528 



NETHERLANDS. 



females. The number of marriages in 1886 

 was 30,298; births, 158,658; deaths, 103,046; 

 surplus of births over deaths, 55,612. The 

 population in 1879, when the last census was 

 taken, was 4,012,693, and was divided in re- 

 spect to religion into 2,469,814 Protestants, 

 1,439,137 Catholics, 81,693 Israelites, and 22,- 

 049 of other faiths. The following are the 

 most populous cities and the number of their 

 inhabitants: Amsterdam, 378,686 ; Rotterdam, 

 190,545; the Hague, 143,626; Utrecht, 79,- 

 166; Groningen, 51,821; Haarlem, 48,159; 

 A rnh era, 47,285 ; Leyden, 45,511. 



Commerce. The total value of the imports 

 for domestic consumption in 1885 was 1,091,- 

 488,000 guilders; of the exports of domestic 

 products, 891,036,000 guilders. The imports 

 from European countries amounted to 873,- 

 481,000 guilders, in which the importations 

 from the German Zollverein are represented 

 by 274,716,000, and those from the Hanseatic 

 cities by 23,183,000 guilders, those from Great 

 Britain by 269,046,000 guilders, those from 

 Belgium by 161,585,000 guilders, those from 

 Russia by 76,803,000 guilders, those from 

 France by 18,875,000 guilders, and those from 

 Spain by 17,826,000 guilders, Sweden and 

 Norway coming next with 9,182,000 guilders, 

 and then Italy with 4,803,000 guilders. Of the 

 exports to European countries, of the total 

 value of 813,095,000 guilders, the exports to 

 the Zollverein made 383,997,000, and those to 

 the Hanseatie cities 17,048,000 guilders, those 

 to Great Britain 229,274,000 guilders, those to 

 Belgium 127,830,000 guilders, those to Italy 

 14,576,000 guilders, those to France 8,976,000 

 guilders, those to Sweden and Norway 7,994,- 

 000 guilders, those to Denmark 7,806,000 

 guilders. Out of the total imports from Amer- 

 ican countries, amounting to 73,609,000 guild- 

 ers, those from the United States are repre- 

 sented by 55,609,000 guilders, and out of 

 27,179,000 guilders of exports of Dutch prod- 

 ucts to the countries of North and South 

 America 26,399,000 guilders went to the 

 United States. The imports from Asiatic 

 countries amounted to 36,569,000 guilders, to 

 which British India contributed 37,264,000 

 guilders. The exports to Asia and the trade 

 with all other countries were trifling, excepting 

 the commerce with Java and the Dutch West 

 Indies, which is represented by 98,460,000 

 guilders of imports and 47,377,000 of exports. 



The principal articles of import and export 

 and their values in 1885 were as follow in 

 guilders : 



Navigation. The total number of sailing- 

 vessels entered at the ports of Holland in 1885 

 was 2,326, of 1,773,542 metric tons, of which 

 968, of 734,569 tons, sailed under the Nether- 

 lands flag. The number cleared was 2,310, of 

 1,795,854 cubic metres' burden, of which 977, 

 of 734,569 metric tons, were Dutch. The 

 steamers that were entered numbered 5.695, of 

 9,934,351 metric tons, and of these 1,484, of 

 2,975,203 tons, were Dutch. The steamers 

 that were cleared numbered 5,604, of 9,778,389 

 metric tons, of which 1,488, of 2,904,560 

 tons, were registered in the Netherlands. 



The commercial marine on Jan. 1, 1885, 

 consisted of 634 sailing-vessels, of the aggre- 

 gate burden of 550,003 cubic metres, and 106 

 steamships, of an aggregate measurement of 

 306,833 cubic metres. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The length 

 of railroads in operation on Dec. 31, 1885, was 

 2,372 kilometres. The letters conveyed 

 through the post-office in 1885 numbered, with 

 the postal-cards, 87,582,607, and the journals 

 50,443,163. The telegraphs, which are owned 

 by the state, had a total length of 4,700 kilo- 

 metres at the end of 1885. 



The Army. The permanent army in 1886 

 numbered 2,341 officers and 63,230 men, in- 

 cluding reserves. The militia, called the Schut- 

 teryen, is divided into two classes the active, 

 organized in 212 companies, and numbering 

 38,188 men, and the sedentary, of which there 

 are 89 battalions, numbering 77,103 men. 



The army of the Dutch East Indies, which 

 is recruited by enlistment in Europe and in the 

 East Indies, numbered 13,680 European and 

 15,369 natives, making a total of 29,049 sol- 

 diers, not including the officers, 1,371 in num- 

 ber. The various bodies of militia in the East 

 Indies numbered 8,704 men, of whom 3,378 

 were Europeans. 



The Navy. The naval forces of the kingdom 

 in July, 1887, consisted of 24 armor-clads, 27 

 cruisers, 10 side-wheel steamers, 30 gunboats 

 for coast-defense, 27 torpedo-boats, and 26 

 other vessels. The iron-clad fleet comprised 6 

 turret-ships with rams, 7 monitor-rams, 5 other 

 monitors, and 6 vessels for river-defense. The 

 navy was manned by 7,204 sailors and 2,287 

 marines. 



Finances. The revenue is estimated in the 

 budget for 1887 at 115,973,075 guilders, and 

 the expenditure at 132,257,559 guilders. The 

 yield of direct taxes is reckoned at 26,623,000 

 guilders; excise, 42,340,000 guilders; stamps, 

 registration, and succession duties, 22,003,500 

 florins; customs, 4,912,000 guilders; postage 

 5,550,000 guilders ; domains, 2,400,000 guild- 

 ers; railroads, 2,080,000 guilders; telegraphs, 

 1,092,100; other receipts, 8,972,475 guilders. 

 The expenditure for the service of the debt is 

 set down at 33,871,314 guilders; for the 

 "Waterstaat and public works, 23,666,896 

 guilders; for the army, 20,386,939 guilders; 

 for the navy, 12,336,000 guilders; for the de- 

 partment of the interior, 10,195,018 guilders; 



