HANDICRAFTS AND INDUSTRY

Despite Denmark's complete lack of mineral raw materials, coal and oil, there is considerable industrial activity, as the favourable situation of the country and its configuration, with a very long coast line, makes the supply of such commodities from abroad easy and cheap.

Next to agriculture, handicrafts and industries are the occupations which provide a living for most people in Denmark, about three-tenths of the population of the country gaining their livelihood in this way, whilst half a century ago these trades only employed about one-fifth of the population.

As regards most of the goods concerned, industry covers the principal portion of the consumption of the country and has, in certain trades, actually developed a considerable export (cement, various kinds of machinery, ships, beer, condensed milk, etc.). Full particulars of the industrial situation are available through the handicrafts' and industries' census taken in the years 1897, 1906, and 1914. From these the following figures can be given:

The figures showing the total number of employees by no means correspond to the three-tenths of the population referred to above, as in these three-tenths are included dependants (wives and children), whilst the employees are only those who are actively occupied in the works.

It is the small establishment which, to an overwhelming degree, lends to Danish handicrafts and industry their distinctive character, even if during recent years there has been a great movement in favour of big manufactories. The figures above show

that the number of establishments in the period 1906 to 1914 declined from over 85,000 to over 82,000, whilst the number of employees at the same time rose from 317,000 to 350,000, so that on the average the establishments had grown considerably. Still, in 1914 more than half of the establishments in existence were so small that they had no wage workers, and only 264 had more than 100 workmen each, as will be seen from the table below, in which the establishments are grouped according to the number of industrial workers proper employed:

Of the 82,500 establishments in 1914, about 1600 thus had over 20 workmen, rather less than 5000 had more than 5 but less than 20 workmen, and about 76,000 had five workmen or less. The change from 1906 to 1914 may best be described by saying, that of the total number of workers in 1914, a good 12 per cent. belonged to works which did not employ wage workers, and about 15% per cent. in 1906. To establishments with more than 100 workmen belonged about 21 per cent. and about 17 per cent. respectively.

The employment of mechanical power also shows the growth of industry during the past few years. Neither establishments using wind and water power nor electricity works are included in the figures. The widespread growth of the number of establishments with mechanical power is due to the fact that so many small works have adopted it, especially in the form of oil-motors and electromotors; the great extension in the use of the latter has been made possible by the many electricity works and high tension plants which have been started all over the country within recent years. On the other hand the comparatively very large increase of mechanical power is almost exclusively due to the large manufactories.

Regarding the size of the various industries the following table is given for 1914, no information being available for later years:

The industrial group with the greatest number of workers was earthworks, building and furniture, this group employing between a fourth and fifth of the total industrial strength. Next came clothing, with rather less than a fifth, and the metal industry and the foodstuffs industry with about 18 per cent. each. The following section deals with a number of the more important industries, although for the most part only the establishments which employ at least five workers and are subject to the Labour and Factory Inspection are dealt with.

The principal Danish industry from an export point of view is the preparation of the produce of agriculture, especially the making of butter and bacon. It is only necessary to mention here that there are 1,662 dairies and 61 bacon factories, as production is dealt with in the previous section on Agriculture. Of late years, the manufacture of condensed milk and cream has increased greatly; in 1922 there were 18 factories, with a total of more than 600 workers, and the selling value of the produce was about 27 million kroner. Finally, there is a considerable amount of sugar making from the sugar beets grown in the country. Normally the production of sugar covers the country's consumption, which is very great, amounting to a good 37 kilos per inhabitant annually, apart from the fact that a small quantity beyond this is produced for export. The output, however, fluctuates greatly from year to year, as the areas under beet cultivation are increased or reduced according to the state of the market, while the crop per hectare varies from year to year. In 1922, when the output was especially small, it was about 90 million

kilos. The sugar industry is concentrated in nine factories, seven of which belong to the same firm, while there are three sugar refineries. During the season the sugar factories employ about 4,600 workers, and the refineries about 800.

One export industry, for which the raw material is found in the country, but which demands very considerable quantities of coal, is the cement industry. A few, large works, situated in the northern part of Jutland near the Aalborg and Mariager Fjords, carry on this industry. There were in 1922 eight large factories, employing about 2,000 workers, and the sales value of the output was 25 million kroner. The cement industry is and has always been without tariff protection.

In the iron and metal industries there are very large works, and in this direction, too, a very considerable export trade has been built up, especially in ships and various machinery specialities. In 1922 there were thirteen shipyards, employing about 6,200 men. Six Diesel motor ships were completed in that year, at a building cost of 27 million kroner, while the value of shipbuilding work, ship repairs and other work (the manufacture of machinery, etc.) amounted to about 48 million kroner. Especially as regards Diesel motors, Denmark has done a great pioneering work, and Danish Diesel motors are everywhere acknowledged as a leading product.

Of iron foundries and engineering works there were, in 1922, more than 200, employing about 8,700 men. The sales value of the output amounted to 56 million kroner. Among the specialities manufactured for export may be mentioned dairy machinery, motors, cement-making machinery, etc., as well as freezing plants. Other groups in the iron and metal industry include iron goods factories, of which there were in the same year about fifty, employing about 900 men; the sales value of the products of these factories, which consisted of horse shoes, implements and tools, building articles, etc., amounted to 9 million kroner. Of tinware factories there were 20, employing about 1,400 workers and with a production amounting to from eight to nine million kroner. One important export article in this industry is milk transport cans. Next come the wire and cable works, of which there were in 1922 three and one respectively, as well as one rolling mill and one wire-drawing mill, which are connected with the cable works. More than 1,200 workers are employed in these

works, and the selling value of the output totalled 26 million kroner. Finally, there is the building of motor cars, which, however, almost exclusively consists in the assembling of imported finished parts. The first concern of this kind was established in 1919, and the production in 1922 amounted to about 10,500 cars, to a sales value of 25 million kroner; in 1923 parts were imported for 18,000 cars. Towards the end of 1922 another factory of a similar kind was started. These factories are established for the purpose of using Copenhagen as a distributing centre in order to supply northern Europe with motor cars of the type in question, and there is a considerable export to the rest of Scandinavia (especially Sweden) and, to some degree, to the Baltic States.

There were

There is a large textile industry in Denmark. in 1922 ninety clothing factories, with 5,600 workers and an output the selling value of which was about 68 million kroner. Then there were 5 cotton spinning mills with 1,200 workers, producing yarn to the value of about 18 million kroner. Of hosiery mills there were 71, with 2,800 workers and 1,000 home workers; the sales value of the output was 30 million kroner. The textile industry, however, is by no means able to provide for the whole of the country's consumption of textiles. The same is the case with the boot and shoe industry, which in 1922 produced 2.2 million pairs of footwear to a value of 30 million kroner. This was the output of about 100 factories, with 2,500 workers and about 300 home workers.

Of late years the edible oil industry has been in course of rapid development, and now it supplies the principal part of the vegetable oils used for the margarine production of the country and a considerable quantity of oil cake, besides which some oil is exported. In 1922 the existing nine mills employed about 1,100 workers, and the sales value of the output was more than 80 million kroner.

Of margarine factories there were in 1922 eighty-one, with over 1,000 workers and a production valued at 84 million kroner. There were ten paper and cardboard mills in 1922, employing a good 1,300 workers and producing goods to the value of 21 million kroner. Four of these mills are carried on by the same firm and by far the greater part of the production comes from these.