NETHERLANDS, THE. 



of 2,227 vowels, of an aggregate tonnage 

 of 513,089. 



Duchy of Limburg 

 Miid-dtu-liy of Luxemburg with tho 



. of c.Tinany ceased, ia 1866, in conse- 

 quence of the dissolution of tho German Con- 

 Prussia, in reorganizing tho North 

 1:1 1'i.n federation, consented to tho entire 

 nntl permanent separation of Limburg from 

 < i.-rman Confederation. A3 regards 

 regulation of its relations to 

 Prussia and North Germany was reserved for 

 negotiations. For the present, Prussia 

 claimed and continued to exercise tho right 



.prisoning the previously federal fortress 



ixemburg. 

 A serious conflict arose, in 1866, between the 



rumont and the liberal majority of the 

 Legislature, concerning tho administration of 

 Java, tho largest and most prosperous of tho 



.i;d possessions of tho Netherlands. 

 Java, an old Portuguese and substantially a 

 Dutch colony, came into the hands of the 



Mi in 1811, and only fell back to the 

 Netherlands by an act of spontaneous cession 

 five years later. The Javanese, a Malay race, 

 were civilized at tho time of tho h'rst Por- 

 tuguese settlement in 1511, and by the ad- 

 vanced state of their agricultural industry, aided 

 l.y tho most perfect system of irrigation, they 

 had made their land the granary of the Archi- 

 pelago. The Dutch, who, previous to 1811, 

 had only some settlements on the island, had 

 introduced forced labor in their plantations; 

 but their " peculiar institutions " were abolished 

 during the English occupation, and not restored 



veral years after the reinstalment of tho 

 Netherland rule. One of the governor-generals 

 <>f the Dutch East Indies, however, by name 

 Von den Bosch, effected a revolution on a large 

 scale in the island, appropriated all such soil as 

 could best bo turned to tho production of sugar, 



, indigo, &o., and, by means of compul- 

 sory labor, changed the whole aspect and econ- 

 omy of the land. The results of these measures, 

 it is stated, were a rise hi the revenue to a sum 

 of 4,000,000 yearly, and an increase of tho 

 population from 5,000,000, in 1816, to 

 1 :*,<' U, 680, in 1863. The population of -Java, 

 with all its increase, is, however, only about 

 half the density of that of Lower Bengal, and 

 as to trade, while the joint imports and exports, 

 not only of Java, but of all the Dutch island's 

 in those Eastern Seas, are valued at about 

 13,000,000, they are exceeded by 2,000,000 

 l>y those of the threo little British districts 

 in the Straits of Malacca, the two principal 

 a which were uninhabited eighty years ago. 

 That, with all the wealth they accumulate lor 

 their task-masters, the Javanese laborers do not 



tly improve their own position, one might 

 feel tempted to infer from tho fact that tho 

 price of corn has, during the last sixty 

 risen two hundred per cent. 



Tho forced laborsystem, though yielding a con- 

 liderable annual income to tho home Govern- 



ment, has long been stigmatized by the liberal 

 party of Holland as unmitigated servitude. After 

 tho abolition of negro slavery in the Dutch Wert 

 Indies, in 1862-'63, the Liberals wished to pro- 

 to a similar measure in behalf of their 

 eastern possessions. A bill for tho abolition of 

 the system of forced labor in these colonies was, 

 in 186S, brought into the Dutch Parliament, 

 but was rejected, as fraught with utter ruin to 

 the colonies themselves, no less than to the 

 mother country. More lately the Government 

 lilled the measure of popular discontent by tho 

 appointment to the office of Governor-General 

 of the East Indian possessions, tho highest office 

 in tho Crown's gift, of a man formerly well- 

 known for his leaning to the principles of free 

 trade and free labor, but who had abandoned 

 his principles and deserted from his party. A 

 vote of censure was passed in both houses 

 against tho ministers who had advised the 

 nomination of the obnoxious governor. Tho 

 king retorted by tho dissolution of the Second 

 Chamber, and by issuing a proclamation, in 

 which tho people were urged to choose, at the 

 new election on October 31st, supporters of the 

 Government. The following is tho text of the 

 proclamation : 



We, William III., by the grace of God, King of the 

 Netherlands, Prince of Orange, Nassau, Grand Duke 

 of Luxemburg, etc., etc. 



Beloved countrymen and subjects : I have thought 

 it necessary, in accordance 'with my constitutional 

 rights, to dissolve the Second Chamber of the States 

 General. If our beloved country is to continue in 

 the uninterrupted enjoyment of order and unity, and 

 thereby, under tho blessing of God, of peace and 

 prosperity, it is necessary for the government to be 

 the centre to which the looks of the people can be 

 directed with confidence. No government can fulfil 

 this condition if the good understanding be wanting, 

 the absence of which renders impossible the har- 

 monious cooperation of the constitutional authorities, 

 BO indispensable for the interests of the national 

 cause. The experience of recent times has convinc- 

 ingly proved that this understanding and cooperation 

 cannot be obtained with the elements of which the 

 Second Chamber of the States General was lately 

 composed. The continual changing of my responsible 

 advisers would gradually become pernicious to the 

 moral and material well-being of the nation, by crip- 

 pling the powers of government. Steadiness of aim, 

 on the contrary, increases the powers of the admin- 

 istration and of the executive. In order to attain 

 this end, I call now on my beloved people to make 

 their wishes known. Inhabitants of the Netherlands, 

 consider the 80th of October next as an important 

 day in your national existence. Your king invites 

 all of you, to whom the law gives the right to vote, 

 to proceed to the ballot. Let your faithful attend- 

 ance show that you value his appeal. 



Given at Loo, this 10th day of October, 1866. 



WILLIAM. 



The result of the election held on October 

 31st was a slight loss on the part of the Liberal* 

 who, however, retained a small majority of the 

 Second Chamber. The Chambers were opened 

 on November 19th. by a ministerial commission 

 acting on behalf oi the king. The speech from 

 tho throne was delivered by the Minister of 

 Justice. In adverting to the dissolution of the 

 Second Chamber, he saidr "The king and tho 



