any responsibility. The State Councillor and professor emeritus, Cort van der Linden, had been Minister for Justice in 1897-1901. This Liberal, who was highly respected both by the Crown and by all parties, formed an " extra-parliamentary " Cabinet, that is, a Cabinet desiring not to be regarded as a mandatory of the Liberal-Socialist majority, though taking over the programme of these parties victorious in the voting. In this way the new Cabinet achieved a revision of the Constitution in 1917. Herein it succeeded in solving the school question which had dominated political life for half a century, and which the parties of the Left also wished to see settled. The talented minister Lely, who for the third time was at the head of the Department of Public Works (1891-4, 1897-1901, and 1913-8), saw his life's work crowned with success in that the States-General resolved to barrage the Zuider Zee.
To a large extent the success of the Cabinet was due to the party truce brought about by the war. But otherwise the war gave rise to great difficulties, even if the country did escape the direct catastrophe of conflict. The geographical position of Holland caused the belligerents on either side to desire that she should not get entangled in the war. In order to protect vigor- ously her neutrality against any eventuality, Holland herself increased her army to 500,000 men, well trained and equipped as efficiently as possible. Repeated diplomatic differences of increasing poignancy were as repeatedly settled to the satisfac- tion of all parties by Jonkheer Loudon, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, who inspired great confidence both at home and abroad, adopting throughout the standpoint of recognized positive inter- national law. Nevertheless, Holland suffered greatly from the blockade and the U-boat warfare.
The neutral position of Holland made it possible for her to assist very largely in mitigating distress in the belligerent countries, not merely by sending thither ambulances and aid- ing in the Relief Work in Belgium and Northern France, but also, and in a special degree, by welcoming the destitute Belgian refugees, who, to the number of over a million, fled for succour to Holland after the fall of Antwerp. Gradually most of these returned home, but even in 1917 and 1918 between 30,000 and 40,000 were still supported by the Dutch Government.
In Sept. 1918 there came a fresh influx of refugees, numbering about 40,000, chiefly from Northern France, as a result of the evacuation caused by the retreat of the German army. On all these refugees the Dutch Government expended certainly some 5,000,000 sterling, which remain to the country's debit. To this are to be added many millions provided by private means. The exchanged British and German prisoners-of-war were also hospitably received. After the fall of Antwerp, too, 30,000 Belgian and some hundreds of British soldiers were interned in Holland at first in camps and afterwards scattered in various places where they could perform some suitable work. The num- ber of German interned also assumed big proportions, no fewer than 10,000 deserters crossing the frontier. Finally, numbers of military and civil interned managed to escape from Germany into Holland, whither no fewer than 4,000 Russians fled.
Meantime, the elections of 1918 had produced a majority of the Right, which, though weak (51 to 49), enabled the Roman Catholic leader, Dr. Nolens, to form a Cabinet, inasmuch as the Liberals were split into eight groups by the new system of pro- portional representation and the Socialists had gained seats as a result of general suffrage. Since Dr. Nolens considered it undesirable that he, as a priest, should take a seat in the Cabinet, Jhr. Ruys de Beerenbrouck acted as leader. It was the first time in Holland that a Government accepted responsibility under Catholic leadership.
This Government soon found itself faced with great general dissatisfaction as an outcome of the wartime distress. On the conclusion of the Armistice the desire for demobilization was so great that a serious mutiny broke out. The Social Democratic leader, Mr. Troelstra, announced a revolution in Parliament and demanded the resignation of the Government. But he was not supported either by his own party or by the workmen's organizations. There was a strong revival of patriotism, attach-
ment to the reigning house and feeling for social order. Every- where civil guards were formed. The army was demobilized and measures were adopted for the benefit of the men. Besides this social reforms were promised. The danger of revolution, which raged close to the frontier, soon began to disappear. Moreover, an improvement in the supply of victuals was noticeable from day to day. The Government had acquired the prestige requisite to introducing important measures into the Second Chamber even with a wavering majority. These included old age and invalidity insurance (Talma Act, 1919), the eight-hour day and 45-hour week, and the Primary Education Act. The Roman Catholic influence was evidenced, e.g. by the restoration of a permanent envoy to the Pope; this representation had lapsed in 1870 but had been reinstituted during the war, though only as a temporary measure with the object of cooperating in a possible effort at peace. Meantime, the peace negotiations at Versailles had raised fresh international difficulties for Holland, which gave Jhr. van Karnebeek, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, an opportunity of demonstrating that he pursued a cir- cumspect but persistent policy.
In the early hours of Nov. 10 1918 the Government at The Hague had been surprised by the arrival of the German ex- Kaiser, who sought refuge in Holland. In accordance with ancient Dutch tradition concerning political refugees, the fallen monarch, and, afterwards, the ex-Crown Prince, were accorded the rights of asylum in Holland. When, in 1920, the Allies demanded the person of the ex-Kaiser, compliance was refused on the grounds of that tradition. The ex-Kaiser had his resi- dence appointed in the village of Doom in the province of Utrecht, that of the ex-Crown Prince being in the Isle of Wier- ingen in the Zuider Zee. They were allowed to remain in Hol- land on condition of refraining from all political activity.
Other difficulties arose out of Belgium's desire for a revision of the 1839 Treaties. Holland declared herself prepared to dis- cuss the question at Paris on the basis of equality. This took place. It appeared that Belgium demanded the sovereignty (afterwards softened into " maUrise ") over the Western Scheldt and its dependencies, as well as over the canal and railway Ghent- Terneuzen, together with the right to use the Scheldt for defensive purposes in war time further a regime in South Limburg which should guarantee her security, to which end it raised objections to Maastricht remaining Dutch. Moreover, Belgium asked for a canal running direct from Antwerp across Dutch Limburg to the Rhine and another from Antwerp to Hollandsch Diep.
Concurrently, various Belgian journals and the Comite de Politique Nationale demanded that the Western Scheldt, though it had been Dutch since the Middle Ages, Zeeland Flanders (which had been Dutch since the Peace of Munster, 1648), and Limburg (which had been Dutch for the same time; Maas- tricht even since 1632), should all fall to Belgium. A storm of indignation was aroused in Holland, and the districts in question gave an unambiguous expression of their attachment to Holland. The Dutch Government declined to discuss the question of ter- ritorial cessions, but declared themselves willing to cooperate in the construction of the canals, though they denied the neces- sity for any such waterways. They demonstrated moreover that, during the invasion by the German armies, it would have been disadvantageous to the Allies if Dutch Limburg had been Belgian and that the Western Scheldt would have been used as a submarine basis but for the Dutch character of the river. The Supreme Council decided that the revision of the Treaties of 1839 should be entrusted to a commission composed of repre- sentatives of the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, Belgium and Holland; but the proposals of this commission should, in no case, contain suggestions for a transfer of territorial sovereignty or the establishment of international servitudes; moreover, Belgium and Holland were to endeavour to come to an understanding concerning the waterways. In the subsequent negotiations between these two countries agreement was reached on the administration and maintenance of the Western Scheldt, on the Antwerp-Hollandsch Diep canal, the Antwerp-Meuse-Rhine canal and the administration of the
