living in the Netherlands, the bulk of them being Germans and Belgians. Emigration has increased in recent years. In 1878 the number of Dutch emigrants was 563; and in 1882, 7,304, most of whom went to North America.

In 1882, there were 638 persons accused before the courts of justice, and 585 condemned of serious crimes; or, 1 person in about 7,032 of the population. Before the district tribunals 18,002 persons were accused, and 16,129 sentenced; about one-fifth to fines. There is no poor-law or poor-rate in the Netherlands, but mendicity is treated as a crime. The communes grant small subsidies for poor relief, but this is largely effected by the religious bodies and organised private charity. The total number of poor relieved temporarily during the year 1881 was 216,643, or 5 per cent. of the total population.

The Netherlands possess a comparatively large town population. On January 1, 1884, the following towns had populations of above 25,000 inhabitants, namely:

In the provinces of North and South Holland the population of the towns is considerably larger than that of the country districts.

Trade and Industry.

The foreign commerce of the Netherlands, classified, like that of Belgium and France, into 'general and special,' is chiefly carried on with two countries, Germany and Great Britain. No official returns are kept of the value of the general commerce, but only of the weight of the goods. The growth of the total commerce of the Netherlands may be seen from the fact that in 1872 the total imports were estimated at 6,451 million kilogrammes, and exports 2,955 millions; while in 1882, the former were 11,114 million kilogrammes, and the latter 5,331 millions, exclusive of goods in transit.

The following are the estimates of the imports for home consumption and the exports of home produce for the five years 18781882

The following are the values of the leading articles of import and export in 1882:

To the imports for home consumption of 1882, Great Britain contributed 27, and Germany 31 per cent. From the Dutch East Indies came 52, from Belgium 12, from Russia 7, from America 4, and from France 2 per cent. of the imports of the same year. Of the exports of home produce of 1882, there went 46 per cent. to Germany, and 20 per cent. to Great Britain, while Belgium had 15, East Indies 5, France 1, and Russia 13 per cent. The trade with both Germany and Great Britain has largely increased in recent years.

The total value of the exports from the Netherlands to Great Britain, and of the imports of British and Irish produce into the Netherlands, in each of the ten years 1874 to 1883, is shown in the subjoined table, according to the Board of Trade returns:

The principal articles of export from the Netherlands to the United Kingdom in the year 1883 were butter, of the value of 4,204,121.; live animals, principally oxen and sheep, of the value of 926,2077.; cheese, of the value of 824,5761.; gin, 50,3561.; sugar, 1,688,5867.; iron and steel goods, 1,222,445l.; woollen manufactures, 1,592,6657.; cotton manufactures, 830,3661. Enumerated also as exports from the Netherlands to Great Britain, in the official returns, are silk manufactures of various kinds, chiefly stuffs and ribbons, of the value of 2,295,6417. in 1882, and 2,242,8497. in 1883, but these must be considered as principally goods in transit, coming from the Rhenish provinces of Prussia, seat of the German silk industry. The principal articles of British home produce imported into the Netherlands in the year 1883 were cotton goods, mainly yarn, of the value of 2,734,3137.; iron, wrought and unwrought, of the value of 1,100,2957.; and woollen-yarn and manufactures, of the value of 1,274,110. A considerable amount of these British imports are not for consumption in the Netherlands, but pass in transit to Germany. The surface of the Netherlands is divided as follows in acres (1882) :—Uncultivated land, 1,768,420; cultivated land, pasture, gardens, 5,046,210; woods, 553,280. In 1882, 1,267,399 acres were under various kinds of grain-chiefly wheat, rye, oats, buckwheat, and barley. The total yield of grain crops proper was 130,470,000 bushels. In 1882 there were in the Netherlands 270,900 horses, 1,427,900 cattle, 745,100 sheep; 154,000 cattle and 315,000 sheep were exported in 1882.

In 1882, 145 vessels were engaged in deep-sea fishing, and 261 in coast-fishing.

The following table shows the number of the vessels belonging to the mercantile navy in 1884 :

In 1871 there were 1,846 sailing vessels and 56 steamers; in 1876, 1,707 of the former and 84 of the latter. The tonnage of the steamers had increased from 72,000 in 1876 to 123,400 in 1883.

In 1883, 8,307 vessels of 4,794,000 tons entered, and 8,184 of 4,744,000 tons cleared, Dutch ports. Of the ships entered 3,707 of 2,286,800 tons were British.

In 1884, there were railways of a total length of 2,113 kilomètres,

or 1,320 English miles, open for traffic in the kingdom. The State owned 1,335 kilomètres, or 834 English miles, and private companies the remainder. The total earnings of the various lines in the year 1882 were 24,570,798 guilders, and the total expenses 13,432,594 guilders, leaving a balance of 11,038,204 guilders, or 919,8507. The earnings of the State railways in 1882 were 10,741,610 guilders, and expenses 6,425,375 guilders, leaving a balance of 4,216,235 guilders, or 351,3531. The total outlay upon the State railways up to 1883 was 186,426,658 guilders, or 15,535,5551.

In 1883 the number of letters which passed through the postoffice was 61,383,000, nearly 1 millions more than in 1882; post cards, 19,860,180; journals, and other printed matter, 66,581,000; samples, 2,576,796. The post-office did business to the amount of 27,595,966 guilders, or 2,299,6637. in money-orders, in 1883; and the postal savings'-bank (started in 1881) received 2,884,478 guilders, or, 240,3737. in deposits, during 1883, the total deposits remaining at the end of the year being 3,155,216 guilders, or 262,9347.

The number of Post-offices in 1883 was 1,281. The total income of the Post-office in the year 1883 amounted to 4,500,626 guilders, or 375,0527., and the expenditure to 3,364,934 guilders, or 280,4117.

The length of state telegraph lines on the 1st January 1884 was 4,255 kilomètres, or 2,660 English miles, the length of wires 15,714 kilomètres, or 9,760 English miles, and the number of offices 508. In the year 1883 there were 3,228,442 paying telegrams carried. The receipts amounted to 1,065,479 guilders, or 88,7891., and the ordinary expenses to 1,546,397 guilders, or 128,866l., besides extraordinary expenses of 87,845 guilders, or 7,3201.

Colonies.

The colonial possessions of the Netherlands embrace an area of 682,792 English square miles. The total population, according to the last returns, was 27,883,895, or more than six times as large as that of the mother country.

The following table gives the area and population of the various colonial possessions, divided into three groups; first, the possessions in Asia or the East Indies; secondly, the West India islands; and thirdly, the colony of Surinam, in South America :

The populations given above are mainly after official data relative to the year 1882. As the Netherlands claim the whole of New Guinea to 141° E. long., the total area of that possession would be about 153,000 square miles.

Of the colonial possessions of the Netherlands, the East Indian are by far the most important.

Slavery ceased in the West Indian colonies on July 1, 1863. There were at this period 44,645 slaves, for all of whom the owners received compensation, the same amounting to 300 guilders, or 251., per individual, in Surinam, and to 200 guilders, or 167. 13s., in the rest of the colonies.