New-York tribune., 1909-05-28
A DUTCH STATE SECRET
Quick Means Of Flooding Holland
A gdinst TnUasiOn.

A gUtnSI InJUS1On.
r,-op7rirht 1902 BY the Brentwood Conapany.l
OF all the state secrets Of the great powers OF
Furope the most carefully guarded is that OF the
mans Of mobilization OF the army and navy in the
e1ent Of war 1t is a secret on which the safety of
the nation may be said depend. and any attempt
10 betray 1t is punished with the most terrible
severity. only by reason of the peril which its
hetrayal entails but also because Of the necessity
which the disclosure involves of reorganizing the
entire plan. at enormous cost. In France, Ger
many. Austria Russia and Italy this secret is re-
stricted TO the supreme heads Of the departments
Of and of the navy. In Holland it is shared by
another department namely, the so-called Water
stadt This department, with separate Cabinet
minister al its head, has charge of the very i'm
Yortant business of looking after the dikes and
canals with which the Netherlands are intersected
in every direction, and with holding the sea and
The rivers in check.
The most notable feature of the defence of the
kingdom in the event OF an invasion would be the
flooding Of the entire country. The plan and means
OF doing this effectively and quickly have been per-
fected and should Holland be dragged into a war
the minister of the Waterstadt would be associated
with his colleague at the head Of the War Depart
rneut and his role would be even more important
than that Of the latter. In fact, the plans for
putting country quickly under water, not within
a few weeks but within few hours. constitute
The chief state secret of the Netherlands. secret
on the preservation Of which her independence and
safety may be said 10 depend William of Orange
flooded the country in l574 and by so doing drove
o,Ir the Spanish invaders and what the Dutch did
then they are ready 10 do again. Whereas the
means employed by William of Orange for putting
the land under water were crude and slow. the de
velopment Of the science Of hydraulic engineering
ard Of irrigation has enabled the government or
Queen Wihelmina 10 inaugurate devices Whlch
v-ould prove Immediately effective What these de-
vices are and the arrangement made in connection
herewith constitute the chief state secret OF "i-
land. the preservation of which renders the main
.enance Of large and costly army superhuouS-
NAlF DE STAEI. AND WONIAN'S RIGHTS
A number Of great ladies in England and France
have organized a committee and are cohectlhs
subscriptions for the erection OF statue OF Nine
de Stael who played great role in society
in the world OF letters and in politics al the pe-
ginning Of the nineteenth century. It is project
in which many Of the women in this country VINO
have taken part in the agitation for equal rights
and suffrage viii be anxious TO join For uh-
doubtedly. Nine de Stael was one of the pioneers
Of the movement. and il was just because she
declined 10 restrict her activities 10 purely FEMININE
pursuits and persisted in interfering in political
matters in what the first Napoleon described
Is an altogether unfemnine manner, that she be
came the object OF his somewhat brutal persecu-
tion-
OF her descendants the best known two to-day
ere undoubtedly the Count De Haussonville and the
Duke de Broglie who are her grandson and great
grandson. respectively. through the marriage OF
her daughter 10 Duke Nic1or de Broglie- There
Is none Of her descendants left in the male line,
her son Baron de Stael. who devoted his attention
and his literary activity TO agricultural prooiels
having died in 1880 without issue
Few peoule are aware that Nine. de Stael at the
age OF eighteen was engaged TO William PITT
then in his tvventy-fourth year. and already Chan
ceIlor OF the Exchequer. But she Tilted him
rather than separate from her father, Louis NNTs
famous Swiss born Minister Of Finance, Necker, or
leave her beloved Paris for England. Not long
afterward she married Baron de Stael Holstein
the swedish Envoy TO France, and avalled her
self OF her diplomatic immunties after the Revou-
ton 70 contribute by every means in her power
n alleviate the lot CT il-fated King and Queen
Her marriage was not happy one separation
z-s7,e5 zyhereupor she went TO England. where
=ocfa-,- which was certainly not remarkable Ior
Us F,,7r4tantErn II those days, took exception 10
t-e- inflammation for n de Narbonne and subjected
her to something very much akin 20 boycott
After wandering all Europe she returned 10
England. where she was on this occasion maze
welcome. and undertook the tanning Of Lord Byron.
who however. declined TO be capuvated. declar-
ing that he found horribly ugly. He ad-
n1ired her literary gifts. but her person, de-
-laring IN the that he could understand that
her cleverness and her wit might possibly blind
some people but not himself her plastic short
comings IN fact. HIS description OF her IS most
amusing.
She became reconoiled TO Baron de Stael before
his death, managed the restoration Of LOUIS
XVIII 10 secure from the Crown sum Of several
million francs by way Of reparation for the con-
fscaton OF her fathers property by the Revolution,
and not long before her death, when she had lost
every vestige Of personal charm, married a young
cavalry officer Of the name of de Rocca, the union
serving 10 estrange from her many Of her old
friends and admirers.