y service was displeasing however to many of
his own party, and it was defeated with the help of Catholic dissidents.
An election followed, and the liberals regained a majority. A new
government was formed of a moderate progressive character, the premier
being Cornelis van Tienhoven. It was a ministry of talents, Tak van
Poortvliet (interior) and N.G. Pierson (finance) being men of marked
ability. Pierson had more success than any of his predecessors in
bringing to an end the recurring deficits in the annual balance sheet.
He imposed an income tax on all incomes above 650 florins derived from
salaries or commerce. All other sources of income were capitalised
(funds, investments, farming, etc.); and a tax was placed on all capital
above 13,000 florins. Various duties and customs were lowered, to the
advantage of trade. There was, however, a growing demand for a still
further extension of the franchise, and for an official interpretation
of that puzzling qualification of the Revision of 1889--"signs of
fitness and social well-being." Tak van Poortvliet brought in a measure
which would practically have introduced universal male suffrage, for he
interpreted the words as including all who could write and did not
receive doles from charity. This proposal, brought forward in 1893,
again split up the liberal party. The moderates under the leadership of
Samuel van Houten vigorously opposed such an increase of the electorate;
and they had the support of the more conservative anti-revolutionaries
and a large part of the Catholics. The more democratic followers of
Kuyper and Schaepman and the progressive radicals ranged themselves on
the side of Tak van Poortvliet. All parties were thus broken up into
hostile groups. The election of 1894 was contested no longer on party
lines, but between Takkians and anti-Takkians. The result was adverse to
Tak, his following only mustering 46 votes against 54 for their
opponents.

A new administration therefore came into office (May, 1894) under the
presidency of Jonkheer Johan Roell with Van Houten as minister of the
interior. On Van Houten's shoulders fell the task of preparing a new
electoral law. His proposals were finally approved in 1896. Before this
took place the minister of finance, Spenger van Eyk, had succeeded in
relieving the treasury by the conversion of the public debt from a 3-1/2
to a 3 per cent, security. The Van Houten reform of the franchise was
very complicated, as there were