Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1902-05-08
NO LACK OF HEIRS TO THE
THRONE.
AND GENERALLY GERMAN
Young Grand Duke of Saxe-Weiner
Closest in Line of Succession and
Princess Marie Reuss Next-la at
ter Has Three Sons and One Daugh-
ter.

which a greater amount of ignorance
prevails on both sides of the Atlantic
! than that of the Dutch succession. and
/ in view OF the dangerous illness of the
young queen of Holland, now pros.
| trated with typhoid fever. to which
| members of the reigning houses of
Europe appear to be so particularly
prone, it may be timely to offer a
/ few notes by way of explanation of the
| SUBJECTIVE more so as the name of
| Emperor William, who includes among
/ his other titles that of prince of
| Orange, has been put forward by some
German writer's as having rights to the
! Dutch crown.
The dutch succession is based upon
the provisions of the constitution of
Aug. "A, 1915, when the Netherlands
were organized by the congress of
Vienna into kingdom, and the clauses
bearing upon the subject were main
tanned by the subsequent constitution
of Oct IA. 1913. According to the
terms of the two national constitutions
the crown of the Netherlands is vested
in the descendants of that prince of
the house of Orange who in 1915 was
proclaimed first king of the Neither
lands under the title of William I.
Legitimate descent from him is a
sine qua non to the succession of the
Dutch throne, and it is not until all
his descendants in the male, as well
as in the female, line have become
extinct that any question could arise
about the rights of Emperor William,
who. it is perfectly true, represents the
senior branch of the house of Orange
by reason of his descent from that
Frederick William, elector of Branden-
burg, who married Princess Louise of
Orange, daughter and sole heiress of
Henry Frederick of Orange, who died
in 1917.
1t is the cognate or Castillo sys-
TEN of succession that prevails in the
Netherlands. as it does in Great
Britain, in Portugal, and in Spain.
According to it's terms male heirs in
the same degree of relation to the
any regard to priority of birth. Thus,
though the son of a sovereign may be
younger than the daughter, the son
succeeds, one instance in point being
that furnished by Spain, where the
young boy Hing has two sisters older
than himself, one of them, indeed, hav.
ing actually reigned as queen during
the six months that interviewed be-
tween his fathers death and his own
birth. And in England it was Edward
VII. who succeeded to the British
crown on the death of his mother in
stead of the latter's first born child,
the late Empress Frederick. But If
the sovereign leaves daughter and a
brother or nephew, then according
to the cognate system, it is the daugh-
ter who succeeds. as being in closer
degree of relationship.
The late king of Holland, William
Ill, lost both his sons during his life
time, and accordingly at his death
his crown passed to his only surviving
child and daughter, Wilhelmina the
present queen. The late king had
three brothers Alexander Henry and
Ernest who all died without leaving
any legitimate issue male or female
He likewise had a sister Princess
Sophie who married the late grand
duke of Saxe-Weimar. Both she and
her husband are dead and her rights
to the throne of The Netherlands are
therefore now vested in her children
and grandchildren. first and foremost
of whom is her grandson the now
reigning grand duke of Saxe-Weimar,
az unmarried young prince of 20
years of age. 1t is not known yet
whether he would accept the success
sion 10 the Dutch throne. For it would
involve his surrender of his grand
ducal throne of Saxe-Weimar, since
article Z6 of the national constitution
of the Netherlands explicitly prohibits
the occupancy of any foreign throne
jointly with that of Holland.
Possessed of colossal wealth dis
posed towards Incidence, and accus-
toned to take his duties as sovereign
exceedingly easily, it is regarded as
extremely probable that the fat young
grand duke may prefer the compare
lively facile position of ruler of SAKE
Weimar to the infinitely more ardu-
GUS and responsible position of mon
arch of The Netherlands. AS the
grand duke has lost his younger
brother the rights of succession to the
Dutch throne in the event of his waiv-
ing them would pass to the elder sis.
ter of his dead father-that is to say,
to the eldest daughter of that late
grand duchess of SAKE Weimar. who
was sister to King William III. of the
Netherlands. This princess, Marie
by name. is married to Prince Henry
VII. of Reuss, who was formerly Ger
man ambassador at Vienna and at
Constantinople
It is therefore this Princess Marie
Reuss who stands second in the line
Of succession to the Dutch throne.
and in the event of Queen Wilhel-
mina's death and the grand duke of
Saxe-Weimar declining to accept the
Dutch crown, 1t is she who will be
come queen of the Netherlands. Prin-
fnue Mario Raueu hoe fo,r cbfdrox, -