The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1906. THE FUTURE OF HOLLAND.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 225, 20 September 1906, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1906. THE FUTURE OF HOLLAND.

For fthe cause that laclx assistance, Fortli-eiorong Viat needs resistance, For «*« future in ihe distance. And the aood t'ttat tee ess do.

There are certain small ctjontriea In i Europe which, by virtue of their geoj graphical position and their consequent | relations with larger Powers, have j always carried more weight in interj national affairs than their size' or their ; I population would seem to justify. One j jof the most important of these minor j Powers is Holland, and many times durI ing the past century the possible fate of Holla_d has given rise to serious apprehensions on the part of the Great Powi ers. Naturally the Powers chiefly eoni cerued in the prospects of the Low /Countries are France and Germany; and j ito avoid the serious difficulties that seem j | certain to arise through the bitter ; rivalry between France and Germany, I . the powers arranged early in the 19th I century that Holland and Belgium I should be neutralised. This neutrality j i has hitherto been carefully respected. J ■ But tihe. growing ambitions of Germany j j and her immense- commercial expansion I I during the past thirty yeaTS have re- ] j cently brought the- question of Holland's | j future prominently before the eyes of ; | Europe. Tn 1870 France and Germany 1 \by a special treaty, afresh I | the neutrality of Holland and Belgium ! which had been guaranteed in 1831. and I I ISS9. But there does not seem much | 1 reason to hope that in ease of war either | Power would feel permanently bound by j j such an agreement. Germany regards ! I Holland as her natural outlet towards I tb« west, and during receDt years efforts | ! have been constantly made by German : I politicians and writers to fajniliajise the ' ; JOuteh with the idea of a German alii—nee I ! Just now. the peaceful process of com- I mercial and political absorption finds far- \ i our in the eyes of the, pan-German party ; { hence the snggestion cabled to-day that ! the succession to the Dutch throne may ■ revert to the family of the Prince Consort, who is closely related to the royal j house of the Hohenzollerns. It is of course possible for Germany to make out a strong case for the interest j that she displays in tbe prospects of j Holland. Some years ago Professor yon | Halle, a distinguished historian and [ publicist, produced a work dealing with the national and mercantile relations between Holland and Germany, in which he tried to convince the Dutch that it was their natural destiny to become a portion of the Germanic Empire. From ' i the German standpoint, no doubt, Pro- ! fessor yon Halle's arguments are unanj swerable. Germany naturally resents ! the fact that the lower course of the I Rhine, her great commercial highway, , and the ports at its mouth, arc controli led by a foreign Power. The Dutch ; says yon Halle, live upon the industry i and the wealth of Germany, and should i therefore be prepared to take a share in i the burdens and the privileges of Ger- | man Imperialism. A further argu- ! ment is that the German Empire i should be in a position to construct and protect its own line of defence in whatever way it. thinks best. I Holland, weak on land and sea? is a constant source of danger to Germany; 1 and yon Haile therefore holds that it would be only just and right for Germany to take over the country and secure all the commercial advantages iMiiiDf from to aratrol onijo FJuk German Ocean towards v hR Tyn p - ) 1S tl . \ Chan net. This narrow strip of 3a.iid borj dering on the North sea ia "the focilS jof the world's line of commvm'cji tion.'' I and therefore it rjepds "tile protection i of its sea frontage by tlie asgisknee of s. fixsrfc-cl-Lss sea-power. v T_a otlie.r words, ', Holland will consnlt best for its safety | and its prosperity by-becoming as speedi'l ly as possible an integral part of Gerj many. I This statement of the German case j for the annexation or the assimilation jof Holland created a great sensation at the time; and the Dutch were not slow to point out that it made no allowance whatever; for their national feelings or patriotic prejudices. It i 3 doubtless , not altogether convenient for Germany i that Holland should remain independ i ent; but the Dutch would much prefer 'itobe as they are. Last year the Leader of the Social Democrats in the | Dutch Parliament pave strong expression to this sentiment, in an article ' : contributed by him to the '"'Xation-l , Preview." }i. Troelstra, who can certainly claim to represent a large sec- [ . tion of his nation, declares emphatically ! , against Germany's evident intention to . ; absorb Holland either by peaceful . ' rtear.s or by force. What gives tlie j : larger and icerc powerful neighbour the 3 right to seize such a country as Hol- | land ? The Dutch, he points out. have 5 not neglected German interests; on the. >, contrary, they have made heavy finanI eial sacrifices to improve the canal and " ; waterways of their country, and thus j facilitate the passage of German mer--1 ! chandise to the sea. Germany has not

scrupled to work upon Holland's fears by warning the Dutch constantly of the greed and ambition of England, which is represented as always casting a covetous eye on Holland's valuable colonial possessions in Eastern seas. But M. Troelstra* cannot kelp feeling jgrafc thar* naaj. T» at. least cs mm_v dan-

ger from Germany as from E_gl__d; and in any case he resents the idea that merely because it-would-be convenient for Germany th-reiore Holland must submit to lose her national identity. '"-Ihe Dutch nation." he says, "has too much love, for freedom, is too republican by nature, too anti-military in its tendencies—in a word, we are too Dutch for s> union with Germany." And this, we believe, would be the verdict of the whole nation if, as our cable message suggests, the people oi Holland were allowed to <rote upon the succession to the Crown. As a channel for commercial

e_pansion and as a naval base from which a deadly blow might be struck at England, Holland would doubtless be a most welcome addition to Germany's Empire. But we are inclined to think that the Dutch will not be easily persuaded to accept the Kaiser's "protection'rt and not even the Kaiser would at the present juncture hazard the annexation of Holland by force of arms.