BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1902-05-31
SArIJUAN, MAYO 81
The Dutch Succession.
Queen Wilhelmina's Many Heirs
and the Troubles that May
Avise in Connection With
their Claims.

their Claims.
The Dutch succession is based upon
the provisions of the constitution OF
Au gust "a, 1915, when the Netherlands
were organized by the congress of
of Vienna into a kingdom and the
clauses bearing upon the subject were
maintained by the subsequent const1tu-
ton of October ID, IS4S According to
the terms of the two national constitu-
tions, the crown of the Netherlands is
vested in the descendants of that prince
of the house of Orange who IN 1916 was
proclaimed first king of the Netherlands
under the title of William l. Legitimate
descent from him is sine qua non to
the succession of the Dutch throne, and
it is mol 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, re-
presents the senior branch of the house
of Orange by reason of his descent fronl
that Frederick William, elector Of
Brandenburg, who married Princess
Louise Of Orange daughter and sole
heiress of Henry Frederick of Orange,
who died in I647.
1t is the cognate, or Castillo, system
of succession that prevails in the Meth
erlands, as it does in Great Britain, in
Portugal and in Spain. According TO
its terms male heirs in the same degree
of relation to the sovereign exclude
females without any regard to priority
of birth. Thus, though the son of a
sovereign may ts younger than the
daughter, the son succeeds, one instance
in point being that furnished by Spain
where the young boy king has two
sisters older than himself one of them
indeed having actually reigned as queen
during the six months that intervened
between 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 instead Of
the latter's first born child, the late
Empress Frederick. But if the SOW
ereign leaves a daughter and brother
or a nephew, then, according to the
cognate system, it is the daughter who
succeeds, as being in closer degree Of
relationship
Now the late king of Holland, vii
liam ILL., lost both his sons during his
lifetime, aud, 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 SAKE -We1mar. 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 ard foremost
of whom is her grandson, the now
reigning grand duke Of SAKE -Weimar,
an unmarried young prince of about 70
years of age. 1t is not known yet
whether he would accept the succession
to the Dutch throne For it would in
volve his surrender OF his grand dueal
throne of Saxe-Weimar, since article 70
of the national constitution of the Ne
>therlands explicitly prohibits the occu-
pancy of any foreign throne Jointly
with that of Holland. Possessed of
colossal wealth, disposed toward indo-
lence, and accustomed to take his
duties as sovereign very easily, it is re
garded as extremely probably that the
fat young grand duke may prefer the
comparatively facile position Of ruler of
Saxe-Weinar to the infinitely more ar
dous and responsible position of mo-
march of the Netherlands. As the
grand duke has lost his Younger
brother, the rights of accession to the
Dutch throne in the event of his Raiv-
ing them would pass to the elder sister
of his dead father-that is to say, to
the eldest daughter of that late grand
dachess Of SAKE speimar, who was sis.
ter to King William II of the Neither
lands This princess, Marie by name,
is married to Prince Henry VII Of |
Reuss, who was formerly German am.
bassador at Vienra and at Constan-
tinopie,
1t is, therefore, this Princess Marie Of /
Reuss who stands second in line of
to the Dutch throne, ard in
the event of Queen Wilhelminas death
and the grand duke of Saxe-W -Weilnars
declining to accept the Dutch crown it
is she who will become queen of the
Netherlands.
Duchess John of Mecklenburg- Sch
werin has no children, and falling her
he throne of the Netherlands would
pass to the crown princess Of Denmark
md to her children. the crown PRINCES