564 



NETHERLANDS. 



progress toward the fulfillment of its programme 

 and drew criticism upon itself much criticism on 

 financial and other grounds the ministry has 

 lost prestige, and Minister Lohman declared that 

 it would resign if the elections of June, 1891, for 

 the Second Chamber went against the Govern- 

 ment. Rear-Admiral Dyserinek, the Minister of 

 Marine, had resigned in March, owing to an ad- 

 verse vote of the Chamber, and was replaced by 

 Capt. Kruys. In the elections the Antirevolu- 

 tionists lost 9 and the Catholics 2 seats. The 

 new Chamber was composed of 57 Liberals, V 19 

 Antirevolutionists, 24 Catholics, and 2 Radicals. 

 The Catholic leader Schaepman was ousted by a 

 Liberal and the Socialist Domela Nieuwenhuis 

 by a Radical, while the sole representative of 

 the old Conservative party was defeated. On 

 July 8 the Cabinet handed in their resignations. 



Eight weeks aftei the elections had resulted in 

 favor of the Liberals, the popular and accom- 

 plished burgomaster of Amsterdam, Dr. van 

 Tienhoven, finally overcame the many difficulties 

 that stood in the way of his getting together a 

 ministry composed of Liberal elements purely. 

 It was constituted on Aug. 20, and consists of the 

 following members : President of the Council and 

 Minister of the Interior, Dr. Tak van Poortvliet ; 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. van Tienhoven, 

 who had been Minister of the Waterstaat in 

 1877-79 ; Minister of Finance, Dr. -Pierson ; 

 Minister of Justice, Dr. H. J. Smidt, who held in 

 1877-79 the same portfolio in the Kappeyne min- 

 istry ; Minister of Marine, J. C. Jansen ; Minister 

 of War, Lieut.-Col. Seyffardt; Minister of the 

 Waterstaat, Commerce, and Industry, C. Lely ; 

 Minister of the Colonies, Dr. Baron van Dedem, 



The retiring ministry had brought in a new 

 military bill and one for the insurance of work- 

 men against accidents, but was able to make no 

 progress wtth them, even with the help of Mod- 

 erate Liberals. The former proposed' to incorpo- 

 rate in the army annually 16,300 of the 40,000 

 young men who would be liable to serve on the 

 introduction of obligatory service, which would 

 provide a standing army of 45,000 men, a garri- 

 son army of 20,000 men. and a reserve force of 

 20,000 men, besides 50,000 Landvvehr men and 

 a complementary reserve of 209,500. Clergymen 

 and divinity students would be exempt. " The 

 Schutteryen or national guards would be abol- 

 ished, but the Landsturm would include all able- 

 bodied citizens up to the age of forty who are not 

 enrolled in the army or auxiliary forces. In the 

 place of this sweeping scheme of reorganization, 

 the new Minister of War introduced a provis- 

 ional measure moderately increasing the army. 

 The new ministry was pledged to a large exten- 

 sion of the suffrage, but promised not to give 

 priority to this question, It bound itself by a 

 formal declaration to execute the primary-educa- 

 tion law and maintain the observance of Sunday. 

 The budget for 1892, which was presented on 

 Sept. 18, estimated the revenue at 127,600,000 

 guilders and the expenditure at 130,000,000 

 guilders, leaving a deficit of 2,600,000 guilders 

 to be met by increasing the taxes. The sum of 

 5,000,000 guilders for the demonetization of sil- 

 ver that has figuted in former budgets was omit- 

 ted. There was a larger sum appropriated for 

 public instruction, but less for public works, than 

 in the previous budget. Measures were promised 



for covering or reducing the accumulated deficit 

 of 36,000,000 guilders, and also a bill to secure a 

 more equitable distribution of taxation. 



Colonies. The Dutch have a colonial empire 

 in the East and West Indies covering 766,137 

 square miles, with a population of 29,550,000 

 souls. Of these, 29,475,613 are found in the East 

 Indies, embracing Java and Madura, Sumatra, 

 Banca, the Riau-Lingga archipelago, Billeton, the 

 west coast and the Dutch districts in the south 

 and east of Borneo, Celebes, the Molucca Islands, 

 the Timor archipelago, Bali and Lombok, and 

 New Guinea east of 141 of east longitude. These 

 islands have a total area of 719,674 square miles. 

 The European population in the beginning of 

 1889 consisted of 28,805 males and 23,731 females, 

 of whom 21,097 males and 20,484 females were 

 born in the East Indies. 



The revenue of Netherlands India for 1891 was 

 estimated at 116,414,315 guilders, and expendi- 

 ture at 136,840,646 guilders, leaving a deficit of, 

 20,426,331 guilders. The receipts are made up 

 of 11,581,430 guilders from sales of Government 

 coffee in Holland, 207,900 guilders from sales 

 of cinchona, 5,822,650 guilders from sales of tin, 

 795,000 guilders from railroad revenue in Holland 

 and 1,430,597 guilders from other receipts in Hol- 

 land, 17,080,000 guilders from sales of opium, 

 10,340,000 guilders from import, export, and ex- 

 cise duties, 16,067,000 guilders from land reve- 

 nue, 12,067,000 guilders from sales of coffee in 

 Java, 7,742,000 guilders from sales of salt, and 

 33,299,638 guilders from other sources of revenue 

 in the East Indies. The accounts for 1890 were 

 expected to show a surplus. The total receipts 

 in the Netherlands were 19,837,577 guilders, and 

 in the East Indies 96,576,738 guilders. Of the 

 expenditure, about one third goes for the main- 

 tenance of the army and navy, and the same pro- 

 portion for the general administration of the 

 Government in the East Indies and the Nether- 

 lands. The supreme administrative and execu- 

 tive authority in East India is vested in a gov- 

 ernor-general, who is assisted by a council of 5 

 members, who advise him on legislative ques- 

 tions. Dr. C. Pynacker Hordyk was appointed 

 Governor-General on June 19, 1888. The army 

 of Netherlands India consists of 1,406 officers 

 and 33,169 men, of whom 14,984 are Europeans. 

 The new Minister of the Colonies has declared 

 in favor of the continuance of the war in At- 

 cheen by the system of blockading the coast of 

 that part of Sumatra, in the place of active of- 

 fensive operations. The average production of 9 

 coffee on Government lands before 1890 was 

 520,000 piculs (of 133^ pounds) a year. The har- 

 vest for 1891 was estimated at 383,796 piculs. 

 The railroads have a total length of 790 square 

 miles. In November, 1891, the Dutch Chamber 

 approved a bill for the construction of railroads 

 to connect Batavia, Bantam, Malang, Blitar, Pro- 

 bolingo, and Panaraeken. 



The West India colonies of the Netherlands 

 consist of Dutch Guiana or Surinam, on the north 

 coast of South America, and the island of Cura- 

 9oa. The Government of Dutch Guiana is in 

 charge of a governor, assisted by a council of 

 officials, nominated and elected members. The 

 area of the colony is 46,060 square miles, and the 

 population consists of 29,204 males and 28,161 

 females. Paramaribo, the capital, has 27,752 in- 



