Each community or parish must have, at least, one elementary school, supported from the local public funds, in which reading, writing, arithmetic, history, geography, etc. are taught. A higher class of schools includes also foreign languages. All are under government inspectors, and the teachers must undergo stringent examinations on all the branches before obtainiug permission to teach. Many society or subscription schools are being erected all over the land, with a normal school at not under government surveillance, and including religious instruction, which is excluded from the national public schools. The members of these societies pay a yearly subscription and a small fee for each pupil sent by them to the school, a select number acting as managers. There are national normal schools at 'a Hertogenbosch, Haarlem, and Groningen, the pupil-teachers boarding themselves, and receiving, at 's Hertogenbosch, £1 a year, and i at Haarlem £24. The attendance at school is about 1 to 8 of the population in winter, and 1 to 10 in slimmer. In Jan. 1872, 258,4S9 boys and 24 779 girls; in July, 237,685 boys and 218,729 girls were at public and private elementary schools, with 8,838 male and 2,27,1 female teachers.
Army, ferry, etc.—The strength of the army, in Europe (1878) was 2,060 officers and 60,850 men; of the Indian army, 1460 officers and 37,800 men. it is composed of volun teers, and of one man for every 500, drawn by lot for live years' service. There is also a local force, called the schuttery, drawn by lot from those between 25 and 34 years of age, to assist in keeping order and peace, and in case of war, to act as a mobile corps, and do garrison duty. If attacked on the land-side, 90,000 men are required for the defenses, and if by land and sea, 106,000. The first, or Maas line of defense, is formed by Maastricht, Venlo, Grave, 's Hertogenbosch, Wondrichemn, Geertruidenberg, Willem stad, Breda, and Bergen-op-Zoom. The second line is formed by Nymegen, Forts St Andries and Loevestein and Gorinchem. The inner line of Utrecht is formed by various forts from Faarden, Utrecht to Gorinchem. which, by inundations, can make the pro vinces of North mid South Holland into an island. There are many other forts, batteries and strengths at the mouths of the rivers and along the leading ways, and a new line of defence was agreed upon in 1874.
The royal navy consisted (July 1, 1878) of 99 steamers carrying 400 guns, and 16 sail ing vessels with 103. The sailors and marines numbered 8,470 officers and men, includ ing 701 native East Indians. A large double-tur•et ship, with four 35-ton Armstrong guns, was added in 1876 to the iron-clads. Prince Frederic, uncle of the king, is admiral; the prince of Orange, vice-admiral; and his majesty is commander-in-chief of the laud and naval forces.
Revenue, Expenditure, etc.—The revenue of 1878 was estimated at R8,539,530, and the expenditure at £9,849,941, the difference to be met from accumulated surpluses and the regular increase. The principal receipts are from direct taxes, excise, indirect taxes,
import and export dues. Among items of expenditure are £883,300 for public works,' chiefly railways; £2,250,000 for interest on the national debt; and £333,300 to improve the defenses. The India revenue for 1878 was estimated at £12,000,478; the expenditure equals time revenue. The East India colonies, which were a burden in the earlier years of the kingdom, have long been is source of profit.
From 1850 to and with 1874, there has been paid off £25.376,218 from the national debt, lessening the annual interest by the sum of £784.709. The interest payable on the debt amounted in 1879 to S2.225,600. The material prosperity of the Netherlands is rapidly increasing, and a sum of probably not less than £300,000,000 is invested by Nether lands capitalists in the funds of other nations.
The chief colonies are Jaya, Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes, the Spice Islands, and Papua or New Guinea, in the East; and Surinam, Curacao. and its dependencies, in the West Indies. with factories on the coast of Guinea. Colonial pop. estimated at 24,386,991.
Government, Franchise, etc.—The government of the Netherlands is a limited constitu tional monarchy, hereditary in the male line, and by default of that in the female. The crown-prince hears the title of prince of Orange, and attains his majority at eighteen, when he takes his seat in the council of state. The executive is vested in the king, with a council of state composed of twelve members, nominated by his majesty, and the min isters of the interior, foreign affairs, finance, war, the colonies, marine, and justice. the last named taking charge of ecclesiastical affairs through two administrators, or under secretaries of state, for time Protestant and Roman Catholic churches. The legislative power is shared by the king and the two chambers of the .states-general ; The first chamber having 39 members, elected for nine., years, by the provincial slates, one-third of their number retiring every three years. The second chamber has 80 members chosen by elec tors numbering, in 1874, 108,813, above 23 years of age, who pay from £1, 14s. to £13, 12s. of direct taxes, according to the size and importance of the electoral district. These are elected for four years, one-half of the chamber retiring every two years. For members of the town-councils, the electoral qualification is half the above sums. The members of both chambers must be 80 years of age before the day of election, and those eligible for the first chamber are the nobility. This exceedingly high franchise, which, in Amsterdam, is a higher direct tax than the rental qualification of Great Britain, makes an election a thing of no interest except to a few. In 1871, only 30.2 per cent. of the electors of North Holland gave their votes, and the maximum in any place was 66.9 per cent in Limburg, 62.5 in North Brabant, the average being 48.6.