NETHERSOLE 



pendent party develops the power 

 of the casting vote, as is under- 

 stood by the Socialists, who at the 

 election of 1918 came 22 strong to 

 the second chamber. 



DEFENCE. Service in the army 

 is partly compulsory, partly volun- 

 tary. Conscripts are chosen by lot. 

 There is a landweer and a land- 

 storm ; the peace strength, includ- 

 ing the former, was (1920) 270,000, 

 with a trained 156,000 in reserve. 

 Inundation in " Holland's For- 

 tress " round the citadel of Amster- 

 dam plays a large r61e in the scheme 

 of defence. The army of the Indies 

 is recruited and maintained as a 

 separate force ; while colonial de- 

 fence falls mainly on the home navy. 



JUSTICE. Courts of justice com- 

 prise cantonal (100), district (23), 

 appeal (5), and the high court at 

 The Hague, the judges being ap- 

 pointed by the sovereign for life. 

 Civil and criminal cases are tried in 

 all courts. The law of the Nether- 

 lands is embodied in the Code Napo- 

 leon. In each of the 1,110 com- 

 munes there is a popularly elected 

 council, which chooses aldermen 

 ( W ethouders) from its own number. 

 They, with a burgomaster ap- 

 pointed by the sovereign, form the 

 daily executive, with authority 

 over the communal police. 



One third of the land is per- 

 manent pasture, and intensive 

 methods are largely used in horti- 

 culture as well as hi agriculture. 

 The Netherlands possesses no min- 

 erals except the coal of Limburg. 

 Rotterdam, with an annual entry of 

 over 4)000,000 tons, is the greatest 

 port on the Continent. Amster- 

 dam, the commercial capital, and 

 its outport Ymuiden, or Ijmuiden, 

 have developed on the extensive 

 trade done with the Dutch 

 colonies. There is a crowded com- 

 merce of ships throughout the 

 interior network of canals, the 

 total extent of which is estimated 

 at 2,000 m. ; there are 3,000 m. of 

 roads, 2,400m. of rly., and 1,850m. 

 of tramways. 



COLONIES. The Netherlands 

 ranks third among colonial powers, 

 its possessions having an area 

 of 783,000 sq. m. and a pop. of 

 47,150,000. They fall into two 

 groups, viz. East Indian and West 

 Indian colonies. 



The E. Indian colonies are Java 

 and Madura, Sumatra, the Riau- 

 Lingga archipelago, Banca, Billiton, 

 Dutch Borneo, Celebes, the Moluc- 

 cas and Dutch New Guinea, the 

 Timor archipelago, Bali and Lom- 

 bok. The European pop. is 140,000. 

 Some districts are under native 

 princes, others directly adminis- 

 tered, and the whole is under a 

 governor - general, assisted by a 

 nominated council and a volks- 



5688 



raad, or people's council, a certain 

 control being exercised by the 

 Netherlands parliament. 



The W. Indian colonies are Dutch 

 Guiana and Cura9ao. The Nether- 

 lands colonial empire owes its 

 origin to the Dutch East India 

 Company, formed in 1602, and dis- 

 solved in 1798, when its possessions 

 passed to the state. 



Bibliography. Picturesque Hol- 

 land, Eng. trans. 1 878, and The Heart 

 of Holland, Eng. trans. 1880, H. 

 Havard ; Holland and Its People, 

 E. de Amicis, Eng. trans. 1880 ; Hol- 

 land and the Hollanders, D. S. 

 Meldrum, 1 898 ; Rise of the Dutch Re- 

 public, rev. ed. 1900, and The United 

 Netherlands, rev. ed. 1904, J. L. 

 Motley ; A Wanderer in Holland, E. 

 V. Lucas, 1905; Home Life in Hol- 

 land, D. S. Meldrum, 1911 ; A Free 

 Farmer in a Free State, J. W. 

 Robertson Scott, 1912; Holland of 

 To-day, A. Wharton, 1912; Rambles 

 in Holland, E. and M. S. Grew, 

 1913 ; Holland and the Dutch, D. C. 

 Boulger, 1915. 



Nethersole, OLGA (b. 1870). 

 British actress. Born in London, 

 Jan. 18, 1870, she made her stage 

 debut at the 

 TheatreRoyal, 

 Brighton, in 

 Harvest, 

 March, 1887, 

 and appeared 

 in London at 

 the Adelphi 

 Theatre, June, 

 1888. She 

 toured in Aus- 

 tralia, 1890, 

 and at the 

 Theatre Sarah 

 Bernhardt, Paris, 1907, played in 

 La Dame aux Camelias and The 

 Second Mrs. Tanqueray. She 

 toured in America, 1910-11, and 

 again in 1913. Joining the British 

 Red Cross in 1916, she was attached 

 to the Hampstead Military Hospi- 

 tal until the end of the war. She 

 founded, and was hon. organizer of, 

 the People's League of Health. 



Nethou, Pic DE (Sp. Aneto). 

 Mountain peak 

 of the Central 

 Pyrenees, in the 

 Maladetta group, 

 between France 

 and Spam. It is 

 the highest point 

 of the whole 

 range, alt. 

 11,168 ft. 



Netley. Village 

 of Hampshire, 

 England. It 

 stands on the side 

 of Southampton 

 Water, 3 m. from 

 Southampton, 

 with a station on 

 the L. & S.W. 

 Rly. Here are 



Olga Nethersole, 

 British actress 



Elliott & Fry 



NETTLE 



the extensive ruins of a Cistercian 

 abbey, founded about 1239. In 1856 

 a military hospital, the Royal Vic- 

 toria, was begun at Netley It was 

 opened in 1863 and became the 

 largest in Great Britain, except 

 only the temporary ones opened 

 during the Great War. It has 

 accommodation for 1,100 patients, 

 and here candidates for the army 

 medical service receive part of 

 their training. Pop. 1,400. 



Nettle (Urtica dioica). Peren- 

 nial herb of the natural order Urti- 

 caceae. It is a native of the N. tern- 



Nettle. Spray of foliage and flowers 

 of common stinging nettle 



perate regions, S. Africa, and the 

 Andes. The creeping rootstock 

 sends out runners, soon forming a 

 large colony. The oval or lance- 

 shaped, opposite leaves are downy 

 and well furnished with stinging 

 hairs ; the edges strongly toothed. 

 The flowers are small and green, 

 the males being in separate, looser 

 clusters than the females. A 

 smaller annual species (U. urens) 

 has smooth leaves with stinging 

 hairs, and the clusters few-flowered. 

 Another annual is the Roman 

 Nettle (U. pilulifera), a coarser- 

 looking plant, whose leaves, save 

 for the stinging hairs, are also 

 smooth. The Australian tree nettle 

 (U. gigas) grows to a height of 100 

 ft. or more. Nettle-shoots in spring 

 make a valuable pot-herb, and a 

 green dye is obtained from the 



Netley, Hampshire. Courtyard and [main entrance to 



the Royal Victoria Military Hospital 



cribb, southsea 



