The Industriebond defense meeting of 17 February 1917 was a public gathering of the Industriebond (Industriële Club) at which former Governor-General J. B. van Heutsz delivered his second major address on the defence of Netherlands Indies, reiterating the themes of his earlier speech at the Bond van Vrije Liberalen and setting out what he presented as the government’s accepted defence system.
The Meeting
The meeting took place at the Industriebond (Industriële Club) on 17 February 1917 and was reported in the Handelsblad of 18 February 1917. C. C. Vattier Kraane also spoke at the meeting, addressing “De verhooging der economische ontwikkeling van Nederlandsch-Indië, in verband met zijn defensie” (The increase of the economic development of Netherlands Indies in connection with its defence).
Van Heutsz’s Speech
Van Heutsz covered the same defence themes as his 13 January 1917 address to the Bond van Vrije Liberalen. At this meeting, however, he set out what he presented as the “hoofdlijnen” (main outlines) of the government’s accepted defence system, drawing from the Memorie van Antwoord. He described the government’s fleet plan as comprising 4 battleships (linieschepen), 5 cruisers, and 25 submarines, at a total acquisition cost of 275 million guilders. He dismissed the land army component as insufficient, capable only of the defence of Java.
Relationship to the Memorie van Antwoord
Van Heutsz’s presentation of the government’s fleet plan from the Memorie van Antwoord formed part of his broader argument that the government had accepted the principles of the Van der Weyden defence brochure but had failed to act on them with sufficient urgency. His criticism of the army component as adequate only for Java defence reinforced his call for the appointment of a buitengewoon Regeerings-Commissaris with sweeping powers.
Provocation of Van der Maaten
Van der Maaten wrote the Naschrift (Postscript) to his pamphlet after reading the Handelsblad report of this meeting. The Industriebond speech thus provided the immediate occasion for Van der Maaten’s final additions to a work that was dated 25 February 1917 in Montreux.
Part of the Broader Campaign
The meeting was one element of the sustained post-governorship defence advocacy campaign conducted by J. B. van Heutsz and his circle, which also included the Bond van Vrije Liberalen speech and the promotion of J. Van der Weyden’s defence proposals. The campaign formed a central episode in the Defense of Netherlands Indies debate (1917).
Significance
The Industriebond meeting demonstrated the breadth of Van Heutsz’s public campaign, extending beyond the party-political arena of the Bond van Vrije Liberalen into the commercial and industrial sphere. It was the Handelsblad report of this meeting that prompted Van der Maaten to add his Naschrift, making the Industriebond speech a direct trigger for one of the pamphlet’s most consequential sections.
See Also
- J. B. van Heutsz
- C. C. Vattier Kraane
- Van Heutsz’s Bond van Vrije Liberalen defense speech (13 January 1917)
- Van der Maaten’s pamphlet on Van Heutsz and the Defense of Netherlands Indies
- Van der Maaten
- Defense of Netherlands Indies debate (1917)
- Netherlands Indies Fleet Bill (1914)
- Memorie van Antwoord
- Van der Weyden’s defense brochure
- J. Van der Weyden
- Bond van Vrije Liberalen
Source
K. van der Maaten, Z. E. De Oud Gouverneur-Generaal J. B. van Heutsz en de Defensie van Nederlandsch-Indië (‘s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1917).