1887 - A New Constitution; And A Regency
The revision of the old constitution, which had been prepared by a royal commission, proved an even more arduous and more laborious task than that of the penal code. The new Grondwet, or Fundamental Law, came into force in 1887. The oath to be taken by each king or queen on ascending the throne was given in the Fundamental Law, and showed that the regal rights in Holland were conferred by special contract between the people and the crown, and not inherited of divine right.
According to the third chapter, the states-general represented the whole people, being divided into a first and second chamber, the former consisting of fifty, the latter of one hundred members — Amsterdam returning nine, Rotterdam five, the Hague three, Groningen and Utrecht two each. This was an important addition of strength, the old second chamber having had at most eighty members, one for every forty-five thousand of the inhabitants. The basis of the franchise was at the same time materially altered and much enlarged, the effect being to add some two hundred thousand male voters of the age of twenty-three to the electorate, the rights of the latter being afterwards settled in a special statute.
The necessity of the new constitution had already been demonstrated early in 1889, when the king's alarming condition, physical and mental, had compelled the appointment of a regent. The king growing steadily worse, and the end, to all appearances, rapidly approaching, a further bill was introduced and passed, appointing Queen Emma regent of the Netherlands during the minority of the princess of Orange, a council of guardians for the latter being also nominated. On the 23rd of November 1890, King William died.
Van Houten's bill, which abolished the scrutin de liste, introduced the lodger franchise, and virtually made every male citizen capable of supporting himself and family a qualified voter, passed the second chamber in June, 1896, and the first chamber in the following September. It was the most far-reaching electoral reform yet attempted in the Low Countries, as it not only largely increased the number of voters, but extended the suffrage to social strata hitherto deprived of all franchise rights.
In the concluding years of the nineteenth century the ministerial efforts in Holland, under the influence of Dr. N.G.Pierson, formerly president of the Netherlands Bank, and a distinguished professor of political economy, mainly consisted of financial and labour legislation. So far as foreign relations since 1880 were concerned, these had been cordial with Germany, neither the opinions of some Germans that Holland ought to be annexed or acquired, nor the efforts of isolated Dutchmen to bring about a federation with Germany, finding much favour. The scheme, however, of many enthusiasts for a Zollverein, or even for a political federation, between Holland and Belgium has not yet taken practical shape. With England relations were not always of an entirely amicable nature.
