588 



NETHERLANDS. 



ers for the navy; 10,237,497 guilders fortheDe- 

 partinent of the Interior; 5,108,789 guilders for 

 the Department of Justice; 1,269,691 guilders 

 for the central administration of the colonies; 

 692,766 guilders for the diplomatic service; 

 651,795 guilders for the Cabinet; and 650,000 

 guilders for the civil list of the King. The 

 Government has authority, when the expendi- 

 tures exceed the revenue, to emit treasury hills 

 for not more than 18,000,000 guilders. 



The capital of thepuhlicdebtin 1888 amount- 

 ed to 1,072,021.650 guilders, including 15,000,- 

 000 guilders of paper money, showing a reduc- 

 tion in twelve months of 2,110,700 guilders. 

 The expenses of the debt in 18S8 were 30,589,- 

 555 guilders for interest and 5,164,400 guilders 

 for amortization. 



Change of Ministry. The first elections for the 

 Second Chamber under the new Constitution 

 took place on March 6, 1888, and those for the 

 First Chamber a few days later. The new Sec- 

 ond Chamber was composed of 45 Liberals, 27 

 Anti-Revolutionaries or Calvinist Clericals, 26 

 Pioman Catholics, 1 Conservative, and 1 So- 

 cialist. The Socialist member is Nieuwenhuis, 

 the leader of the party, who was elected in 

 Schoterland by 1,167 out of 2,203 votes. The 

 members of the First Chamber were divided 

 into 35 Liberals, 10 Ultramontanes, 4 Conserv- 

 atives, and 1 Calvinist. Since the Liberal min- 

 istry was left without a majority in the Lower 

 House, Heemskerk and his colleagues handed 

 in their resignations to the King. The new 

 Cabinet was not constituted till April 19. It 

 is composed of the following members: Minis- 

 ter of the Interior, Baron A. E. Mafkay; Min- 

 ister of Justice, Jonkheer G. L. M. H. Ruys 

 van Beerenbeck; Minister of Finance, Jonkheer 

 K. A. Godin de Beaufort ; Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs, Jonkheer C. Hartsen ; Minister of the 

 Colonies, Dr. L. W. 0. Keuchenius ; Minister 

 of War, Col. J. W. Bergansitis; Minister of 

 Waterstaat, Commerce, and Industry, J. P. 

 Havelaar ; Minister of Marine, Capt. H. Dyse- 

 rinck. The new ministers, of whom Hartsen 

 and Ruys van Beerenbeck were High Conserva- 

 tives, the former being a Protestant and the 

 latter a Catholic, Dyserinck a Liberal, and Keu- 

 chinius a Radical, were pledged to the principle 

 of confessional education. They were in favor 

 of introducinguniversal obligatory military serv- 

 ice, of which Col. Bergensius was an advocate, 

 and the Minister of the Colonies was anxious 

 to purify and reform the colonial administra- 

 tion. Otto van Ree?, the Governor-General of 

 India, resigned at once, anticipating removal. 

 The Minister of the Interior unfolded the minis- 

 terial programme in the States-General on May 

 1, the opening day, the chief feature of which 

 was the removal of hindrances to the develop- 

 ment of denominational schools. The inquiry 

 regarding social reform in both the agricultural 

 and the industrial branches of labor was to be 

 pursued further, and a commission was ap- 

 pointed with instructions to prepare new laws 

 for the national defense. 



Legislative Session. The serious illness of the 

 King made it necessary for the States-General 

 to come together on July 12 for the purpose 

 of considering the question of the guardianship 

 of the Princess Wilhelmine. Queen Emma is 

 made guardian of her daughter, but in respect 

 to her sojourn at any time outside the country, 

 as also in respect to the persons to whom her 

 education shall be confided, the advice of a 

 council, consisting of five high officials, desig- 

 nated in the law, and four persons nominated 

 by the King, must be followed. If the Queen 

 m.-irries again her guardianship ceases, unless 

 it is continued by a special law. The regular 

 session began on September 18. Baron Mackay 

 read the speech from the throne, in which an 

 amendment to the Constitution, a new law on 

 elementary education, the division of the large 

 cities into separate electoral districts, an act 

 to restrict child labor in factories, and a change 

 in the sugar-tax summed up the ministerial 

 programme. 



Commerce. The total value of the special im- 

 ports in 1886, inclusive of the precious metals, 

 was 1,091,488,000 guilders, and that of the 

 special exports 949,489,000 guilders. The im- 

 ports from Dutch colonies amounted to 92,- 

 490,000 guilders, the share of Java being 90,- 

 188,000 guilders and that of the Dutch West 

 Indies 2,302,000 guilders, while the value of 

 the exports to the colonies was 47,624,000 

 guilders, 44,826,000 guilders representing the 

 exports to the East Indies and 2,798,000 guild- 

 ers those to the West Indian possessions. The 

 commerce with foreign countries in 1886 is 

 shown in the following tabls, which gives the 

 value in guilders : 



Navigation. The number of sailing-vessels 

 entered at Dutch ports in 1887 was 2,302, of 

 1,799,181 metric tons, of which 2,060, of 

 1,751,858 tons, had cargoes. The total num- 

 ber cleared was 2,327, of 1,833,616 tons, and 

 of these 1,481, of 956,354 tons, shipped cargoes. 

 Of the total number entered 883, of 538,676 

 tons, and of those cleared 911, of 582,710 tons, 

 were registered in the Netherlands. The steam- 

 vessels entered numbered 6,340, of 11,667,436 

 tons, of which 6.029, of 11,269,718 tons, were 

 with cargoes; the number cleared was 6,296, 



