NETHERLANDS. 



377 



orchards, while 249,886 hectares were covered with 

 woods and 1,185,209 hectares were pasture. Rye, 

 potatoes, oats, wheat, the sugar-beet, beans, bar- 

 ley, buckwheat, and peas are the most important 

 crops, and ilax, rape-seed, tobacco, and madder 

 are some of the minor products. The production 

 of wheat and rye is inadequate for the country's 

 needs, 121,049,000 guilders in value of wheat hav- 

 ing been imported in 1899, and 03,052,000 guilders 

 of wheat and rye flour and 84,587,000 guilders 

 of rye, offset by exports of 93,799,000 guilders of 

 wheat, 10,525,000 guilders of flour, and 38,789,000 

 guilders of rye. The imports of barley were 27,- 

 ($87,000 guilders, and exports 20,292,000 guilders; 

 imports of oats 22,842,000 guilders, and exports 

 19,049,000 guilders; imports of potato flour 5,401,- 

 000 guilders, and exports 14,273,000 guilders; im- 

 ports of buckwheat 2,116,000 guilders, and exports 

 612,000 guilders; imports of flax, 1,100,000 guil- 

 ders, and exports 12,507,000 guilders; imports of 

 beets 52,000 guilders, and exports 2,730,000 guil- 

 ders. Of bulbs, shrubs, and nursery stock the 

 value of 493,000 guilders was imported and 6,064,- 

 000 guilders exported. Imports of vegetables were 

 valued at 2,238,000 guilders, and exports at 40,- 

 585,000 guilders. The fisheries employed 5,661 ves- 

 sels and 19,232 men in 1899, and the herring catch 

 in the North Sea was valued at 5,626,068 guil- 

 ders. About 40,000,000 oysters are produced an- 

 nually, and a quarter of them are exported to 

 England. 



The total value of imports in 1899 was esti- 

 mated at 1,916,000,000 guilders, and the value of 

 exports at 1,583,000,000 guilders. The imports of 

 grain and flour were valued at 322,533,000 guil- 

 ders, and exports at 183,076,000 guilders; imports 

 of iron and steel of all kinds were 171,226,000 

 guilders in value, and exports 112,810,000 guil- 

 ders; imports of textile manufactures and ma- 

 terials were 123,547,000 guilders, and exports 

 90,023,000 guilders; imports of copper were 74,910,- 

 000 guilders, and exports 71,271,000 guilders; im- 

 ports of timber and wood were 55,470,000 guilders, 

 and exports 39,508,000 guilders ; imports of coffee 

 were 52,066,000 guilders, and exports 32,087,000 

 guilders; imports of rice were 58,017,000 guilders, 

 and exports 25,295,000 guilders; imports of sugar 

 were 19,245,000 guilders, and exports 52,887,000 

 guilders; imports of margarin were 20,628,000 

 guilders, and exports 48,854,000 guilders; imports 

 of coal were 52,195,000 guilders, and exports 

 6,145,000 guilders; imports of hides and skins 

 were 27,115,000 guilders, and exports 30,973,000 

 guilders; imports of saltpeter were 29,805,000 

 guilders, and exports 23,907,000 guilders; imports 

 of oil-seeds were 30,348,000 guilders, and exports 

 12,968,000 guilders; imports of paper were 5,391,- 

 000 guilders, and exports 35,640,000 guilders; im- 

 ports of tin were 20,809,000 guilders, and exports 

 17,581,000 guilders; imports of -grease and tallow 

 were 25,416,000 guilders, and exports 12,815,000 

 guilders; imports of paints were 17,622,000 guil- 

 ders, and exports 13,317,000 guilders; imports of 

 precious metals were 10,202,000 guilders, and ex- 

 ports 15,386,000 guilders; imports of zinc were 

 1 1 ,358,000 guilders, and exports 11,111 ,000 guilders ; 

 imports of butter were 1,282,000 guilders, and ex- 

 ports 20,379,000 guilders; imports of tobacco were 

 9,485,000 guilders, and exports 6,993,000 guil- 

 ders; imports of cheese were 77,000 guilders, 

 and exports 15,936,000 guilders; imports of 

 flax were 1,100,000 guilders, and exports 12,507.- 

 000 guilders; imports of indigo were 5,387,000 

 guilders, and exports 6,484,000 guilders; imports 

 of mineral oil were 12,041,000 guilders, and ex- 

 ports 70,000 guilders. The values are estimated, 

 official records being taken of the weight of. goods 



only, which in 1899 readied tin- totul of ^.",270,- 

 000,000 kilograms for imports, l(i.. w 7H.i)!ii),(ji)i) kilo- 

 grams for exports, 999,000,000 kilojjni m > i'or re- 

 exports, and 4,047,000,000 kilogrjui; [ j n 

 transit. Of the total estimated value n\ imjioiU 

 509,185,000 guilders represent article- i i< ud 

 984,000 guilders raw materials, 217,0s 1. (MI. 

 manufactured goods, and 378,000,000 guildci - 

 cellaneous merchandise; and of the total value 01 

 exports food products make 403,288,000 guild: r-,, 

 raw materials 310,288,000 guilders, munuhiot tired 

 products 220,308,000 'guilders, and miscellaneous 

 products 309,310,000 guilders. 



The estimated values of special imports from 

 and exports to the principal countries in 1899 

 were in guilders as follow: 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The 

 railroads of Holland had a total length of 1,725 

 miles in 1899, of which 968 miles belonged to the 

 Government, having been built at a cost of 270,- 

 509,000 guilders. The Government railroads in 

 1899 carried 11,733,000 passengers and 7,060,000 

 metric tons of freight, the total receipts being 23,- 

 306,000 guilders and expenses 18,939,000 guilders, 

 while on the railroads of companies 16,131,000 pas- 

 sengers and 4,141,000 tons of freight were carried, 

 receipts having been 18,000,000 guilders and ex- 

 penses 13,890,000 guilders. 



The post-office in 1899 transmitted 72,137,000 

 internal and 27,803,000 foreign letters, 43,429,357 

 internal and 8,422,313 foreign postal cards, 134,- 

 762,000 internal and 15,371,000 foreign newspapers, 

 etc., 4,075,257 internal and 971,032 foreign par- 

 cels, and 1,300,476 internal and 1,160,583 foreign 

 money-orders; receipts were 9,643,400 guilders, 

 and expenses 7,291,577 guilders. 



The state telegraph lines on Jan. 1, 1900, had 

 a length of 3,689 miles, with 13,511 miles of wire. 

 The number of private despatches in 1899 was 

 5,218,320; receipts were 2,031,945 guilders, and 

 running expenses 2,346,482 guilders. 



Politics and Legislation. A project complet- 

 ing the reform of the army was before the States 

 General in the early months of 1901. Gen. Eland 

 proposed to remodel the army on the German 

 pattern, the object being to secure the maximum 

 number of fighting men at a minimum cost. 

 Every youth not disqualified was to be trained as 

 a soldier, the annual contingent being increased to 

 17,000 and the term of service with the colors re- 

 duced to eight months for the infantry and eight- 

 een months for the cavalry. The Moderate Lib- 

 erals approved the scheme; the Conservatives 

 were strongly opposed to universal service and the 

 general Germanizing of the army. It was pro- 

 posed to replace the obsolete Schuttery, or militia, 

 with a Landwehr, composed of men between the 

 ages of twenty-six and thirty-four who had com- 

 pleted their term of service in the regular army 

 and its reserve. The Landsturm would then be 

 composed exclusively of officers and men pen- 

 sioned after fifteen years of service in the army 

 and the Landwehr. A reform so sweeping it was 

 not proposed to carry out at once, but only gradu- 

 ally. An amendment passed by the Second Cham- 

 ber limiting the maximum term in barracks to 



