Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/257

 NETHERLANDS 245 and the total annual revenues of the charitable institutions of the kingdom exceed $5,000,000. The total number of persons receiving aid from the state in 1869 was 213,620. Education is provided for by a non-sectarian primary instruction law, passed in 1857. It is under the care of the department of the interior, and is compulsory. In January, 1871, there were 2,608 public and 1,119 private schools, the for- mer numbering 390,129 and the latter 111,762 pupils. The teachers are superintended by 94 district school inspectors, who are under 11 provincial superintendents. The proportion of the pupils of the primary schools to the entire population is 1 in 8. Higher education is imparted by 81 schools of middle instruc- tion, with 7,047 pupils, and 55 Latin schools and gymnasia, with 1,128 pupils. There are three universities, at Leyden, Groningen, and Utrecht, with 1,339 students in January, 1871 ; two collegiate institutions called Athenaeums, at Amsterdam and Deventer ; and a polytech- nic institution at Delft. By the constitution of the Netherlands full religious liberty is guaranteed to the people, and all churches are equal before the law. On Dec. 1, 1869, the population was thus divided : Dutch Reformed, 1,956,852 ; Walloon Reformed, 5,371 ; Remon- strants, 5,486; Christian Reformed, 107,123; Mennonites, 44,227 ; Evangelical Lutheran, 57,545; Reformed Lutheran, 10,522; Mora- vians, 371 ; Anglican Episcopal, 456 ; church of Scotland, 84; English Presbyterians, 417; Roman Catholics, 1,307,765 ; Old Catholics (Jansenists), 5,287 ; Greek church, 32 ; Dutch Israelites, 64,478 ; Portuguese Israelites, 3,525 ; unknown, 5,161. The government partly pays the salaries of the ministers, priests, and rabbis of recognized congregations. The Reformed church holds to the " Confession of Faith " drawn up in the 16th century according to the doctrines of Zwingli and Calvin. It has a presbyterian form of government, and is ruled by a consistory in each congregation, by classes composed of the ministers of several contiguous parishes, together with one elder from each, by provincial synods, and by a general synod which meets annually at the Hague. The number of ministers in the church in 1873 was 1,596. There is a Roman Catholic archbishop at Utrecht, and bishops at Haarlem, Bois-le-Duc, Breda, and Roermond. The ma- jority of the Roman Catholics are in North Brabant and Limburg. The church in Octo- ber, 1873, had 973 congregations and 2,023 priests. The Old Catholics have an archbishop of Utrecht, and bishops of Haarlem and Deven- ter. The government of the kingdom of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy, of which the crown is hereditary in the house of Orange-Nassau. All the inhabitants without distinction are entitled to protection for per- son and property, and all natives are eligible to offices and public employment. Freedom of the press and the right of the people to assem- ble and to petition are inviolable. The eldest son of the king bears the title of prince of Orange. The king possesses the executive power, declares war, concludes peace, and makes treaties, commands the army and navy, fixes the salaries of all officers, and confers titles of nobility. He proposes projects of law to the legislature, whose chambers he can dis- solve at pleasure, though he must command new elections in the course of 40 days after the dissolution, and must convene the new cham- bers within two months. He has a council of state, consisting in 1873 of 15 members besides the princes of the royal house, which may be consulted on extraordinary occasions. In 1874 there were seven heads of departments in the ministerial council, viz., the ministers of the interior, of finance, of justice, of the colonies, of foreign affairs, of marine, and of war. The king, the ministers, a secretary, and two royal princes constitute at present the members of the cabinet council. The legislative power is intrusted to the states general, composed of two chambers. The members of the upper house (called eerste Tcamer, first chamber), 39 in num- ber, are elected by the provincial states for a term of nine years, a third of their number re- tiring every three years. Their president is appointed by the king once a year. The mem- bers are selected from the class who pay the highest amount of direct taxes, the number of persons eligible in 1871 being 1,098. The fol- lowing is the ratio of their distribution among the provinces : Drenthe, 1 ; Groningen, 2 ; Utrecht, 2; Zealand, 2; Friesland, 3; Lim- burg, 3 ; Overyssel, 3 ; Gelderland, 5 ; North Brabant, 5; North Holland, 6; South Holland, 7. The lower house (tweede Tcamer, second chamber) in 1872 had 80 members, who are chosen for four years, from 41 electoral dis- tricts, to which they are assigned in the ratio of one representative to 45,000 inhabitants, Amsterdam having 6 representatives. They are chosen at biennial elections by electors who must be 23 years of age, and pay taxes varying in different districts from about $8 per annum to about $24. Each member is paid a salary of about $800 a year and his travelling expenses. The speaker of the house is appointed by the king. The king's min- isters have a right to sit and speak in either house, but not to vote. The states general meet at the Hague every year on the third Monday in September, and hold their ses- sions in public.. They are obliged by law to sit at least 20 days. A majority is required for a quorum ; and no measure can be enacted without the assent of an absolute majority of each house. In each province there are provincial "states," which are legislative and administrative bodies. Besides electing the members of the upper house of the states gen- eral, they are charged with the execution of the laws of the kingdom within their limits, and have power to make special and local laws, which, however, are subject to the sanction or veto of the king. The internal police of the