Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/1155

 DEriNCC 11 OS

In the budget for 1921 the nation*! debt is fciven as follows : —

Nominal Capita)

Annual ltit«r»ist

Guilders

•

j.OOO

Guilder*

14,101,074

13,946,793

4,96n,4'»i

Funded Debt

2. per cent debt

S „ „ debt of 1895, 1898, 1890 and IMK ,, debt of 1910 ...

4 „ „ debt of 1916 .... 41 „ „ debt of 1916 and 1917.

5 „ ,, debtof 1918 and 191'.'. IVt,:: Floating debt —

Annnities .... — ~7-."».".-

Sinking fund .... . — M.?79,0»©

Total debt. li.OOO

(214,603,7501 ) (16,99S5901.)

During the years 1850-1920, 459,007,691 guilders hare been deroted to the redemption of the public debt.

The rateable annual value of buildings was given at 224,740,754 guilders in 1919, and of land, 98,232,269 guilders.

The various provinces and communes have their own separate budgets ; the provincial expenditure for 1917 was 29,264,350 guilders; the revenue at 30,089,522 guilders ; the communal expenses in 1917 amounted to 473,042,000 guilders, whereof 149,796,000 guilders for debt. The communal revenues were, in the same year, 483,290,000 guilders.

Defence. I. Frontier.

The Netherlands are bordered on the south by Belgium, on the east by Germany. On the former side the country is quite level, on the latter more hilly ; the land frontier is open all round. The frontiers are defended by few fortresses. The scheme of defence adopted in 1874 contemplates concentration of the defensive forces in a restricted area, known as the 'Holland Fortress.' This comprises the provinces of North and South Holland, with parts of Zeeland and Utrecht. Two-thirds of the area la surrounded by the sea. On the land side, to the East and South, are line* of more or less permanent works, which can be rendered very difficult of attack by inundations. There are also strong works on the coast, notably the Helder group, barring access to the Zuiderzee, and the Hollandsch Diep and Volkerak position, while the entrances to the Amsterdam and Rotterdam ship canals are defended by powerful forts. The citadel of the whole is Amsterdam, which is well fortified. Here also inundations would almost preclude a successful attack. The coast defences are in good order and are to be further strengthened, but the defences on the land side, except the position of Amsterdam, have of late years been neglected. Moreover, the control of the inundations is not entirely in military hands.

Apart from the Holland Fortress are the works on the Western Schelde. These have hitherto been unimportant, but a plan has been adopted to augment them by entirely new works at Flushing.

II. Army.

According to an Act of 1912, service in the army is partly voluntary and partly compulsory ; the voluntary enlistments bear a small proportion to the compulsory. Every Dutch citizen and, in certain circumstance*, every