740 



HOLLAND 



The soil of Holland is not uniformly fertile. 

 Large tracts of land, especially in the eastern pro- 

 vinces, are simply heath ; and the waste lands of 

 Holland covered an area of more than 1,700,000 

 acres in 1897. A society has been founded for the 

 afforestation of these tracts. The orchards of Bos- 

 koop, producing excellent fruit, like the prolific 

 district of Wesuand, should he mentioned, as also 

 the famous culture of Dutch hulbs at Haarlem and 

 the surrounding districts. 



Minerals. As may be readily believed, min- 

 erals are scarce in Holland ; but valuable clay for 

 the manufacture of tiles, bricks, and pottery is 

 found everywhere in great abundance, and the 

 making of the famous old Delft-ware is now reviv- 

 ing. Coal is worked in Limburg, and also a soft 

 sandstone. 



Manufactures, Industries, tfcc. The chief manu- 

 factures are linen, woollen, cotton, and silk fabrics, 

 paper, leather, glass, &c. Leyden, Tilburg, and 

 Veenendaal are famed for woollen blankets, wool- 

 dyed pilot, fine cloths, and friezes ; 's Hertogen- 

 bosch (Bois-le-Duc) for linens and rich damasks. 

 Calicoes, shirtings, drills, table-cloths, striped dimi- 

 ties, &c. are made at Alrnelo, Amersfoort, and 

 other leading towns. Excellent imitation Smyrna 

 carpets are manufactured at Deventer, and imita- 

 tion Scotch and other kinds are made at Delft, &c. ; 

 turkey-red yarns, dyed silks, and silk stuiFs at 

 Roermond, Utrecht, Haarlem, &c. ; leather, glass, 

 firearms at Maastricht and Delft; iron -founding, 

 rolling and hammering of lead and copper, cannon- 

 founding are carried on at The Hague, &c. 

 Breweries are numerous (541 in 1887) : Middel- 

 burg, Bois-le-Duc, Amsterdam, Nimeguen, &c. 

 have important ones, those of Bois-le-Duc and Am- 

 sterdam manufacturing large quantities. Waalwijk, 

 Heusden, and surrounding districts manufacture 

 boots and shoes. Gin is distilled at Schiedam, 

 Delft, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam. The distilleries 

 of gin ( ' Hollands ' ) form an important branch 

 of Dutch industry, Over 500 existing at the end of 

 1897. The liqueur factories are of national import- 

 ance. Amsterdam once had the largest diamond - 

 cutting trade in the world, 10,000 persons depending 

 on that branch of industry ; but latterly, owing 

 to various causes ( tlie clearness of rough stones 

 being one of tliem ), the trade has fallen off. Sugar- 

 refining was carried on by 11 establishments in 

 1895, and there were then also 30 beetroot sugar 

 factories, 50 salt-works, and nearly 600 breweries. 

 The manufacture of cocoa has assumed enormous 

 proportions in the last few years, and there are 

 large works at Weesp, at Amsterdam, and at 

 Rotterdam. North Brabant is the principal centre 

 of the Dutch margarine trade, exported to Eng- 

 land in immense quantities. Something like nine- 

 tenths of all the margarine sent to England 

 (value 2,498,500 in 1896) comes from Holland. 



Fisheries. The fisheries of Holland, although no 

 longer so important as at one time, are still note- 

 worthy. At the end of 1895 they gave employ- 

 ment to 17,650 men and boys, on board 5189 

 vessels. The herring - fishery produce annually 

 between 3,000,000 and 4,000,000 barrels from the 

 North Sea alone, and 300,000 tons of salt herrings 

 may be exported in a single year. Trawling is 

 extensively resorted to. 'Dutch coopering' has 

 been virtually abolished by the international 

 North Sea Conventions (see COOPERAGE). Between 

 25,000,000 and 35,000,000 oysters are annually 

 taken, and a fourth thereof exported to England. 

 The fisheries of Holland are estimated to vield 

 annually 3,000,000. 



Imports, Exports, and Shipping. The Dutch are 

 no longer the ' carriers of Europe,' but their carry- 

 ing trade is still very considerable. The total 

 imports into Holland and exports thence were, 



in 1894, 121,750,000 and 93,000,000 ; and the im- 

 ports from and exports to the United Kingdom in 

 1894 were 27,606,400 and 8,787,500 respectively. 

 Holland of all European countries does the largest 

 amount of foreign trade per head of population ; 

 in 1888, 37, 7s. l^d. per head (more than thrice 

 that of Great Britain and Ireland). In 1895 the 

 mercantile marine consisted of 425 sailing -ves- 

 sels of a burden of 110,800 tons, and 157 steamers 

 of 183,000 tons. 



Revenue, Expenditure, &c. The revenue of 1890 

 was estimated at about 10,109,000, and the ex- 

 penditure at 11,256,000. The East Indies revenue 

 for 1890 was estimated at 10,677,000, the expendi- 

 ture at 11,700,000. The East India colonies, once 

 a burden, were long a source of profit, but are now 

 a burden again. From 1850 to and with 1874 

 25,376,218 was paid off from the national debt. 

 In 1880 the debt amounted to 78,601,216, and the 

 annual interest payable on it was 2,328,000 ; in 

 1888 the debt proper was upwards of 88,000,000, 

 besides 1,250,000 in paper money. The annual 

 charge, even after a recent reduction, was still 

 estimated at 2,581,000 for 1890. The great bulk 

 of the national debt is held in Holland ; the national 

 prosperity is increasing, and an enormous amount 

 is invested in foreign funds and American railways. 



Colonies. The colonies of Holland are stated to 

 have an area of upwards of 700,000 sq. m. (more 

 than three times the area of the German empire ), 

 with a population of about 30,000,000. They fall 

 into two groups : ( 1 ) the East Indian possessions, 

 including Java and Madura, Sumatra, the Mo- 

 luccas, Celebes, Timor, parts of Borneo, and the 

 western part of New Guinea; and (2) the West 

 Indies, of which the chief are Surinam and Cur- 

 acao. The factories on the coast of Guinea were 

 disposed of by sale to Great Britain in 1872. The 

 principal colonies are treated at length in separate 

 articles. 



Government. The government of Holland is a 

 limited constitutional monarchy. The modern 

 Grondwet, or Constitutional Law, of 1848, was 

 altered in 1887 to suit new electoral and other re- 

 quirements. The crown is the executive power ; 

 legislation is vested in the States-general. The 

 king presides at a council of state, whose members 

 are appointed by him. Its functions are similar to 

 those of the Privy-council in Britain. He also 

 selects ministers, who countersign all royal decrees, 

 and whose responsibility is settled by a special law. 

 The States-general is divided into a first and a 

 second chamber. The second chamber consists of 

 one hundred members, the first chamber of fifty 

 members, the former being elected by direct suff- 

 rage, the latter by the provincial councils from 

 among the highest-taxed citizens in the state, or 

 those that hold or have held important public posts. 

 The members of the second chamber are elected 

 for four years. Only male subjects thirty years 

 old, in the full possession of their civic rights, are 

 eligible. Each member receives by way of salary 

 166 a year, and, besides, a stipend for travelling 

 and incidental expenses during each session. The 

 members of the first chamber are elected for a 

 term of nine years. No one can be a member of 

 the two chambers simultaneously. Ministers may 

 sit in both, but only possess a consultative voice. 

 The second chamber alone has the right of amend- 

 ment and of initiating legislation. All judges 

 are appointed by the crown for life. There is a 

 supreme tribunal (at The Hague), and ministers, 

 members of the States-general, and certain high 

 officials ^can be arraigned only before it. There is 

 no state* religion, but the state supports financially 

 the different churches. 



Education. Primary instruction is provided by 

 the state in all places where it is required. Private 



