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XI. HOLLAND 



HISTORY AND PRESENT POSITION 



TELEPHONICALLY, as in other respects, Holland is one of the 

 most interesting countries on the Continent. The industry and 

 the proverbial ability of the Dutch to adapt means to ends have 

 resulted in the telephone being brought, and that without State 

 intervention, within the reach of all, for surely that point has been 

 nearly approached when annual subscriptions have been reduced 

 .as low as 2/. gs. yd., including the supply and maintenance of 

 wires, apparatus, and all expenses. For a parallel it is necessary 

 to go to Scandinavia, and it is worthy of remark that the lowest rates 

 are everywhere associated with companies, not with Government 

 administrations. The sole exception is the case of Switzerland, 

 but in that instance the rates are low only for those who use their 

 telephones but little : for the busy firms the ^d. per call mounts 

 up during the year to a total that exceeds anything known in 

 Holland or Scandinavia. That is, of course, as it should be ; the 

 important firms paying, as they can well afford to do, in proportion 

 to their actual needs. When an all-round rate exists the poorer 

 folk are really taxed for the benefit of their richer brethren, and 

 such a rate possesses no other merit than convenience. 



The Dutch Government, until the advent of the era of trunk 

 lines, did not attempt to participate at all in the telephonic game. 

 It granted concessions to companies and, in some instances, to 

 private firms and even individuals, for definite towns and districts, 

 within which they were secured from competition. The Inter- 

 national Bell Telephone Company obtained Amsterdam, which 

 it subsequently handed over to a local association, the Nether- 



