Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal (colonial business)

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tagsorganization, parliament, colonial, dutch, acheh
aliasesTweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal (colonial business), Tweede Kamer, the Dutch Lower House, Second Chamber (colonial business)

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The Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal — the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament — is, in the Vermeulen retrospective on the 1891-1918 period, the parliamentary forum in which the Atjeh-oorlog ([[1873-1904)|Atjeh-oorlog]], the pacificatie, the ethical-policy proclamation and the Atjeh oil contracts were debated. The colonial business of the Tweede Kamer is the principal subject of Vermeulen’s Oost-Indië in het Nederlandse Parlement 1891-1918, the source of the present Aceh Wiki History articles.

The colonial business

The colonial business of the Tweede Kamer comprised principally the annual begrotingsdebat (budget debate) for the Ministry of Colonies, the legislative treatment of wetsontwerpen (draft laws) affecting the Indies — the Comptabiliteitswet amendment of 26 June 1903, the Mijnwet of 1899 and its Article 5a amendment of 1910, the adat-law revisions — and the interpellations on specific episodes such as the Van Daalen expedition of 1904 and the “Wekeer” affair of October 1907.

The chambermembers

The Tweede Kamer of the Vermeulen period comprised both colonial specialists and generalists. The colonial specialists — Van Kol (s.d.), Van Deventer (v.d.), Cremer (lib.), Thomson (lib.), Fock (lib.), De Stuers (catholic) — were the principal speakers on Indies affairs. The generalists — Kuyper (a.r.), Lohman (c.h.), Troelstra (s.d.), De Stuers — intervened on matters of principle (the ethical-policy proclamation, the zending question, the doel heiligt de middelen defence of the Van Daalen expedition).

The Vermeulen verdict

Vermeulen’s retrospective on the Tweede Kamer’s colonial business is mixed. The chambermembers “hadden wel eens het gevoel, dat al deze expedities, excursies en verkenningstochten van Van Heutsz, Van Daalen, Swart en die andere generaals achteraf goedgepraat moesten worden en dat daarvoor gretig geput werd uit het arsenaal van leuzen, motieven en edele bedoelingen, dat in de loop der jaren door de ministers en de kamerleden zelf was opgestapeld” — sometimes had the feeling that all these expeditions, excursions and reconnaissance tours of Van Heutsz, Van Daalen, Swart and those other generals had to be justified after the fact, and that for this purpose eager use was made of the arsenal of slogans, motives and noble intentions that the ministers and the chambermembers themselves had piled up over the years.

The Indische debate, Vermeulen concluded, “heeft iets van een schimmenspel van ideeën en beginselen. Maar heel zelden krijgen de kamerleden die niet in Indië zijn geweest, een flits te zien van het leven in Indië zelf” — has something of a shadow-play of ideas and principles. But very rarely do the chambermembers who have not been in the Indies catch so much as a flash of life in the Indies itself.

The ambtelijke adviezen complaint

A persistent complaint of the chambermembers was that the minister of Colonies “zich er achter verschool” — hid behind — the ambtelijke adviezen (official advices) from the governor-general, the residents, the directors, the Raad van Indië, the Hooggerechtshof, the generals, the staatscommissies. The complaint is, in the Vermeulen retrospective, the procedural expression of the colonial-parliamentary dilemma: that the chambermembers, lacking first-hand knowledge of the Indies, were dependent on the very official communications whose candour they suspected.

Significance

The Tweede Kamer is the parliamentary forum in which the Atjeh-oorlog ([[1873-1904)|Atjeh-oorlog]], the pacificatie and the ethical-policy state were politically contested. The Vermeulen section of the 1955 Schets is the principal narrative source for the colonial business of the Tweede Kamer in the 1891-1918 period.

See Also

Source

Schets eener parlementaire geschiedenis van Nederland van 1849 tot 1901, by Mr W. J. van Welderen baron Rengers, 4th rev. ed., Vol. IV: Oost-Indië 1891-1918 by Dr W. H. Vermeulen (‘s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1955), pp. 263-355.

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