476 



NETHERLANDS. 



000 guilders, including 26.100,000 guilders of pre- 

 cious metals. The merchandise imports were val- 

 ued at 1,680,000 guilders, of which 528,100,000 

 guilders represent alimentary articles, 587,300,000 

 guilders raw materials, 279,300,000 guilders manu- 

 factured goods, 285,300,000 guilders miscellaneous 

 merchandise. The total value of merchandise ex- 

 ports was 1,478,200,000 guilders, of which 515,900,- 

 000 guilders represent alimentary products, 536,- 

 900,000 guilders raw materials, 27(5,400,000 guilders 

 manufactured articles, and 149,000,000 guilders mis- 

 cellaneous articles. Including 900,000,000 guilders 

 of precious metals, the total exports were 1,479,100,- 

 000 guilders. The trade was distributed between 

 different countries as follows: 



Navigation. There were entered at Dutch ports 

 in the course of 1897 of sailing vessels 1,259, meas- 

 uring 1,013,187 cubic metres, of which 549, of 262,- 

 309 cubic metres, were Dutch, and cleared 1,350, of 

 1,027,182 cubic metres, of which 654, of 288,615 

 cubic metres, were Dutch ; of 9,976 steamers, of 

 23.080,359 cubic metres, that were entered, 2,446, of 

 5.692.616 cubic metres, were Dutch, and of 9,748 

 cleared, of 22,700,072 metres, 2.452, of 5,683,043 

 cubic metres, were Dutch. Of the sailing vessels 

 entered, 1,053, of 976,479 cubic metres, and of the 

 steamers, 9,546, of 22,410,043 cubic metres, were 

 with cargoes ; of the sailing vessels cleared, 939, of 

 398,525 cubic metres, and of the steamers, 6,145, of 

 11,522,475 cubic metres, carried cargoes. 



The merchant navy on Jan. 1, 1898, comprised 

 441 sailing vessels, of 269,400 cubic metres, and 171 

 steamers, of 568.511 cubic metres; total, 612 vessels, 

 of 837.911 cubic metres. 



Communications. The railroads in operation 

 on Jan. 1, 1898, had a total length of 1,681 miles. 

 The length of the State telegraph lines was 3,595 

 miles, with 12,736 miles of wire. The number of 

 dispatches was 4,714,485, of which 2.554,791 were 

 internal, 2,117,351 international, and 42.343 official. 

 The receipts were 3,526,197 francs; ordinary expen- 

 diture, 4,512,705 francs; extraordinary expenditure, 

 1,441,572 francs. The post office in 1897 conveyed 

 64.159,000 internal and 24,449.000 foreign letters, 

 38,064,000 internal and 7,251 foreign postal cards 

 122,282,000 internal and 15,944,000 foreign news- 

 papers, books, and circulars, and 3.515,000 in- 

 ternal money orders and letters, remitting 332.658,- 

 000 francs, and 567,000 foreign ones, remitting 

 109,754,000 francs. 



The States General. The legislative session 

 was opened by the young Queen on Sept. 20. The 

 Chambers considered several measures of social 

 importance, providing for the improvement of the 

 dwellings of the laboring classes, the prevention of 

 excessive hotirs of labor for adults in factories and 

 workshops, and the correction of the abuse of al- 

 cohol. Other bills dealt with the construction of 

 secondary railroads, the abolition of tolls, the reor- 



ganization of the finances and government of the 

 Dutch East Indies, and a modification of the govern- 

 ment system of Surinam and Cura9ao. The revi- 

 sion of the tariff duties was already nearly com- 

 pleted. 



The Institute of International Law. The 

 Association of International Jurists, which has been 

 in existence since 1873, at its annual meeting held 

 at the Hague in August, 1898, manifested disap- 

 pointment on account of the Spanish-American 

 war, which was a setback to the chief object of the 

 Institute the promotion of international arbitra- 

 tion. It found consolation, nevertheless, in the ad- 

 hesion of both belligerents, although not parties to 

 the declaration of Paris, to the principle that neu- 

 tral goods under the enemy's flag and the enemy's 

 goods under a neutral flag are exempt from seizure. 

 A report on conflicts of law respecting the rules of 

 private international law approved the principle 

 that the ordinary law of a country and not its rule 

 of international law shall govern, that, for instance, 

 when English law holds that the law of domicile, 

 and the French, Italian. Dutch, and Belgian law 

 that the law of nationality applies, as in the succes- 

 sion to personal property, if an Englishman dies a 

 resident of one of these countries his property must 

 be administered according to the English law of 

 succession, not according to the English law saying 

 that the law of domicile, which is that of the for- 

 eign country, shall prevail. Another question con- 

 sidered was the legal position of ships in foreign 

 ports. As regards war ships it was held that a 

 crime committed on board, whatever the national- 

 ity of the victim, must be judged by the courts of 

 the nation to which the ship belongs, but that crimes 

 committed on shore by officers or men of the ship 

 fall within the jurisdiction of the local authorities, 

 and, if the perpetrators escape to their ship, they 

 must be delivered up for trial. 



Colonies. The area and population of the Dutch 

 East and West Indies are given in the following 

 table : 



The East Indian possessions outside of the colony 

 of Java and Madura are designated as outposts. A 

 legal and social distinction is made in Java between 

 Europeans and persons assimilated to them, \vh<> 

 are governed according to Dutch laws, and natives 

 and persons assimilated to them, who arc govMMd 

 according to native customs. There were 62.<>(il 

 Europeans and persons assimilated to them in l*!>' r > 

 of whom 34.645 were males and 27.146 females. Out 

 of a total of 32.330 Dutch males 24,953, and out of 

 26.898 Dutch females 23,402 were born in the Kat 

 Indies. Among the Europeans and persons assiini- 



