DUTCH TERRITORIAL DISPUTE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 231, 24 June 1919, Page 5

DUTCH TERRITORIAL DISPUTE

PROTEST AGAINST BELGIUM A PARIS PROBLEM An impressive demonstration of Hoi land's oneness was held in The' Hague when, in the presence of the royal family and a very large audience, representatives from Iceland and Limburg gave witness of their earnest desire to romain united to Holland and of their love for their native country and their Queen, as a protest against the annexationnl wishes, of Belgium, states the "Christian Science Monitor." The members of tho committee for a petition of tho inhabitants ill I both provinces were present, and tho well-known choral society, "Do Maastrichger Staar" from Limburg and Jonkvrouwo Minnie de Jongn, a Zooland singer, in several songs and national hymns gave expression to. the feeling of all Holland on the subject of the unity of its eleven provinces. Many inhabitants of Zeeland in their picturesque costumes attracted attention. Whole Country May Resist. Mr. P. I. J. Jansen and the Kev. J. N. Pattist, chairman of the committes for the petition in Limburg and Zeeland, in eloquent speeches expressed tho unswerving loyalty of their countrymen to Holland and to the House of Orange, while Mr. D. Fock, the president of the Second Chamber, who as such may bo considered tho spokesman of the entire nation, assured tho two provinces'of tho firm intention of the whole country to withstand nny attempt of infringing its rights in these provinces. In the disputed part of Zeeland tho above-mentioned petition was signed by 33,500 out of its 70,500 inhabitants,_ thoso under ago being excluded from signing what may reasonably be taken -as a unanimous vote, and tho result in Limbur.e promises to ccmp up to the samo mark. So far for the desires of the population i when, besides, "historic grounds are taken into consideration Holland feels that it has every reason to await without anxiety the decision of the Paris Conference on this v niatter. While both of the banks of the Scheldt were owned by Holland as far back as tho year 1433, Brabant and tho south pf Zeeland were qdded to its .territory in IG-iS at tho Peace of Munster, which made an end of tho Eighty Years' War between Holland and Spain. Holland's ownership of these areas and its right to close the Scheldt, as it had done previously in war times, was again recognised in 1785 at the Treaty of Fontainbleau by Emperor Joseph ll' of Austria, to. whom belonged the territory which later would becorno the Kingdom of Belgium. In 1792 France, engaged in war with Austria, proceeded to send ships up the Scheldt to attack Antwerp; the protests of the Dutdh Republic were answered by a declaration of war from France, which already had taken possession of Belgium, and at the Treaty of Tho Hague in 1705 took from Holland the left bank of -tho Scheldt besides parts of Limburg aiid Brabant. In-1803 a;i English expedition against Antwerp was checked in Zeeland with the aid of F.rench troops, whereupon Napoleon, in 1810, annexed the whole estuary of the Scheldt with Zeeland and Brabant. After Napoleon's fall and the French retreat from Holland,. .the southern part of Zeeland, as it had belonged to Holland since 1664, was restored to this country in 1814. Zeeland Long Dutch. As will be seen from the above, the disputed part of Zeeland 'belonged to Holland long before Belgium was united to it in 1815. The Belgian delegates of tho committee for the constitution at that time did not oven attempt,have the southern part of Zeeland joined to the Flemish provinces instead the Zeeland: ""parceque nous pourrions etre desavoues par les inhabitants." When in 1830 Belgium, rose np against Holland the inhabitants of the southern part of Zeeland not only did not join the rebellion, but they openly and indubitably took the side of Holland. Prince Frederilc Hondrik in 1632 conquered Limburg with Maastricht, and the Peace of Munster in 164S left Holland in possession of it. In 1795 the Dutch Republic was forced to give up also this province to France, but in 181-1 it returned to the Kingdom of Holland. In 1830 some 6mall parts of the Belgian Province Limburg were added to it in exchange for regions of the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, which Belgium desired •to keep. No Historic Grounds, . The Bolgian annexational claims, as will be seen by the above, have no historic grounds; were they granted, it would not be a question of restoration, for .it cannot be maintained that ■ Bel'giinn ever was deprived of territory which it- never possessed. The strict neutrality which Holland has endeavoured to ■ keep all through the war certainly has been more of a help than a hindrance to Belgium and the Allies. Had Holland gone to war against Germany, as it .undoubtedly would have done if it had been violated,"it would in all probability have shared t-lnj fate of Belgium. In that caso' tho hundreds of thousands of fugitives from Belgium and the north of Franca would not have found an asylum in Holland where they were clothed and fed and cared for with the utmost solicitude, even while the great shortage of almost all necessities of lifo was a great drawback to .tho Government and the Dutch people. That the Dutch Government at the beginning of the war closed the Scheldt may have hindered the English from succouring Antwerp from that side, but as long as they had the ports of Ostencl and Zeebrugge at thc-ir command, this obstacle cannot imio put a great weight in the balance, and after the Germans captured Antwerp, tho fact of the Scheldt being closed tor their U-boats has certainly been a protection to England. Had Holland shared Belgium's fate, its largo ports would indeed have been a terrible menace lo England, surely the very "pistol on England's breast.'"