FINANCER.
for which state bonds, not subject to be called in by tbe creditor,
bad been or were now issued; and tbe country furthermore undertook
to pay to Denmark a fixed amount of kr. 12,000,000, wbicb
was to be paid in instalments in tbe -course of 10 years. This
last mentioned debt, however, tbe Norwegian Treasury was unable
to pay out of its ordinary revenue and it, therefore, covered it
by raising two public loans, in 1820 and 1822 respectively. These
loans were obtained abroad, but, on account of the poor credit
which the Norwegian state at that time enjoyed, they had to be
made on extremely onerous conditions. As the country, however,
notwithstanding the hard times, punctually met its obligations, its
credit soon improved, and after a short time the first loans could
be exchanged for new loans obtained on very favourable terms.
These loans, together with some minor loans raised in the twenties,
were gradually repaid, and as no new loans were made for some
time, the national debt at the end of the year 1847 was reduced
to a point never attained either before or since. While the state had
commenced its independence with a debt of about kr. 25,650,000,
this had now been reduced to about kr. 7,250,000, whereof kr.
900,000 represented terminable debt and kr. 6,350,000 were
perpetual.
The revenues of the Treasury, as indicated above, were at
first very scarce. For each of the budget years 1816 to 1818 they
were estimated at only 5,748,400 kr., but they rose gradually, so
that in the forties they amounted on an average to kr. 11,000,000.
The chief source of income was represented by the taxes,, which
in the forties represented % of the total revenue. The chief taxes
again were the customs and excise duties and the direct tax on
property and income introduced in 1816, which at the beginning
was levied to the amount of kr. 2,400,000 annually, but was
gradually reduced and entirely repealed in 1836. The customs
duties and excises during the first few years amounted to about
kr. 2,700,000, and gradually increased ,(notwithstanding that the
excises were repealed in 1827), so that in the forties they amounted
on an average, to kr. 7,950,000, while the other duties at the same
time amounted to kr. 875,000.
Of the state expenditure, which in the forties amounted, on
an average, to kr. 10,600,000 annually, kr. 4,075,000 were then
voted to the defences, kr. 3,825,000 to the royal family, Storthing,
civil administration, courts and police, kr. 850,000 to the payment
FINANCES. 233
of interest and instalments on the national debt, kr. 300,000 to
pensions, and kr. 225,000 to foreign affairs. To cover all the
other objects of the state, such as public instruction, sanitation,
advancement of trade and industry, means of communication, etc.,
which now play such an important part in our state budget, there
was then left only an aggregate amount of kr. 1,300,000.
Since that time, and especially since the seventies, a large
increase in the revenue and expenditure of the state has taken
place. If we refer only to the ordinary revenue and expenditure
of the state, and these be entered with their net amounts, as was.
done on the whole in previous budgets, we find:
In the financial year 1850 .
r> 1860 .
! Y 1870 . . .
1879—1880*
Y ÿ 1889—1890
■ 1897—1898
kr.
Revenue :
12,434,400
15,684,880
18,075,040'
27,748,505
34,359,853
50,997,436
. Expenditure :
kr. 11,458,440
, » 17,470,280
» 17,203,200
> 28,622,705
» 29,935,193
» 43,525,163
The ordinary revenue and expenditure have thus been nearly
quadrupled during the last fifty years.
Since 1880 the revenue and expenditure of the state are
generally entered on the budget and in the state accounts .with their
gross amounts, the revenue without deduction for collection and
other expenses, which are entered on the disbursement side, and
the expenditure without deduction for the receipts obtained by the
various branches of administration, which appear on the revenue
side. The revenue from the different special funds of which the
Treasury disposes for state purposes, and the expenditure caused
thereby, are also entered on the budget. Making up the budget
in this manner, the total revenue and expenditure of the state
were:
®) I t should be noted th a t the financial year up to and including the year
1877 tallies with the calendar year, hut after th a t time the financial year has
heen reckoned from July 1st of one year to June 30th o f the following year, and
after 1900 it will he from April 1st to March 31st.