NETHERLANDS. 



401 



stock of the army is still formed by voluntary en- 

 listment. The conscripts, about 11,000 in number, 

 must serve a year with the colors, and during the 

 next four years they are called into camp for 

 six weeks annually. There is a militia, called the 

 xclnittcrij, of which all Dutchmen must be active 

 members for five years from the age of twenty- 

 live. The regular army on June 1, 1898, num- 

 bered 1,943 officers and 25,753 noncommissioned 

 ollieers and privates. There are 9 regiments of 

 infantry, with the guards, 3 cavalry regiments, 

 3 regiments of field artillery, 1 corps of horse 

 artillery, 4 regiments of fortress artillery, 1 bat- 

 talion of sappers and miners, 1 corps of pontoon- 

 eers, and 1 corps of torpedoists. 



The Navy. The obsolete turret ships Koning 

 der Nederlanden and Prinz Hendrik have been 

 retired, and 13 old monitors, 6 unprotected 

 cruisers, and 30 river gunboats are no longer 

 classed as effective. The new armorclads are 

 small, being intended only for coast defense, and 

 they are supplemented by a formidable torpedo 

 flotilla and by monitors of modern type and pro- 

 tected cruisers for the defense of the Eastern pos- 

 M'ssions as well as the coast of Holland. The 

 small coast-defense turret ship Reinier Claeszen, 

 launched in 1891, of 2,490 tons, carries 1 8-inch 

 and 1 7-inch gun and 4 quick firers, has 10^ 

 inches of side armor, and can steam only 12i 

 knots. The armored cruiser Koningen Willemina 

 der Nederlanden, launched in 1892, of 4,000 tons, 

 with 11J inches of armor at the water line, is 

 armed with 1 11-inch and 1 8-inch breech-loaders, 

 and 2 6-inch, 4 3-inch, and 11 small quick firers. 

 Tliis vessel is being refitted with the Yarrow 

 water-tube boiler and with new engines. The 

 armored cruisers Piet Hein, Evertsen, and Korte- 

 naer, built in 1894, and designed for coast defense 

 merely, have 10J inches of armor, a displacement 

 of 3,520 tons, and a battery of 3 8-inch, 2 6-inch, 

 and 12 quick-firing guns, and can steam 16 knots. 

 An improvement on this type is the Koningen 

 Eegenten, a barbette ship capable of sea maneu- 

 vers launched in 1899, having 10-inch-plates on 

 the sides, an armament of 2 9.4-inch guns, with 

 a quick-firing battery of 4 G-inch, 8 3-inch, and 

 numerous small guns. A sister ship to this one 

 is building. The new protected cruisers of the 

 Dutch navy have been called by naval men the 

 finest examples of their class afloat. The Hol- 

 land, Friesland, and Zeeland, launched in 1896, 

 of 3,950 tons, armed only with quick-firing guns, 

 2 6-inch, 6 4.7-inch, 4 3-inch, and 12 smaller ones, 

 have the Yarrow boilers, like all the later Dutch 

 ships, and with engines of 10,500-horse power and 

 over steam 20 knots easily. The Gelderland, 

 Nordbrabant, and Utrecht," launched in 1898, 

 having a displacement of 50 tons more, with the 

 same armament as the others, are intended to 

 make 23 knots an hour. Three monitors of 1,500 

 and 3 of 1,400 tons are being constructed, the 

 former to have an armament of 2 8-inch breech- 

 loading and 4 3-inch quick-firing guns, the latter 

 1 8-inch gun and a 4.7-inch quick firer in addi- 

 tion to the others. Thirteen first-class and 4 

 third-class torpedo boats are being added to the 

 flotilla, which consists already of 25 third- 

 class boats of 30 to 45 tons, and 15 of the second 

 class, of 83 to 90 tons. 



Commerce and Production. Of the total 

 area of Holland S95.136 hectares were reported in 

 1897 as uncultivated heath land covered with 

 water, marsh, and land occupied by roads, towns, 

 or buildings. The cultivated area was 2,360,062 

 hectares, of which 864,137 were under tillage, 61,- 

 517 gardens and orchards, 1,185,568 pasture, and 

 248,840 forest. The area sown to wheat in 1897 

 VOL. XL. 26 A 





was 62,199 hectares; rye, 213,448; barley, 36,320; 

 oats, 134.133; potatoes, 151,212; buckwheat, 31,- 

 241; beans, 38,595; peas, 27,262; rape seed, 3,982; 

 flax, 10,433; beet root, 38,508; tobacco, 784; mad- 

 der, 177. The imports of wheat in 1898 were 136,- 

 159,000 guilders in value, and exports 106,720,000 

 guilders; imports of wheat and rye flour 54,828,- 

 000 guilders, and exports 11,060,000 guilders; im- 

 ports of rye 85,997,000 guilders, and exports 41,- 

 125,000 guilders; imports of barley 31,817,000 

 guilders, and exports 21,415,000 guilders; imports 

 of oats 19,228,000 guilders, and exports 16,522,000 

 guilders; imports of potatoes 549,000, and ex- 

 ports 877,000 guilders; imports of potato starch 

 4,810,000 guilders, and exports 15,590,000 guil- 

 ders; imports of buckwheat 3,385,000 guilders, 

 and exports 863,000 guilders; imports of flax 

 1,610,000 guilders, and exports 13,947,000 guil- 

 ders; imports of beets 131,000 guilders, and ex- 

 ports 1,876,000 guilders; imports of bulbs and 

 plants 520,000 guilders, and exports 6,064,000 

 guilders; imports of vegetables 2,258,000 guilders, 

 and exports 37,277,000 guilders. The value of coal 

 mined in 1898 was 436,208 guilders. There were 

 545 distilleries, 10 sugar refineries, 31 beet-sugar 

 factories, 45 salt works, 91 vinegar factories, and 

 494 breweries. The number of steam engines in a 

 total of 3,573 manufactories was 4,280. The 

 number of fishing vessels was 5,385, with crews 

 numbering 18,709. The value of the herring catch 

 was 6,370,532 guilders. 



The total value of imports for domestic con- 

 sumption in 1898 was 1,795,000,000 guilders, and 

 the value of exports of domestic produce and 

 manufacture was 1,516,000,000 guilders. The im- 

 ports of iron and steel and their manufactures 

 were of the value of 163,800,000 guilders, and ex- 

 ports 105,904,000 guilders; imports of textile ma- 

 terials and manufactures 120,453,000 guilders, 

 and exports 94,134,000 guilders; imports of ce- 

 reals and flour 328,029,000 guilders, and exports 

 196,842,000 guilders; imports of coal 51,456,000 

 guilders, and exports 6,160,000 guilders; imports 

 of rice 53,981,000 guilders, and exports 23,971,000 

 guilders; imports of mineral oil 11,337,000 guil- 

 ders; imports of coffee 48,822,000 guilders, and 

 exports 27,124,000 guilders; imports of butter 

 1,479,000 guilders, and exports 19,948,000 guil- 

 ders; imports of margarine 21,805,000 guilders, 

 and exports 44,362,000 guilders; imports of sugar 

 24,107,000 guilders, and exports 55,096,000 guil- 

 ders; imports of timber 50,355,000 guilders, and 

 exports 39,776,000 guilders; imports of hides and 

 skins 26,684,000 guilders, and exports 29,752,000 

 guilders; imports of indigo 7,813,000 guilders, and 

 exports 5,877,000 guilders; exports of cheese 13,- 

 804,000 guilders; imports of copper 74,270,000 

 guilders, and exports 75,743,000 guilders; im- 

 ports of paper 5,172,000 guilders, and exports 34,- 

 247,000 guilders; imports of animal fats 23,870,- 

 000 guilders, and exports 10.162,000 guilders; im- 

 ports of saltpeter 25,435,000 guilders, and exports 

 22,776,000 guilders; imports of zinc 6,542.000 guil- 

 ders, and exports 4,051.000 guilders; imports of 

 tin 21,834,000 guilders, and exports 16,497.000 

 guilders; imports of paints 14.085,000 guilders, 

 and exports 12.643,000 guilders; imports of tlax 

 1,610.000 guilders, and exports 13.947.000 guil- 

 ders; imports of oil seeds 29,407,000 guilders, and 

 exports 12,997,000 guilders; imports of tobacco, 

 9.804,000 guilders, and exports 5,881,000 guilders; 

 imports of gold and silver 32.657.000 guilders, and 

 exports 2,370,000 guilders. Of the total value of 

 imports in 1898 the sum representing articles of 

 food is 460,119,000 guilders, and of exports 465,- 

 633,000 guilders: raw materials were imported of 

 the value of 298,992,000 guilders, and the exports 



