The Hague Courant present...
The Times, 1824-05-22T00:00:00

The Hague Courant presents us with a copy of the Treaty concluded between Great Britain and the Netherlands for the exchange of territory, and arrangement of sommerce, throughout the Indian Archipelago, to which we some time ago alluded; and, in truth, we may say that the Dutch diplomatists have no reaton to be ashamed of their work. England, by conquest, had got into complete possession of every inch of land, and every ounce of produce, that Hol- land was ever mistress of beyond the Cape of Good Hope. By-one-of those numberless sacrifices of the national in- terest which marked the disgraceful career of Lord Lox- DONDERPY as a negotiator, Java and the Spice Islands were given back to Holland, without even the shadow or pre- tence of an equivalent-vwthout one attempt at a stipula- tion in favour of British industry or commerce. These fine acquisitions were, moderately speaking, worth twice 'ner all that England retained of her conquests after *twenty years of war. Our good friends, the Dutch, however, were not yet satisfied. Instead of expzessing any gratitude to this country, they began to grumble from the, very starting- post. It was not enrough th5at Vwe sb5uld tbrow away Java and the spice trade-thty ac.ually insisted for a long period on our aurrender4a 2ineapore, a post com- 3manding the Straits of iMIalac 2 which the discernmenxaud enterprise of Sir STAMFeR- D RAFFLES lhad led'him to oc- cupy as a British settle,ment, with the hope ofcompen- sating to his countryi in some small degree, the' disastrous abandonment of her gi .orious anid valuable conquests, and amongst tberii the %absslute contkol over the Straits gf Sunda. The diplor n discussions upon this subject were carried on with C` )nsiderable warmth. .We ourselves did not neglect our duty, in impressing upon the minds of Mi- nisters and of the public, the extravagance of the Dutch pretensions, and the necessity of maintaining Sincapore at all hazards. It has,,intleed; Been preserved; but at vhat aI price? Whe.bave agreed to giveu tp Bencoolen and the whole footing we had.so loaig,enjoyed in the extensive andl im- portant island of Stinmatra. And we have furtber pledged ourselves.against'so much as establishing a factory on any prt rof its coast, or concluding a treaty witlh any one of its native-Governments. 'We have stipulated;' that British ships shall pay in Dutch East India ports,. just double the duties of Dutch ships; and that, on the other hand, Dutch shipssballin British portspaya corresponding duty; but this nominalreciprocity vanishes wlienwe come to enterthe ports of the Spice Islands, where tbe said clause is to have ne ef- fect; and where the Dutch are permitted to charge our ships whatever they please, and as long as they please-that isi so long as it may suit them to retain a monopoly of the spice trade. England, on the contrary, makes no reserve as to the entrance and rights of Datchl merchaltmeia in any, of her harbours, beyond that of chargiug double the. dulties payable by British ships. IVe hope Mr. WYNN will oblige the country with some plausible defence of this new compact ; for, although being "bamboozled" is bad enough, being laughed at is still more vexatious..