subjoined figures show the development in connexion with the Danish trades- from 1880 to 1921. Total population and employment: Agriculture per cent. Handicraft industry por cent. Other Trades per cent. 1880 1.969.000 41.4 26.0 32.6 1901 2.450.000 37.0 29.0 34.0 1921 3.244.000* 31.5 29.3 39.2 During this period the rural population has remained almost unchanged (at abt. 1 million), while the industrial population has inereased by 85°/0. Assuming the development indicated by these figures continued from 1921 (when the last trade cencus was taken) to *) The inerease due to the incorporation of the Sleswig territory in 1920 has not been included.