limit is from sixteen to thirty-three, and the obligation is extended to
all who are British subjects, and draw income from a profession
practised in the island. Garrisons of regular troops are maintained in
all three islands. Taxation is light in the islands, and pauperism is
practically unknown.

In 1904 the revenue of Jersey was L70,191, and its expenditure
L69,658; the revenue of Guernsey was L79,334, and the expenditure
L43,385. The public debt in the respective islands was L322,070 and
L195,794. In Jersey the annual revenues from crown rights (principally
seigneurial dues, houses and lands and tithes) amount to about L2700,
and about L360 is remitted to the paymaster-general. In Guernsey these
revenues, in which the principal item is fines on transference of
property (_treiziemes_ or fees), amount to about L4500, and about
L1000 is remitted. In Alderney the revenues (chiefly from harbour
dues) amount to about L1400.

In Jersey the English gold and silver coinage are current, but there
is a local copper coinage and local one-pound notes are issued.
Guernsey has also such notes, and its copper coinage consists of
pence, halfpence, two-double and one-double (one-eighth of a penny)
pieces. A Guernsey pound is taken as equal to 24 francs, and English
and French currency pass equally throughout the islands.

_Industry_.--The old Norman system of land-tenure has survived, and the
land is parcelled out among a great number of small proprietors;
holdings ranging from 5 to 25 acres as a rule. The results of this
arrangement seem to be favourable in the extreme. Every corner of the
ground is carefully and intelligently cultivated, and a considerable
proportion is allotted to market-gardening. The cottages are neat and
comfortable, the hedges well-trimmed, and the roads kept in excellent
repair. There is a considerable export trade in agricultural produce and
stock, including vegetables and fruit, in fish (the fisheries forming an
important industry) and in stone. There is no manufacture of importance.
The inhabitants share in common the right of collecting and burning
seaweed (called _vraic_) for manure. The cutting of the weed (vraicking)
became a ceremonial occasion, taking place at times fixed by the
government, and connected with popular festivities.

_Language_.--The language spoken in ordinary life by the inhabitants of
the islands is in great measure the same as the old Norman French