,000 guilders, but at
the accession of William III. in 1849 the amount was reduced to
600,000, where it has remained to the present day. The family of
Orange is possessed of a large private fortune, most of which was
accumulated by William I. from a variety of commercial and industrial
ventures. The Prince of Orange, as heir apparent, is accorded by the
state an annual income of 100,000 florins, which is increased to
200,000 upon his contracting a marriage authorized by law.

*577. The Ministry.*--Associated with the sovereign is a Council of
State, consisting of the Prince of Orange (when above eighteen years
of age) and of a variable number of members appointed by the crown.
The number of members is at present fourteen. By the terms of the
constitution the sovereign is required to submit for discussion in the
Council of State all matters to be presented to the States-General,
and all general administrative questions of the kingdom and of its
colonies and possessions throughout the world.[726] Besides this
advisory Council of State there is a Council of Ministers, comprising
the heads of nine executive departments established by the sovereign.
Nominally the ministers are appointed and dismissed by the crown at
will, but actually the parliamentary system has acquired sufficient
foothold to impose upon the sovereign a considerable measure of
restriction at this point. All decrees and orders must be
countersigned by the head of one of the ministerial departments; and
it is expressly stipulated that responsibility for all royal acts
shall lie with the ministers.[727] The heads of ministerial (p. 525)
departments are privileged to occupy seats in both branches of the
States-General, but unless elected regularly as members they possess
only a deliberative voice in the proceedings of the chamber in which
they sit.[728]

[Footnote 726: Art. 75. Ibid., II., 94.]

[Footnote 727: Art. 54. Dodd, Modern Constitutions,
II., 90.]

[Footnote 728: Art. 94. Ibid., II., 99.]

*578. The Exercise of Executive Powers.*--Despite the liberalizing
tendencies which underlie Dutch constitutional history since 1815, the
powers of the crown are still enormous. Executive authority is vested
solely in the sovereign and the ministers, and there are not a few
acts of importance which the sovereign may perform quite
independently. The sovereign exercises supreme co