Evening star., 1935-11-30
SEE NETHERLANDS
NATION Of HOMES.
Dutch People Have Highly
Developed Domestic
consciousness.
BY JAMES WALDO FAwCETT.

The Netherlands Is a nation OF
flomes-not merely a country possess
tng a normal quota of houses. One
Of the first impressions an American
traveller receives is that the Dutcn
people have a highly developed DO
mestic consciousness.
Indeed, evidence is available on the
steamer crossing the English Channel.
The Hollanders on board invariably
have with them something to prove
that they have been mindful Of their
families while absent from them. Per-
shaps the article is potted plant
destined to flourish in a kitchen win
dow; perhaps it is bundle Of British
magazines fated to grace parlor
table. Whatever its nature, 1t is al
most certain to have a connotation
OF family use and family value.
The average Hollander may be an
individualist, but he has a gregarious
instinct just the same. He thinks in
terms of his social group, and the re-
suits are manifest in the cities. towns
and little villages of his country.
Have Reclaimed Land.
Possibly. the explanation may be
found in the fact that the Dutch have
had to fight for their land, have had
to rescue it from the sea foot by
foot and acre by acre. Their an
cestors invented the dikes and the
canals by which the terrain Is pro-
tected and drained. But the present
generation is obliged to maintain the
works.
The Netherlands, however, are ris-
ing. At the estimated rate of one
inch century, the whole area is
filling in. Modern engineering meth
ods, also, contribute to the increasing
safety of the population. Even the in
habitants of the regions definitely
below sea-level feel no sense of peril
Yet the traditional psychology Of
the nation remains, and one of its
effects is the love of home which
every Hollander entertains. Ordinary
houses are of brick or stone con-
struction, but some farm buildings,
small cottages and seaside retreats
are OF frame. The more substantial
and durable materials, of course. are
expensive, and it follows, logically
enough. that most houses are small.
Exceptions to the rule are the huge
modern apartments, stores, govern
ment offices, churches, public galleries
and schools of cities like Amsterdam
and The Hague.
Spotlessness Is Not Myth.
But size is relatively unim-
portant matter. Rather it is the care
with which the Dutch people main
tain their properties that is remark
able. The proverbial spotlesSness of
the country is not myth. On the
contrary, it is sober truth. Cleanli-
ness Is fixation. The average house.
wife is positively religious in her
pursuit of dust, and she has the active
assistance Of her husband, too.
Even the smallest children are
taught the lessons Of neatness. The
picturesque costumes of a century ago
are gone, but Hollanders as a class
take to Paris fashions like a duck
to water. In the shops Of the cities
the custom-made apparel displayed
for sale is la mode with a venge-
siderable accuracy that the Dutch
today are the best-dressed people in
Europe. The Sunday morning parade
to and from church is a style show
worth seeing.
And the same smartness is dis
cernible in the homes. Hollanders
have rediscovered the charm of in
terror decoration of the simple but
noble dignity which is detected in the
pictures of Vermeer and De Hooch.
Placidity is the adjective applied to 1t.
In practical operation, it signifies
quiet taste and comfort. Few Dutch
houses are overcrowded with furni-
ture or decorations. Instead, the
beauty of purposeful artlessness is
characteristic of them The people
innately understand that harmony is
not complex. Their homes, therefore,
have a melody which must be ex-
perienced to be appreciated The
atmosphere of them is like an un-
pretending folk song, coming to the
lips straight from the heart.
Noted for Flower Gardens.
And practically every property in
cludes garden. All the world knows
about the tulips of Holland, but there
likewise are wonderful hydrangeas,
aZaleas, roses, geraniums and many
other varieties of flowers. City-dwell-
ers find plots Of ground in adjacent
suburbs to cultivate. Almost every
body grows something. And the bios
SONS are cut for home adornment.
One Of the best memories an Amer
lean brings away is of the procession
OF men and women, boys and girls,
cycling into town on work-day morn
t ings+each cyclist with a bouquet of
flowers for his office or shop.
The streets and roadways are kept
In perfect repair. Few automobiles
are seen, but there are literally mil
lions Of bikes" Every Hollander rides,
even the lads serving their enlist
ment period in the army and clergy
men going about their parish duties.
New construction proceeds at a
steady pace. The latest developments
are modernistic of line and color, but
without exuberance. Cities are spread
ing out under the influence of chang
ing industrial conditions, and recently
opened residential areas really de-
serve the title model" They are up
to-date in every particular.
But the older communities are not
fading. Instead, they are being pre-
~eryad hxy tho opciorf r,oI;cy IF NV,