NETHERLANDS. 



379 



land, by means of steam-pumps, the smaller one 

 to be completed in fourteen years and the other 

 in eighteen years. The cost of reclamation in- 

 creases the total estimate to 95,000,000 guilders, 

 to be raised by loans, adding 2,000,000 guilders 

 to the annual budget for sixty years. The minis- 

 terial crisis began before the Second Chamber had 

 acted on the project. The new Government de- 

 clined to assume responsibility for the great out- 

 lay involved, and therefore the project was in- 

 definitely postponed. 



The new Chamber assembled on Sept. 17. 

 Queen Willemina opened the States General in 

 person. The legislative program announced in the 

 speech from the throne included measures for the 

 revision of the law relating to Sunday labor, for 

 the repression of gambling, for the restriction of 

 drinking-places, and for imposing additional 

 penalties for adulteration. Among social meas- 

 ures was a bill compelling insurance against ac- 

 cidents to workmen and against sickness and the 

 infirmities of age. As regards fiscal measures the 

 Government proposed to remodel the tariff so as 

 to favor national industries. The colonial policy 

 was not to be altered, the Government intending 

 to persevere with the police measures in Achin in 

 the hope of bringing about the complete pacifica- 

 tion of that region. A commission was to be ap- 

 pointed to inquire into the expediency of redu- 

 cing the military estimates without impairing the 

 efficiency of the forces or prejudicing the national 

 security. The introduction of quick-firing artil- 

 lery was a matter of urgency demanding consid- 

 erable sacrifices. 



The Dutch East Indies. Java and the other 

 Dutch possessions in the East, after having been 

 ruled for two centuries by the Dutch East India 

 Company, have now for over a century been gov- 

 erned by the Netherlands Government. Subject 

 to the general laws of the States General, the 

 Governor-General, assisted by a Council, has au- 

 thority to make laws and regulations. Java, with 

 Madura, has an area of 50,554 square miles, and 

 the population in 1897 was 26,125,053. The other 

 possessions, known as the outposts, are Sumatra, 

 Riau-Lingga, Banca, Billiton, the west, south, and 

 east coasts of Borneo, Celebes, the Molucca 

 Islands, the Timor Archipelago, Bali and Lombok, 

 and the western part of New Guinea to 141 of 

 east longitude. The total area of Dutch India is 

 estimated at 736,400 square miles, and the total 

 population at 34,090,000. The population of Ba- 

 tavia, the capital, in 1897 was 115,567, compris- 

 ing 9,423 Europeans, 76,751 natives, 26,433 Chinese, 

 and 2,860 Arabs and other Asiatics; the popula- 

 tion of Soerabaya was 142,980, of whom 6,988 

 were Europeans and persons assimilated to them ; 

 population of Samarang, 84,266, including 3,355 

 Europeans. The natives are Mohammedans. Re- 

 ligious liberty is guaranteed by law, and 127 mis- 

 sionaries were engaged in propagating Christian- 

 ity in 1898. There were over 290,000 converts in 

 the outposts, but not 20,000 in Java. The num- 

 ber of pilgrims who went to Mecca in that year 

 was 9.900, of whom 7,991 returned alive. For the 

 education of Europeans and persons assimilated 

 to them, who do not exceed 64,000 in number, 

 there were 164 public primary schools, with 541 

 teachers and 14,955 pupils in 1898, and 7 higher 

 schools, with 102 teachers and 1,016 pupils, and 

 20 private schools had 160 teachers and 3.122 pu- 

 pils. For natives there were in Java and Madura 

 223 Government primary schools, with 43,094 

 pupils; 216 private schools, with 23,795 pupils; 5 

 normal schools, with 169 pupils; and 4 schools for 

 the sons of chiefs, with 211 pupils. In the out- 

 posts 296 Government schools had 21,388 pupils 



and 205 private schools h;ul !IM,:I,; punils in 

 1897. 



The revenue in 1900 amounted In 1 ! i 't-'i.nos 

 guilders, of which 40.4 per cent,. \\ a -, UM-IM! l>y 

 taxation, 21.7 per cent, by monnpnlir- ( .i 

 salt, etc., 20.8 per cent, by sales of <>;]<,' tin. 

 cinchona, and coal, and 17.1 per cent,, came irom 

 other sources. The expenditure amounted to 

 766,255 guilders, leaving a deficit for the yeur <>i 

 5,777,247 guilders. The budget estimates nisikf 

 the revenue for 1901 from receipts in the mother 

 country 28,693,434 guilders and from receipts in 

 the colonies 121,242,500 guilders, a total of 149,- 

 935,934 guilders. The expenditure in the mother 

 country was estimated at 39,262,928 guilders and 

 in the colonies at 119,622,455 guilders, a total of 

 149,885,383 guilders, giving a surplus of 50,551 

 guilders. The receipts in the mother country are 

 19,666,697 guilders from sales of tin, 5,063,945 guil- 

 ders from sales of coffee, 277,200 guilders from 

 sales of cinchona, 985,000 guilders from railroads, 

 2,150,000 guilders from the Billiton Company, be- 

 ing the Government's share of the annual profits, 

 and 550,592 guilders from other sources. The re- 

 ceipts in India are 18,365,000 guilders from sales 

 of opium, 18,486,000 guilders from import, export, 

 and excise duties, 22,374,300 guilders from the land 

 revenue, 6,383,300 guilders from sales of coffee, 

 9,507,000 guilders from sales of salt, 12,567,000 

 guilders from railroads, 3,182,000 guilders from 

 the tax on trades, 2,865,000 guilders from coal, and 

 27,512,900 guilders from other sources. The cost 

 of civil administration amounts to about a third 

 of the revenue, and the military and naval ex- 

 penditure absorbs another third. 



The military force at the beginning of 1899 con- 

 sisted of 1,428 officers and 42,235 non-commis- 

 sioned officers and privates. The commissioned 

 officers are Europeans, and the rank and file con- 

 sisted of 15,911 Europeans, 50 Africans, 4,434 Am- 

 boinese, and 21,840 natives. In the native com- 

 panies half or more of the non-commissioned offi- 

 cers are Europeans. Soldiers of the Dutch army- 

 are allowed to enlist in the Indian army if they 

 have the permission of their commanding officers. 

 All the gunners and a good part of the cavalry are 

 Europeans, and in the infantry one or two of the 

 four companies in each battalion are composed of 

 European soldiers, the other companies being na- 

 tive with European officers and instructors. There 

 is a military academy near Batavia, and a school 

 for the instruction of soldiers is attached to every 

 battalion. The naval force consists of 20 vessels 

 belonging to the colonies, manned by 1,350 Euro- 

 peans and 750 natives, and 4 vessels furnished by 

 the Netherlands Government, manned by 1,000 

 Europeans and 200 natives. 



The Government land regularly cultivated by 

 natives in 1898 was 6,838,533 acres in Java and 

 Madura, and the total area under cultivation was 

 9,798,764 acres, of which 5,202,957 acres were 

 planted to rice, 4,046,816 to corn, peanuts, cotton, 

 and various other crops, 246,372 acres to sugar- 

 cane, 252,835 acres to tobacco, and 49,784 acres 

 to indigo. The lands alienated by the Government 

 prior to 1816 are 2,120,584 acres now owned by 

 Europeans, and 504,001 acres owned by Chinese 

 and other Asiatics. Unoccupied lands are 

 granted on hereditary leases for seventy-five years, 

 and of such 893,478 acres were taken by 752 

 European companies and individuals. 30,019 acres 

 by 46 Chinese, and 1,488 acres by 5 natives in 1898. 

 The yield of sugar in 1898 was 1,538,701,400 

 pounds. The yield of coffee was 17,676,800 pounds 

 on Government lands, 9,814,800 pounds by free 

 native cultivation, 27,973,600 pounds on leased 

 lands, and 5,104,400 pounds on private lands; 



