Page:LA2-NSRW-2-0439.jpg



HOLLAND

879

HOLLAND

great sails, are seen everywhere in Holland. In climate it is much like England.

Possessions. Holland has an area of 783,-ooo square miles in her colonies, with a population of 36,000,000. The East Indian possessions include Java, Sumatra and parts of Borneo and New Guinea; and the West Indies, Surinam, Curafoa and Dutch Guiana.

Natural Resources. Some coal is mined, and the fisheries trade is very large. Nearly five thousand vessels and twenty thousand seamen are thus engaged, and the herring and oyster yield is of great value.

Agriculture. While there is a scarcity of farmland, the Hollander is a skillful and thrifty farmer, and the agricultural output consequently is very large. Rye, oats, potatoes, wheat, barley, beans, beet-root, buckwheat, peas, rapeseed, carrot-like plants for forage and tobacco are produced. Poultry, cattle-raising and dairy-farming are the chief industries of the Dutch farmer, and the cheese and butter output is enormous. Much attention is given to bee-culture and to the raising of flowers, bulbs and flower-seeds.

Manufactures. The chief manufactures are linen, cotton, woolen and silk fabrics; paper, leather, glass etc.; and lately refining beetsugar has formed an important item. There are 28 beetsugar refineries, 13 sugar refineries, 88 vinegar manufactories, 37 saltworks, 536 distilleries and 471 breweries. Amsterdam has had the largest diamond-cutting trade in the world.

Education and Religion. Denominationally the Hollanders belong, in the main, to the Dutch Reformed and the Roman Catholic church, though there are about 100,000 Jews. The nation has four universities, about 30 classical schools, more than 3,000 public and 1,630 private elementary schools.

Army and Navy. The peace strength of the army is usually 1,836 officers and 32,-714 noncommissioned officers and men. The navy consists of eight small battleships and seven cruisers, and seamen and marines are recruited by enlistment.

Transportation and Imports. At present the total length of the canals is over 1,900 miles; while there are 1,984 miles of railway, besides 4,680 miles of telegraph lines. The imports at times amount to more than 3,260,000 guilders, and the exports have totalled 2,632 million guilders. (The guilder is worth about 40 cents.)

History. What now is Holland was occupied by the Frisians about 150 ,B C. They were afterward subdued by Drusus, and Holland south of the Rhine remained under the Roman empire until the 4th century, when it succumbed to the Franks. In the 8th century it submitted to Charlemagne, when the duchy of Flanders was shortly afterward founded. Charles V of Spain, coming into power over the Nether-

lands, made the country one of great importance, but under his son, Philip II, the Dutch began a revolt, which lasted for eighty years before the Spanish yoke was finally thrown off, their deliverer being William of Orange, known as William the Silent. Until 1713 Holland was a power in Europe, but in that year its decline began, until now it is but a small nation, without voice in matters of diplomatic weight, living on its former glory and greatness. Holland in the i6th century was one of the great powers in Europe. Her ships were met with everywhere, and carried most of the world's trade. Amsterdam was the Venice of the north, and was early a banking exchange for Europe. The first optical instruments and the pendulum clock came from Holland. The art of printing was here carried to a high degree, and the liberty of the press led to the establishment of many newspapers, some of which were printed in French and sent all over the world. Her power was crippled by England in the great naval war of 1652-54 and by France, under Cond6 and Turenne, in the reign of Louis XIV. When William III became king of England, he protected Holland from France and secured the treaty of peace. The i8th century, however, was the century of Holland's decay. In 1794 the armies of France overran Belgium, and the United Provinces became the Batavian Republic, paying a large amount for a French army. In 1806 Louis Bonaparte was made king of Holland, and four years later it was added to the French empire. On the fall of Napoleon the Orange family were recalled and the kingdom of the Netherlands was formed, from which Belgium seceded in 1830. The capital is The Hague, and the queen is Wilhelmina, the daughter of William III of Holland. She was born in 1880, and is one of the youngest sovereigns in Europe. The regent during her minority was her mother, Queen Emma, who was assisted by a council of guardians. Wilhelmina in 1901 married Prince Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The chief towns are Amsterdam (568,130), Rotterdam (417,780), The Hague (270,109) and Utrecht (118,386). The Netherlands is a free-trade country. See Rise of the Dutch Republic by Motley; Picturesque Holland by Havard; and Philip II of Spain by Prescott.

Holland, Josiah Gilbert, an American writer, was born at Belchertown, Mass., July 24, 1819. He studied medicine and practiced for some three years, and then became superintendent of public schools at Vicksburg, Miss. He was connected with the Springfield Republican from 1849 until 1866. He was one of the founders of Scribner's Magazine in 1870, and remained editor of it and of The Century Magazine until his death. He was a pro-