NETHERLANDS, THE. 



555 



for a constitutional measure to prevent dis- 

 crimination by railroad and telegraph compa- 

 nies, for the reclamation of lands granted to 

 railroads but not earned by them, and approves 

 the administration of President Arthur. 



The Anti-Monopolists indorsed the Demo- 

 cratic ticket in part, and nominated David 

 Butler, Amos Dean, and J. F. Merritt for Re- 

 gents. 



Election Returns. At the election in Novem- 

 ber, the Republican ticket obtained a majority. 

 The vote was as follows : 



Judge. 



Eeese, Republican 52,805 



Savage, Democrat and Anti-Monopolist 47,795 



REGENTS, LONG TERM. 



Hull, Republican 56,381 



Mallalieu, Republican 56,961 



Daniels, Democrat 41,998 



Butler, A nti- Monopolist 13,172 



Woolworth, Democrat 31,097 



REGENTS, SHORT TERM. 



Hiatt, Republican 56,427 



Holmes, Republican 56,445 



Dean, An ti- Monopolist 84,464 



Merritt, Anti-Monopolist 16,511 



For District Judges, Democrats were chosen 

 in the First and Seventh districts, and Repub- 

 licans in the other eight. 



NETHERLANDS, THE, a constitutional mon- 

 archy in Western Europe. The Constitution, 

 proclaimed Nov. 3, 1848, vests the legislative 

 authority in the States- General, composed of 

 two chambers. The executive authority is ex- 

 ercised through a council of eight ministers. 



The Government. The reigning King is Will- 

 iam III, born Feb. 19, 1817, who succeeded 

 his father, William II, March 17, 1849. The 

 heir-apparent is Alexander, Prince of Orange, 

 born Aug. 25, 1851. The ministry is com- 

 posed of the following members: Minister of 

 Foreign Affairs, Dr. P. J. A. M. van der Does 

 de Willebois; Minister of the Interior, Dr. J. 

 Heemskerk Az ; Minister of Justice, Dr. Baron 

 M. W. da Tour van Bellinchave ; Minister of 

 Finance, W. J. L. Grobbee; Minister of the 

 Colonies, F. G. van Bloemen Waanders ; Min- 

 ister of the Waterstaat, Commerce, and In- 

 dustry, J. G. van den Bergh ; Minister of War, 

 Major-General A. W. P. Weitzel; Minister of 

 Marine, Yice-Adrniral F. L. Geerling. 



In consequence of the Cabinet changes, the 

 Stadtholder-General of the East Indies, Fred- 

 erik s' Jacob, resigned late in December. 



Area and Population. The area of the Nether- 

 lands, which are divided into eleven provinces, 

 s- 12,648 square miles. The population on 

 Dec. 31, 1879, when the last census was taken, 

 was 4,012,693. The computed population at 

 the same date in 1882 was 4,172,971. The 

 number of marriages in 1882 was 29,565; 

 births, 153,900; deaths, 93,396. In 1879 the 

 population was divided as to religion into 2,- 

 469,814 Protestants, 1,439,137 Catholics, 81,- 

 693 Israelites, and 22,049 of other faiths. The 

 cities of over 100,000 inhabitants were: Am- 

 sterdam, with 350,201 ; Rotterdam, with 162,- 

 140; and the Hague, with 127,931. 



Finances. The following statement gives the 

 expenditures and receipts as set down in the 

 budget of 1883 : 



EXPENDITURES. Guilders 



Royal household 750,000 



Cabinet 625,161 



Foreign Affairs 700,114 



Justice 5,46S,f/2* 



Interior 12,800,395 



Marine 12,319,955 



War , 22,293,784 



Public debt 80,881 ,294 



Finance 8,498,915 



Payment to communes 9 16C 000 



Worship 4 2,007,188 



Colonial administration 1,152,572 



Waterstaat, etc 19,102,071 



Railroads 14,500,000 



Total 189,265,967 



RECEIPTS. Guilder*. 



Land-tax , 10,955,770 



Personal tax 10,416,000 



Patents 4,198,400 



Spirits 22,000,000 



Other excise duties 17,175,000 



Stamps, etc 24,790,000 



Customs, etc 4,712,000 



Plate and jewelry guarantee 311,100 



Domains 2,100,000 



Post-Office 4,650,000 



Telegraphs 1.030,800 



Lottery 430,000 



Hunting and fishing licenses 145,000 



Pilotage 1,002,000 



Mining royalties 8,105 



Railroads 2,1 21,000 



Miscellaneous 4,561,525 



Total 110,601,700 



The expenditure for the colonies entered in 

 the budget refers to the central administration 

 of the West Indies and Surinam. The East 

 Indies have a separate budget, voted by the 

 States-General. 



In 1883 the public debt amounted to 989,- 

 703,350 guilders, not including 10,000,000 

 guilders of paper money. The interest on 

 the debt in 1883 amounted to 29,285,894 

 guilders; the sinking-fund charge to 1,045,- 

 400 guilders. The total amount of the debt 

 in 1882 was 931,308,450 guilders. The new 

 loan of 60,900,000 guilders was issued at 98f. 

 A certain amount is to be paid off annually, 

 after four years, the numbers of the bonds 

 called being drawn by lot, and the whole ex- 

 tinguished in fifty-six years. 



Army and Nayy. The army was reorganized 

 in 1881 by introducing the German system of 

 conscription. It is recruited partly by enlist- 

 ment and partly by conscription. The con- 

 scripts remain with the colors twelve m'onths, 

 and, for the rest of their five years of service, 

 are called oujfc for six weeks annually. Besides 

 the regular army, there is a militia, called the 

 Schutterzen, divided into two classes, the ac- 

 tive, composed of men between twenty-five 

 and thirty-five years of age, and the seden- 

 tary, from thirty- five to fifty-five. The regu- 

 lar army numbered 2,326 officers and 62,684 

 men. Of the latter, 42,839 were infantry, 3,- 

 987 cavalry, 1,433 engineers, 13,291 artillery, 

 and 441 special. The active Schutterzen num- 

 bered 28,600, and the sedentary 40,000 men. 



The army of the East Indies is entirely dis- 



