Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/256

 244 NETHERLANDS stout form, and fair complexion. The women are tall and handsome, are very domestic in their habits, and pay the most scrupulous at- tention to the cleanliness of their houses. So- briety, steadiness, economy, perseverance, and industry are the most striking features of the national character. Even the youth of both sexes are as sedate and cautious as the older people of other nations. Smoking is very com- mon. Brandy, gin, and beer are favorite bev- erages, but intoxication is said to be very rare. There is great wealth in the Netherlands, and it is widely diffused, but there is little ostenta- tious display of it. The people generally live well, but frugally. The houses in the towns are plainly built and furnished. The country abounds in villas called pleasure houses (lust- Tiuizeri), which are usually built of brick, plas- tered and painted. There are more than 600 ship yards in the country. Among the chief branches of industry are the iron and brick manufactories, the oil mills, and the tobacco manufactories. The fabrication of earthen- ware at Delft is extensive and celebrated. This country has long been noted for its dis- tilleries of spirits, and especially of gin, for which Schiedam is peculiarly famous. The manufacture of paper is extensive, and there are in the provinces of Friesland, Groningen, Gelderland, and North Brabant many estab- lishments for the manufacture of shoes for ex- portation. The Dutch linens are of superior quality, and the manufacture of linen and cot- ton goods is carried on extensively in most of the provinces. The cotton manufacture in 1873 employed about 230,000 spindles. At Tilburg there are woollen manufactories employing sev- eral thousand persons, and there are extensive silk manufactories at Amsterdam, Haarlem, and Breda. The fisheries of Holland have long been famous for their extent and produc- tiveness, especially the herring fishery, which has been carried on since the 12th century, and has been termed the Dutch gold mine. It is a common saying among the people that " the foundations of Amsterdam are laid on herring bones." In the middle of the 18th century the number of men employed in the herring, cod, and whale fisheries was computed at 100,000. In the first half of the 19th cen- tury the fisheries greatly declined, and in 1854 the number of vessels of all kinds employed was 1,375, of men 7,753, and the value of the produce about $15,000,000. Since then it has again improved, and the total number of fam- ilies supported by the fisheries was in 1872 estimated at 20,000. The commerce of the Netherlands, though not as extensive as for- merly, is still great and active. In 1871 the imports were valued at 586,800,000 florins, and the exports at 460,500,000. Commerce is car- ried on chiefly with Great Britain, Germany, Java, Belgium, France, and Russia. The ex- ports to the United States from the Nether- lands and the Dutch colonies during the year ending June 30, 1873, were valued at $11,700,- 000, and the imports at $12,500,000. The mer- cantile marine in December, 1874, comprised 1,804 vessels, with an aggregate tonnage of 495,285. In 1873 the entrances of shipping into the Dutch ports amounted to 8,762 ves- sels of 2,968,404 tons, and the clearances to 8,765 vessels of 3,029,646 tons. The internal intercourse and commerce of the country are chiefly carried on by means of the canals, which communicate with the Rhine and other large rivers, and afford an easy and cheap conveyance for merchandise and passengers. The usual mode of travelling on the canals was formerly, and in a very few districts is still, by trekschuits or draught boats, which are dragged by horses at the rate of 4 m. an hour ; but small steamboats are now commonly used. The principal canal, the North Holland, runs N. from Amsterdam to the harbor of Nieuwe- diep on the Helder point, where it joins the sea and thus affords Amsterdam an easy in- tercourse with the ocean. (See CANAL, vol. iii., p. 688.) A large part of the foreign com- merce of the Netherlands is conducted by the Handel Maatschapij, or trading association, which in 1824 took the place of the Dutch East India company, which had for two cen- turies monopolized the trade with the East. (See EAST INDIA COMPANIES.) The Handel Maatschapij is the agent for the sale of the government colonial produce in Europe, of which it is also the carrier, and farms some branches of the public revenue of the East In- dia colonies. Two thirds of the exports of the colonies pass through its hands, though it has no exclusive trading privileges. Another great association is the " Society for the Promotion of the Public Good " {Maatschapij tot nut van J t algemeen which was organized in 1784 by a few benevolent persons, and has spread till it has upward of 200 branches throughout the country, with many thousand members, each of whom contributes to its funds a small sum annually. Its object is to promote the estab- lishment of schools, hospitals, asylums, and oth- er works of public utility. Its sections hold meetings once a fortnight, at which questions and measures tending to advance the common welfare are discussed, politics and ecclesias- tical matters being excluded. Institutions for the relief of the destitute and suffering are abundant, though in general the poor are taken care of by the churches to which they belong. The number of savings banks in 1870 was 206, of which 162 belonged to the society of public good; 169 savings banks, from which official reports had been received, had 91,565 depos- itors, whose aggregate credits amounted to 11,933,086 florins. There are three great alms- houses, one each at Amsterdam, Middelburg, and Groningen, which afford shelter, food, and clothing to a large number of persons. Pauper colonies have also been formed on the waste lands of the country, and the able-bodied men employed in reclaiming them. The expense of these colonies is about $1,000,000 per annum,