Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-12-16
IBy Associated Press]

Il THE HAGUE, Netherlands Only
two lives, those of the reigning queen
and Of her seven-year-old daughter,
Princess Juliana, bar the way in the
natural order of things to the acces-
sion to the throne of the Netherlands
of a German prince. 1t is true that,
so far as health and age are concern
ed, those lives may be described as
first class" but the potential slender
ness of the thread was illustrated not
long ago in the Hague woods, where
| the royal automobile carrying Queen
WiIhelmina and the little princess was
the victim of a collision that might
under less fortunate circumstances
have cost the lives of both.
Nation Feels Concern
This question of the succession gave
Dutchmen some concern before the
war, and much more now. Several
well known public men have drawn
public attention to the matter in the
last few days, and what looks like a
strong agitation. enjoying widespread
sympathy, has been started for re-
vision of the constitution declaring
null and void all potential rights of
succession of foreign princes, leaving
the choice of new sovereign, in such
an unhoped-for and unexpected circum-
stance as the failure of all direct heirs
to the throne, entirely to the states
general or parliament of the country
For every Dutchman, practically with
out exception, whatever be his SYM
pathies in the present war, would re-
gard the accession of a German prince
sad calamity threatening the so dear
ly-cherished independence of the ma
ton.
In the House of Orange, Holland is
blessed with a dynasty bound to Hol-
land and Holland alone by such strong
ties that no one at home or abroad
would dream of suggesting that the
council chambers of the crown are
accessible to other than purely Dutch
interests. But If that house were left
without living issue, the next claim.
ants to the throne would be found
among the collateral princely houses
of Saxe-Weimar and Reuss-Kostritz,
followed or accompanied by those OF
SAKE Meiningen, HohenZollern, anoth-
er branch of Reuss-K ostritz, Schleswig-
Holstein, Norway, SahcumburgLippe.
Sweden and Wied-one and all equal
ly foreign to the Netherlands.
Dangers Pointed Out
Professor ]. Van Hamel, disting,
uished authority on law, declares in
the Amsterdammer: This game of
interests with German royal relations
on foreign thrones must teach us that
small powers should beware if they
do not desire to see in their highest
government circles foreign aims that
might be pernicious to them put in
place of their national interests. Is
the fact sufficiently reckoned with
that, according to the present consti-
tutional regulation of the succession
to the throne, the successive princes
called to the throne after Princess Ju-
Llama are all of German families, most
ly officers in the German army, nat
urally all attached heart and soul and
bound to the German policy? Mon
archical coupling of this country to
another by a prince who could hard
ly be anything but an imperial prince
envoy, and who might be admonished
from abroad to bear himself like a
good German. of whom, moreover,
nothing is known here save that he
has not the slightest relations with
this country. would be very serious
matter for the coming times"
Constitutional Changes Considered
AS regards the exact form that the
proposed constitutional revision
should take, Prof. d. p d. Fabius, yet
another writer on the subject, argues
in favor of simply putting all posi-
BILE claimants besides Princess JUL.
ana out of court, of binding the coun-
try in no way to any house or person
outside the offspring of Wilhelmina,
and thus in case of the necessity oc-
curing leaving the states general, an
unquestionably free choice in the mat
ter On the other hand, Professor H.
Louis Israels, well known publicist,
wants to take a cue from the Amer.