Sailing vessels 439, of 58,056 English tons; steamers 268 of 338,424 English tons. The following table gives the number and tonnage (in English measurement) of vessels which entered and cleared the ports of the Netherlands: 1899 7,244 4,640,586 4,428 4,752,096 11,672 | 9,392,682 9,449,676 9,325,942 9,436,224 10,506,366 Of the total number in 1903, 3,639 Dutch vessels entered with a tonnage of 3,104,934, and 8,350 foreign vessels with a tonnage of 7,464,090; 3,723 Dutch vessels cleared, with a tonnage of 3,120,510, and 8,289 foreign vessels with a tonnage of 7,385,856. The vessels with cargoes which entered at the chief ports were as follows: The number of Dutch vessels engaged in the carrying trade between foreign ports was, in 1902, 4,011, with a tonnage of 2,620,308. The coasting trade is of no importance. Internal Communications. I. CANALS AND RAILWAYS. The total extent of the canals was in 1879, 1,907 miles ; of roads, 2,943 miles. In 1902 the total length of the principal tramway lines was 1,029 miles; 67,450,000 passengers were carried, and 682,565,000 kilogrammes of goods. Their revenue amounts to 7,330,000 guilders. The total outlay upon the State railways up to 1902 was 354,653,000 guilders. In 1903 the railways had a length of 1,809 miles, whereof the State owned 985 miles, and private companies the remainder. The breadth of the railway gauge is 1.50 metre, or 4ft. 11 in. The average number of letters and post-cards per inhabitant was 35 ·9 in 1903. The receipts of the Post Office in 1903 were 12,093,364 guilders, the expenditure 9,241,110 guilders. There are several private telegraph lines but most of the lines are owned by the State. The length of State lines on Dec. 31, 1903, was 4,213 miles, the length of wires 18,398 miles. The number of State offices was, on December 31, 1903, 808. The number of paid messages by State lines in 1903 was 5,849,633. The receipts of the State amounted in the same year to 2,518,738 guilders, and the ordinary expenses to 3,221,882 guilders. In 1903 the interurban telephone system had 1,354 miles of line and 13,944 miles of wire; 1,151,115 interurban and 61,222 international conversations were held. The receipts were in the same year for interurban and international intercourse 442,052 guilders; the ordinary expenses 93,638 guilders. Money and Credit. The money in general circulation is chiefly silver. Before 1875 the Netherlands had the silver standard; but a bill which passed the StatesGeneral in the session of 1875 allowed an unrestricted coinage of ten-guilder pieces in gold, whereas the coinage of silver was suspended for an unlimited time. The total circulation, except the metal stock of the Bank, was valued as follows in thousands of guilders : Value of money minted during the following years (in thousands of guilders) : The Bank of the Netherlands is a private institution, but it is the only one which has the right of issuing bank-notes. This right was granted in 1863 for 25 years, in 1888 prolonged for 15 years, and prolonged again for the same term in 1903, with some alterations in the conditions; e.g. all the paper money is to be issued by the Bank. The Bank does the same business as other banks, only with more guarantees. Two-fifths of the paper money in circulation must be covered. It has agencies in all places of importance, The capital amounts to 20,000,000 guilders, the reserve fund to 5,500,000 guilders. The Bank keeps the State-Treasury and the cash of the State Postal Savings-Bank and of other institutions. It receives 3 per cent. of the clear gains; the remainder is divided between the State and the Bank in proportion of 2 : 1. There are many savings-banks, all private. Besides these there is a State postal savings-bank, established in 1881. The following table gives some particulars of both : The reserve fund of the private savings banks amounted in 1902 to 12,146,000 guilders. Money, Weights, and Measures. MONEY. The standard coin is the 10-florin piece weighing 6.720 grammes, 900 fine, and thus containing 6 048 grammes of fine gold. The unit of the silver coinage is the florin, weighing 10 grammes, 945 fine and containing 9·45 grammes of fine silver. Gold is legal tender, and the silver coins issued before 1875. The principal coins are :- The gulden, guilder, or florin of 100 cents. = 1 sh. 8d. ; or 12 g. = £1. The rijksdaalder = 2 guilders. The gold-piece of ten guilders. guilder, guilder (kwartje), to guilder (dubbeltje), guilder (stuivertje). Cent coins are : 1 cent, cent, and 2 cents. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. The metric system of weights and measures, and, with trifling changes, the metric denominations are adopted in the Netherlands. Diplomatic and Consular Representatives. 1. OF THE NETHERLANDS IN GREAT BRITAIN. Envoy and Minister.-Dr. K. W. P. F. Baron Gericke van Herwijnen. Secretary.-Baron D. d'Asbeck. Chancellor.-H. N. Brouwer. Consul-General in London.-H. S. J. Maas; appointed 1897. Netherlands Consular representatives are at the following places in the United Kingdom : : Invergordon. Newcastle. Newport. Aberdeen. Alloa. Dartmouth. Plymouth. (Southampton) Ramsgate. Sunderland. Swansea. Weymouth. Yarmouth. 2. OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE NETHERLANDS. Envoy and Minister.-Sir Henry Howard, K.C.M.G., C. B.; accredited October 15, 1896. Secretary.-A. F. Leveson-Gower. Vice-Consul.-Charles E. Pryer. British Consular representatives are placed in the following places in the Netherlands : The colonial possessions of the Netherlands, situated in the East Indies and the West Indies, embrace an area of about 783,000 English square miles. The total population, according to the last returns, was, approximately, 36,000,000, or about seven times as large as that of the mother country. DUTCH EAST INDIES. The Dutch possessions in Asia, forming the territory of Dutch East India (Nederlandsch Oost Indie), are situated between 6° N. and 11° S. latitude, and between 95° and 141° E. longitude. In 1602 the Dutch created their East India Company. This Company conquered successively the Dutch East Indies, and ruled them during nearly two centuries. After the dissolution of the Company in 1798 the Dutch possessions were governed by the mother-country. Government and Constitution. Politically, the territory, which is under the sovereignty of the Netherlands, is divided in (1) Lands under direct government; (2) Vassal lands; Confederated lands. |