Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-24


being concluded to commemorate in the
United States the tercen-
Cabinet tenary of the Hudson dis
rr,.:, coveries and the founding
Of the New Netherlands
to the honor and glory Of Holland, there
was a ministerial crisis at The Hague.
The elections in June last. it Will be re-
called. were entirely favorable to the
union Of the parties Of the right. Cath
olics. anti-revolutionarles. etc. The left.
disunited and without a program. lost
many seats in the chamber. The ministry.
whose policy was thus approved by the
people at the polls. naturally remains IN
power. with the exception Of q slight mod
ification. The ministry is still headed by
M. Van Heemskerke. whose sympathetic
personality has won for him not only the
support Of the right. but the adhesion of
many heretofore classed with the liberals.
Queen Wiihelmina was absent from the
opening Of the states general the 9th
ultimo. ana the ceremony thus lacked
IT'S usual Romp In place Of I'D
read the ministerial declaration. The min
lister declared that the birth Of the Prin-
cess Ju1iana would prove new tie be-
tween the royal family and the people.
tory. Projects of law for the increase
OF the tax upon inheritances were in
process of examination, also revision
of customs duties and tax upon general
revenue. Extraordinary measures would
be taken to supply the very considerable
deficit OF the next budget, including an
augmentation OF the tax upon alcohol,
whether manufactured in the country or
imported. A project Of a law concerning
obligatory insurance against sickness. in
Avr1A no u1shy toA
in the states general. A fund would be
instituted for the increased defense of the
coast. A very serious action would be
taken to limit the use of opium. A state
commission would examine what modifica-
tons, were necessary in the constitution.
~
These projected innovations render the
assembling Of the states general at this
time Of more than ordi-
Fiscal nary interest. Besides, the
p.,, announcement OF a re-
vision OF the customs
duties would seem to indicate that M.
Heemskerke and his colleagues are re-
solved to break with the traditional
policy Of free trade, and to enter the path
of protection in accord with the desires
of the right. Tho left. on tho contrary,
Is opposed, and 1t will not be strange II
a desperate struggle follows on this
subject. But of all the declarations of M.
Heemskerke the one which created a SEN
sation was the announcement that a state
commission would be appointed to de-
termine the changes to be made in the
constitution. The revision Of the consti-
tuition was made the order Of the day by
the liberals. The ministry Of NJ. Meester
inc IN Ito
commission to prepare report. The
fall of the ministry caused the project
to disappear from the order of the day.
Until now the right has shown Itself
very cold toward such a radical reform.
Are we to conclude that the right has
changed its opinion. or that the Heems-
kerke ministry has undertaken the initi-
alive OF a revision in order to cut the
ground from under the liberals? Certain
ly the movement on the part OF the min
istry is an audacious one, and may mean
the capture of the liberals by this at
tack by the flank.
Manifestly the Heemskerke ministry has
presented program Of reforms to which
all groups may subscribe, and In this
sense it means reform and paci1cation,
the promise Of which has won for NJ.
Heemskerke a great success In the late
elections.
Il 4
honor Of the founders of the New Neither
lands settlements the Hol-
Luzac land Society of Phila-
u.I,. delphia delegated q mem
Der, DR.. w. e. Grif1s, to
place a tablet on the house occupied by
Jean Luzac in Leyden to commemorate
his services to the cause Of American In
dependence. Jean Luzac was Hollander
of French origin, one Of the editors OF the
Gazette de Leyde, which was published
in French at Leyden from 1880 to 1914
The following inscription in English re-
cites the services of Luzac:
I'm grateful remembrance of Jean Lu-
FAC. friend Of Washington. Adams and
Jefferson, champion of the truth and JUS
tice of the cause of American tndepend-
encs in the Gazette de Leyde. Erected
1909"
Speeches were made in eulogy Of the
distinguished journalist by many noted
Hollanders, and DR.. Griffis delivered a
tribute of praise from the society in
recognition Of the great talents Of Luzac,
whose appeals In favor of the suffering
colonists In America induced the Holland
government to loan the United States
eight million francs at the most difficult
moment of it's struggles. The Journal
des Debats remarks that unfortunately
there was nothing in the English inscrip-
ton to indicate that the journal which
defended the American cauae was pub
lished in French, fact that enabled Lu-
FAC to create in Holland and France q
current of sympathy for America. Lu-
zac, it should be understood. was one OF
the numerous Hollanders Of his day who
employed the two languages. French and
Dutch, indifferently.
The Hudson-Fulton cOmnemoratiOn has
passed, with its picturesque pa&eants In
only for the historian to fix some of its
chief points. which are not only histori-
cal, but geographical and political
The observation-disclosures fetes
have been recited In great detail by the
entire press Of America. Little or nothing
on the contrary has been said of the Hud-
son-De Vries ceremonies which preceded
the fetes in New York by two days. that
Is on September %, and which were cele-
brated at Lewes, DEL, with much pomp
and ceremony, with military and civic
pa ade on shore, the unwilling Of q mon
,Iment to the momory OF De Vries, the
first Dutch settler, and with United
States war vessels and torpedo boats and
destroyers in the bay. 1t was an epoch
In the life of little town which. having
failed to become a city more than four
generations ago, philosophtcally wrapped
itself in sleep, from which In the inter-
val 1t was awakened only once. when the
British, in 1912, bombarded Lewes by four
cannon balls. which, on the testimony Of
the Oldest inhabitants, did no other dam
age than knock off the head Of q crow
ing cock.