Start 1861: I just inherited the Dutch throne

Chapter 325: Say No to Big Business Monopoly
With a large number of people migrating from the Netherlands to the Far East, such as Australia and New Guinea, these local provinces are no longer deserted. European and American immigrants also account for about 10% of the population, and the Far East indigenous people also account for 2000% of the total population of 60 million. About %, the population of the Netherlands is only 600 million.

The increase in population and land use in the Australian continent, New Guinea, the East Indies and the South Pacific Islands in the Far East expanded the Dutch domestic market and production base, and also promoted the development of agriculture and industry in the Dutch Far East.

The 1000 million people of African descent, plus the tens of millions of indigenous people in the Far East, and the 1000 million Dutch people make up a population of more than 3000 million. The population is no less than that of America, and comparable to the British and French empires. Although the African-American society has developed The income is low, but it also ranks first and has the best development on the African continent.

The national economy of the indigenous people of the Far East is much better than that of the Kingdom of Siam. The per capita income is more than double that of the citizens of the Kingdom of Siam, and is comparable to the Tsarist Russian Empire.

The per capita income of Dutch people is the highest in the world, surpassing that of the British.

In such a domestic market, demand for agricultural products and industrial products is strong.

Stimulated by the expansion of the Far East, the Dutch domestic market's demand for machines and other industrial products gradually increased, which further promoted the development of local Dutch industry and even triggered the outbreak of the Dutch Industrial Revolution.This virtuous circular economy has enabled the Netherlands to gradually enter the track of rapid economic development.

Capitalism has developed into a monopoly period. Industrialization in the Netherlands has developed rapidly like the United Kingdom, and people's ideas and opinions have also changed accordingly.

Initially, the Dutch people believed in the government's laissez-faire policy in economic and social affairs. In 1866, Francisco Bob, a professor at The Hague University in the Netherlands, published the book "Dutch Political Economy", which clearly pointed out this view of the Dutch and aroused a good response in the Netherlands.

In 1859, the famous British biologist Darwin published "The Origin of Species", which shocked the entire academic and religious circles and strongly impacted the creation theory of "The Holy Spirit".The theory of biological evolution proposed by Darwin in "The Origin of Species" launched an academic revolution against the religious "theory of divine creation" and Linnaeus and Cuvier's theory of species immutability, which shocked the world at that time.

Since the theory of evolution violates the creation theory in the Holy Spirit, it has been a focus of religious debate since its inception, especially the sentence in the "Theory of Evolution": The development of things is arranged by God. Control, because things have their own rules for development.

Although it has attracted many opposing theories, after several years of development, people have gradually believed in this theory.

In recent years, under the overt and covert promotion of William IV, the spread of Darwin's theory of evolution in the Netherlands has also contributed to this idea. Most Dutch people agree with Darwin's natural law of survival of the fittest, and slowly apply this creed to their own in social life.

"Human nature is self-interested, and the pursuit of personal interests is the only motivation for people to engage in economic activities. At the same time, people are rational. As rational economic persons, people can obtain the greatest personal interests in their personal economic activities. If this If such economic activities will not be interfered with, then, guided by the 'invisible hand' of the price mechanism, people will not only maximize their personal interests, but also promote public interests."

In January 1862, William IV appeared in the Dutch Parliament, holding the "Wealth of Nations", the bible of the economic world, in his left hand and "The Theory of Evolution" in his right hand. He asked the Dutch Parliament and the government to promote the development of people's ideas, and also demanded that Developing self-regulatory capabilities in the social economy provides real soil for the development of free competition in the Dutch economy.

Due to the strong support of William IV, the spread of these two ideas in the Netherlands further convinced the Dutch to adhere to the laissez-faire economic strategy.

At the beginning of 1862, Professor Sackham, the dean of the School of Economics at the University of Granningen, which ranked third in the Netherlands and 21st in the world, often used the theory of survival of the fittest to make analogies to students in class, and was well received by the students. They are generally welcomed.

Sackham's ideas later evolved into the theory of Social Darwin.With the introduction of this theory, people's business activities and social relationships are, to some extent, governed by Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest.Obviously, the Dutch people who advocate freedom do not like the government's strict control of the economy, but this does not mean that they will also oppose the government's implementation of some normative measures in the economic field.

It was under this view that the Dutch cabinet government and state governments implemented a series of economic control measures.

The most notable were banking laws, tariffs, improving the internal structure of the legislative body, and the granting of public lands to railway companies.The Dutch do not believe that these regulations are contrary to the concept of free competition. On the contrary, it is these regulations that create more free space for the development of the Dutch economy.

With the development of large enterprises and financial organizations and changes in the socio-economic relations of the Netherlands, the Dutch are eager to obtain more goods and services brought about by industrialization, and their peers are also worried about the negative impacts of new social relations.

The gradually developed large enterprises have formed monopolies, and their powerful power has posed a huge threat to the stability and order of society.

The Dutch elite's concerns about industrial giants mainly focused on monopoly: the famous Dutch East India Company continued to exist in the 17th and 18th centuries. They owned 150 transport ships at that time, and would monopolize more than 80% of the Netherlands' transportation capacity to and from all over the world, and then abandon it. Raising high monopoly prices will inevitably endanger the rights and interests of the transportation industry and cause a self-inflicted blow to the Dutch overseas trade.Reduce the convenience of using overseas resources for Dutch industrialization.

At present, although some monopolies have indeed raised unreasonable prices, a trend has not yet formed.On the contrary, the prices of goods are constantly falling. It seems that monopoly is beneficial to the improvement of productivity. After all, it concentrates resources. People's worries seem to be unfounded.

Ordinary Dutch people are not impressed by this.

However, in fact, the destruction of economic opportunities by monopolies and the threat to Helan's national democracy are even more worrying.

The influence of industrial and financial tycoons is more worrying than their wealth.

Therefore, Toric, the most well-known conservative economist in the Netherlands and a professor at the University of Amsterdam, warned: Without restrictions, companies around the world will eventually control the government. People should have no doubt that it is just not the time yet. Mature.

The professor of Dutch conservatism warned, “If no action is taken in recent years, the rich and powerful people in the Netherlands will stand on one side, the vast number of ordinary people will stand on the other side, and the middle power and source of power ruled by the government will It comes from the latter"

Hermann Van Peron, a well-known international political expert and president of Leiden University, also supported Torik's statement. He also said, "Anarchy is bad, and what is even worse is that the power in the hands of rich people becomes irresponsible power."

He proposed that the government should step forward at this time and limit the influence of enterprises.

(End of this chapter)