BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1902-05-06
The Du|C|l Succession.

The very serious illness of Queen S
Wilhelmina of Holland brings suddenly
to the front question OF much gravity.
Wilhelmi.la is lhc last surviving re
preventative of her line, and should she
now die without issue, the great historic
house of Oraa age-Nassau would become
extinct. This might very possibly
mean the end Of q purely monarchical
governm ut in the Netherlands, for in
Holland there are no collateral branches
of the reigning family, nor are there
other royal lines whose claims to the
throne could be advanced by interested
partisans. From the time hen Will
liam the Silent broke the bonds which
united the Dutch provinces to the
empire of Spain, the Dutch have been
ruled only by the house of Orange, if
We except the brief period during
which Louis Bonaparte held his alien
court at The Hague, supported by the
bayonets of the First Napoleon. Hence
the problem that will confront the
States General in the event of Wilhel-
mina's death will be extremely difficult
of solution.
Of course, it would be a very easy
matter to offer tha vacant throne to
foreign prince, as the newly created
throne of Belgium was offered to Leo.
pold of Cobdrg, or as the throne of
Greece was offered 20 Gorge of Den
: mark, or as the throne of Spain was
offered by Prim to Amadeo of Savoy
after the expulsion of the notorious Isa-
bella. There are many German prince
lings who would gladly accept the
Netherlandish crown, and who by
affinity of race and by their hereditary
Professionalism would fulfill the external
requirements of the office. But The
Dutch are a difficult people, as the
present Prince Consort has discovered
to his sorrow, Intensely clannish, in
tensely proud, and intensely suspicious
: of all foreigners, they would never take
to themselves a king who might con-
ceivably be led to favor, at the expense
of Holland, the desire of Kaiser Will
helm for more territory and more sea-
: coast. Nor are there any Dutch fam
lilies great emo Ugh to furnish scion
whom the States General might raise
reigning house. ~
It is not unlikely, therefore, that in
the unhappy circumstances which we
have suggested, Holland might once
more revert to republican form of
government. The history of the old re-
public was a glorious one, and it is fa-
: miliar to Americans in the brilliant pa
ges of Motley. That compact and
dauntless commonwealth broke the
power of Spain, its navy even triumph
ed over that of England, and its mer-
chants enriched the land with the
wealth of Asia and America. Hence,
the reversion to a republican regime
would appeal very powerfully to nation
al sentiment, and it would solve in the
simplest possible way the difficulties of
the present situation.
A Dutch republic however, would
bear very little likeness to a republic
such as Belgium might conceivably
establish 1t would be an aristocratic
rather than a democratic State, re-
sembling the Italian republics of the
Middle Ages. For Holland is thor
ough1y conservative, and is quite con-
tented to remain so While the Bel
gians are almost in rebellion because
qualifed voter must pay a. fve-franc
house-tax every year, the Dutch are far
removed from universal suffrage and
show no symptoms of desiring it.
Even the liberalizing of "Grondwet or
fundamental law of the kingdom in
1887 really left all legislation in the
control of an olgarchy, for the Upper
House of the States Generalis is composed |
Of members elected solely by the great
ax-payers while the Lower House of
one hundred members represents an
exceedingly restricted electorate. There
fore, while Holland may in certain con-
tingencies, revive the name of the old
republic, the Stakeholder would be in
reality more like an elected monarch
than modern president. And in this
also the traditions of the past would be
perpetuated.