A proposal by the Catholic minister Borgesius for the introduction of universal personal military 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 six different categories of persons entitled to exercise the suffrage:  (1) payers of at least one guilder in direct taxation; (2) householders or lodgers paying a certain minimum rent and having a residential qualification; (3) proprietors or hirers of vessels of 24 tons at least; (4) earners of a certain specified wage or salary; (5) investors of 100 guilders in the public funds or of 50 guilders in a savings bank; (6) persons holding certain educational diplomas.  This very wide and comprehensive franchise raised the number of electors to about 700,000.