The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1898-09-05
Queen Wilhelmina's Kingdom.

Queen WiIhelmina, of Holland, today
celebrates her eighteenth birthday, ana
under the laws of the kingdom becomes
queen of Holland, in the fullest sense
of that royal title. Her formal corona
ton does not occur until September 9th,
but in the meantime she is, neIerjhe-
less. thoroughly invested with the at
tributes Of sovereignty, and is legally
entitled to the allegiance Of her subjects
For the next week the Dutch capital
will be Respondent with festivities
growing out of the accession OF Queen
Wilhelmina to the royal office; and we
NAV take advantage of the opportunity
which is thus offered to briefly survey
the kingdom over which she is called
to reign.
Holland is one Of the smallest but at
the same time one Of the thriftiest conn
tries of Europe. Comprising only u
GAS SQUARE miles Of territory, or barely
moro than one-ffth Of the area of the
state of Georgia, she contains 4,1O5,646
inhabitants within her restricted Dor
dcrs. or 500 inhabitants to every square
mile. Most of the territory Of Holland
has been reclaimed from the sea, and
even yet the inhabitants of the king
:
tent warfare with the invading waters;
but still the signs of prosperity are man
ifest on every hand showing that the
secret of national development is not al
WAYS to be found exclusively in the soil
Holland is divided into eleven different
provinces. viz. North Brabant. Guelders
South Holland North Holland, Zealand,
Utrecht, Fricsland, Overyssel GrOnin-
/ t,,,l n
provinces North Brabant and Gucldors
are tho largest in area, while South
Holland and North Holland are the larg-
est in population. Holland has twenty
one cities, each of which contains more
than $4,000 inhabitants, and three cities,
each of which contains more than 100,-
coo inhabitants.
With respect to the government of
Holland. it is strictly constitutional,
and in some respects broadly democrat
ic The executive power of the govern
ment vests exclusively in the sovereign,
while the legislative power vests con.
Jointly in the sovereign and in parlia-
ment Parliament is divided into two
houses or branches, the upper and the
lower. The upper house is composed OF
fifty members elected by the provinces
from among the most highly assessed in
habitants or from other important func-
tionares The lower house is composed
of one hundred and ninety members
elected from the ranks of the people. In
Holland, voters must be tWenty-three
years of age and taxpayers before they
can exercise the right OF suffrage. leg
islatye measures can originate only
with the government or with the lower
house of parliament the functions Of
the upper house being restricted to the
right of approving or rejecting them
without the right of inserting amend
ments.
Holland has been remarkably success
ful in the control of her colonies. In
this respect she is almost, if not fully.
equal to Great Britain. Her colonies
embrace 73G,400 square miles. or more
than sixty times the extent Of hcr homo
area. and contain $4,000, GOO inhabitants.
Some Of her colonies lie in the West
Indies and some In the East Indies She
is never troubled in the least with in
surrectiOnS or uprisingS Of any kind. She
deals kindly with her subjects, and in
return her subjects are loyal to her.
Most of her colonies are exceedingly fer
tile and productive. Among this num-
Der being Java, Sumatra, Bornco and
others. Spain might have Jared much
better with her colonies had she cmuIat-
cd the example Of Holland.
But TO return to Queen WiIhelmina.
This young sovereign b~ tOngs to the
house of Orange, one Of the most cole
brated of the royal families of Europe
Her father, King William III, died eight
years ago, leaving her to succeed him,