vate capital is tied up in them.

companies is about 60.

The total number of railway

The following table shows the importance of the railways to

The number of journeys made has of late years remained more or less stationary, and now amounts to about 45 millions, of which almost 70 per cent. are made on the State Railways.

Despite the great importance of the coasting trade in Denmark, the quantity of goods transported by the railways is steadily increasing, and now amounts to about 11 million tons, or three times as much as in the coasting trade. More than half of the income of the railways is derived from the goods traffic. The total capital invested in railways was, in 1925 about 686 million kroner, of which about 558 millions are invested in the State railways.

AUTOMOBILE SERVICES, AIR TRAFFIC, ETC.

During the past few years traffic by means of motor vehicles, both for passengers and goods, has increased greatly. Denmark has now about 78,000 motor vehicles, of which about 59,000 are motor cars and about 19,000 motor cycles, and the comparatively flat surface of the country, and the close net of macadam highways, offer good conditions for the use of these vehicles. Motor vehicles are not only used to a great extent by private persons, but are extensively employed in regular services. The number of motor omnibus services may thus be estimated at about 500, which cover nearly every part of the country. In several towns motor omnibus stations have been established, with waiting rooms, petrol stores, etc.

This extensive motor traffic has naturally brought a keen competition upon the railways, and involved a very considerable increase in the cost of widening and maintaining the roads; but on the other hand it has led to an improvement of the local

means of communication and a great increase in trade and in the tourist traffic all over the country. Special dues have been imposed upon motor vehicles for the purpose of meeting the expense involved by the wear and tear of the roads. It may be added here that there are 7,600 kilometres of main roads and 38,200 kilometres of by-roads.

On January 1st, 1926, 12 aeroplanes were registered (apart from those of the army and navy) with a total of 3385 h.p. and a carrying capacity of 26.1 tons. A daily air service is established between Copenhagen and Malmoe, between Copenhagen and Hamburg, between Copenhagen and Berlin, and between CopenhagenAmsterdam-Rotterdam, changing at the latter town for Paris and London.

The service was effected by closed 5-seater machines and lasted for 6 months, during which a distance of about 535,000 kilometres was covered. 5,960 passengers, 34,400 kilogrammes of luggage, 8,600 kilogrammes of ordinary freight, and 4,200 kilogrammes of mails were carried. The average utilization of the carrying capacity for each journey was 58 per cent.

As will appear from the above the year 1925 has been characterized by a remarkable development of air traffic, and good progress has been made towards placing the service on a business basis. At the same time the special importance of Copenhagen as a centre of the international air traffic of Northern Europe has been proved.

In 1926 a service Copenhagen-Hamburg-Cologne has been started, and for this as well as for the above mentioned routes larger 9-10 seater machines have been provided.

POST, TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE

In Denmark the postal service is solely under State management, the State having a monopoly in this respect. Mail is delivered daily to every farm or house all over the country. On March 31st, 1925, there were 255 permanent post offices.

In the financial year of 1924-25 the Danish post office delivered about 253 million letters (about 209 million of which were inland), 775,000 money-letters, about 11 million parcels and 187 million newspapers. Furthermore, there were delivered about 9 million postal orders, C.O.D. forms, and collections, to a total sum af 581 million kroner. There were 7,244 holders of

post-office (giro) accounts and the total giro turnover was 2,714 million kroner. In the summer of 1925 there was a daily air mail between Copenhagen and Hamburg. The receipts of the post office in 1924-25 were 57 million kroner.

The telegraph service, too, is carried on by the State. On March 31st, 1925, there were 941 telegraph stations and 3,960 telegraph lines, with a total of 14,732 kilometres of lines. A total of 47 million telegrams was dealt with, of which 2.3 millions were foreign correspondence. Denmark has a great exchange of telegrams especially with Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, and Norway, a fact which is largely due to shipping. The receipts of the telegraph service in 1924-25 were about 15.0 million kroner. Apart from the ordinary telegraph stations there are 340 wireless stations, 304 of which are on board ships. At the Copenhagen, Blaavand and Lyngby wireless stations about 83,000 telegrams were dealt with in 1924-25.

As regards the telephone system, the State attends to the interprovincial service, while the local services are carried on by private companies with Government concessions. Only in North Slesvig the local service is carried on by the State.

There are seven private companies, with a total of 248,000 subscribers and about 1,121,000 kilometres of lines. Through the private telephone a total of 426 million calls were dealt with.

The private companies gave a total profit of about 7.8 million kroner, of which 5.8 millions were accounted for by the Copenhagen Telephone Co. Ltd.

Denmark is exceedingly well supplied with telephones, there being a telephone for every 12 inhabitants. The United States is the only country with a better average a telephone for every eight inhabitants.

Hitherto broadcasting has been undertaken by private stations only, but now the Government intends to establish a central station. At the end of 1925 27,000 receiving apparatuses were in use.

SOCIAL CONDITIONS

As in most other countries, there is a very close connection in Denmark between the general industrial and economic development and the development of social legislation. From the middle of the nineteenth Century began an industrial development which gradually created a working population under looser and more uncertain economic circumstances than before, and it was through this that the need for social legislative measures arose. In the beginning of the 1870's the trades unions made their appearance, but for a time they were of minor importance and, apart from a few workmen's protection Acts of limited scope, it was not till the 'nineties that social legislation began in earnest in Denmark. During the present century the legislature has taken up more and more questions, the years after the great war having especially shown a great development in this respect, so that on the whole Denmark may at present be said to be on an equal level with the most advanced countries. A brief summary of the various sections of Danish social legislation is given in the following.

PROTECTION OF WORKMEN

The first Act for the protection of workmen was passed in 1873, and dealt especially with the restriction of the work of children and juveniles in factories and workshops. In 1889 there came a special Act with regulations as to protection from machinery in factories, etc., and, by the Acts of 1901 and 1913, the various regulations in force were collected and given a somewhat wider scope, with the result that this latter Act, with one or two later amendments, contains all the regulations now in force as to work in factories, workshops, etc.

The Factory Act authorizes the inspectors to demand good hygienic and sanitary conditions at the working places. Special re

gulations have been drawn up for a number of the larger trades, with detailed instructions as to premises.

By the Factory Act of 1873 work was forbidden for children under ten years of age. The age limit was gradually raised and, according to the regulations now in force, children under fourteen are prohibited from working in handicraft, industrial or transport trades. For juveniles between 14 and 18 years night work (from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.) is as a rule prohibited, whereas there is no prohibition against female night work in industrial workshops.

For four weeks after child-birth, women must not work in a factory under the Factory Inspection, unless there is a medical certificate to the effect that there is no danger to the health of the mother or the child. During the period when she is not allowed to work she may receive public support if she keeps the child, and this support does not involve the disabilities of Poor Law Relief.

A separate Act of 1919 introduced the eight hour day for trades with regular day and night shifts. As a principal rule, work on church holidays is forbidden in industrial concerns, but otherwise legislation in Denmark contains no general rules as to the working hours of adult workers in private concerns. In practice, however, the eight hour day has been almost universal since 1919, through voluntary agreements between the organizations of the employers and the men. In the preceding years the working day was generally of 9 or 10 hours. A special Act of 1920 prohibits night work in bakeries from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., although this prohibition does not apply to rye-bread factories with day and night shifts, nor to the employer's wife or children under 18 years.

As to shops the Act of 1922 now in force prescribes as a principal rule that they shall be closed on Sundays and church holidays. A fixed closing time is also preseribed for weekdays.

As to apprentices, there is a separate Act of May 6th, 1921, which provides for the setting up of contracts in writing and contains regulations as to training, sickness insurance (which rests upon the master) and various measures of protection for the apprentice.

The Act of May 6th, 1921, on the legal position of master and servant, has as its object the adjustment of the legal status of