NETHERLANDS, THE. 



625 



Social Democratic Demonstrations. At the time 

 of the opening of the States-General in Sep- 

 tember, the Socialists set on foot a series of 

 manifestations in favor of universal suffrage 

 and of legislation in the interest of working- 

 men, who have suffered of late from want of 

 employment. The Socialists were excited over 

 repressive proceedings to which the authori- 

 ties had lately resorted. In August several 

 Socialists were arrested in their homes in Am- 

 sterdam and the Hague. A Socialist, named 

 Van Ommeren, was condemned to imprison- 

 ment for one year for posting placards insult- 

 ing to the King, and a riot occurred in conse- 

 quence at Amsterdam, during which many per- 

 sons were injured. 



Colonies. The total area of the Dutch East 

 Indies is estimated at 655,000 square miles, 

 and the population at the end of 1882 was 

 computed to he 27,883,895. Java and Madura 

 have an area of 131,733 square kilometres, with 

 a population in 1881 of 20,088,618 persons, of 

 whom 19,834,584 were natives. The number 

 of Europeans in Dutch India in 1882 was 43,- 

 738, of whom 35, 535 were in Java and Madura. 

 Batavia, the political capital, had 96,989 in- 

 habitants in 1882 ; Samarang, 65,815 ; Soera- 

 baya, 121,047. 



The commerce of the Dutch East Indies in 

 1883 amounted to 138,621,000 guilders of mer- 

 chandise imports, of which 8,002,000 guilders 

 were on state account, and 201,854,000 guild- 

 ers of merchandise exports, of which 50,721,- 

 000 guilders were on account of the Govern- 

 ment. The imports of specie were 7,328,000 ; 

 the exports 760,000 guilders. The Govern- 

 ment exports of coffee were47,213,000 guilders 

 in value, the private exports 35,226,000 guild- 

 ers; the Government exports of tin, 3,386,000 

 guilders; the private exports, 3,039,000 guild- 

 ers; the exports of sugar were 60,244,000 

 guilders ; of indigo, 3,617,000 guilders ; of skins, 

 2,535,000 guilders; of cloves and nutmegs, 

 2,014,000 guilders ; of rice, 1,005,000 guilders ; 

 of tobacco, 12,802,000 guilders; of tea, 1,875,- 

 000 guilders; of gambier, 2,443,000 guilders; 

 of gutta-percha, 3,625,000 guilders; of gum, 

 4,704,000 guilders; of pepper, 2,608,000 guild- 

 ers; of rattan, 2,353,000 guilders. 



The crop of Sumatra tobacco in 1882 was 

 102,050 bales, having increased steadily from 

 29,030 in 1876. The price per pound in 1882 

 was 49| cents, and the total value of the crop, 

 $8,566,000. In 1883 the yield fell off to 93,503 

 bales, which sold at 48 cents, and realized 

 $7,620,000. In 1884 the acreage was largely 

 increased, and the yield was prolific, the total 

 quantity being estimated at from 125,000 to 

 130,000 bales, but the quality was not satis- 

 factory. The fall in the price of sugar of 40 

 per cent., with a decline in the prices of some 

 other colonial products, very nearly produced a 

 financial crash in Holland, and a crisis in the 

 East India trade in the beginning of 1885. The 

 planters, to whom the banks have freely ad- 

 vanced money to extend their operations, were 

 TOL. xxv. 40 A 



many of them unable to meet their bills drawn 

 at six months against the banks, especially 

 those engaged in sugar cultivation. Stock-spec- 

 ulators seized the opportunity to manipulate 

 the market so that a heavy fall in bank-stocks 

 occurred, and depositors in great numbers with- 

 drew their balances. The Colonial Bank tem- 

 porarily stopped payments, and other institu- 

 tions were on the point of closing also, when 

 leading capitalists united to raise 25,000,000 

 florins of additional capital with which the 

 banks connected with the colonial trade could 

 conduct the fluctuating business in drafts. 



In the beginning of 1885 there were in Java, 

 open to traffic, 938 kilometres of railroads, and 

 under construction 194 kilometres. The re- 

 ceipts of the Dutch India Railway Company 

 in 1883 were 3,856,056 guilders; the expenses, 

 1,315,958 guilders ; the receipts from the state 

 lines, 2,898,052 guilders; expenses, 1,315,749. 



The length of the state telegraph lines in 

 1883 was 5,762 kilometres; length of wires, 

 7,423 kilometres, of which 5,376 kilometres 

 were in Java and 2,047 in Sumatra. 



The Dutch West Indies embrace the colony 

 of Surinam, or Dutch Guiana, and Curacoa, or 

 the Dutch Antilles. See WEST INDIES, DUTCH. 



The War in Aeheen. After the failure of Gen. 

 Kohler's expedition, the Government sent the 

 experienced Gen. Van Swieten against the 

 Acheenese. With relatively small losses he 

 captured their stronghold, Krat on, and intended 

 to fortify the position and bring the country 

 into submission by pacific means rather than 

 by force of arms. Gen. Van der Heyden, who 

 came next, attempted to subdue the barba- 

 rians by vigorous operations, but was recalled 

 in the midst of his successes. The Governor- 

 General decreed that the state of war was over 

 and tranquillity restored. A civil Governor, 

 Pruis van der Hoeven, was then sent to Aeheen, 

 and an unprofitable state of friction between 

 the civil and military authorities resulted. The 

 rebels were emboldened by the transfer of au- 

 thority, and soon drove in the outposts. The 

 military were rendered powerless by the edict 

 that required them to obtain permission to 

 march against the enemy from the Governor. 

 The blockade of the coast was only partly 

 effective, because the English and Americans 

 engaged in the pepper - trade needed only to 

 prove that they had made advances on the 

 crop, to be allowed to pass the lines. The reb- 

 els were supplied with arms and ammunition 

 by the English in Penang. The authority of 

 the Government was weakened in other parts 

 of Sumatra, and other tribes were inclined to 

 throw off their allegiance. The administrative 

 power was then restored to the military com- 

 mander, but the continuance of the official 

 state of peace hindered Laging Tobias and his 

 successor Col. Demmeni from taking effective 

 measures, though the rebels, inspired by relig- 

 ious fanaticism and re-enforced from various 

 parts of the Malaysian Archipelago, inflicted 

 severe losses on the Government troops. In 



