Hoofdtrekken der Nederlandsche Arbeidersbeweging in de jaren 1876 tot 1886

Abstract

The present article is the second part of a study on the Dutch working-class movement between 1876 and 1886, (the first part was published in Vol. III of this Review), and deals with the economic crisis and the unemployment problem in the years 1884 to 1886.The economic position of Holland was very bad at that time. Apart from an agricultural crisis, which set in about 1875, a crisis in commerce and industry, especially in ship-building and other building trades, made itself felt after 1883. The number of unemployed was considerable throughout the country; it was particularly great, however, in the large towns, to which numerous labourers from the rural districts had migrated. The author tries to ascertain the magnitude of this unemployement on the strength of certain figures, which, although incomplete, are important as the first data on the unemployment in Holland in the 19th century. Then follows an investigation into the methods of fighting this unemployment, which brings out that, generally speaking, both the government and the individual municipalities were of the opinion that interference in this matter did not fall within their sphere of action. When the normal church- and municipal dole proved to be insufficient, private persons were expected to provide for the extra wants of the poor. This was indeed the case in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and various smaller towns in the form of a special dole and the organization of relief work. Unemployment insurance was practically not yet thought of at that time.