It is early February 1916. While Europe is in the midst of the fiercest war ever, the resignation of the Minister of Finance is big news in the neutral Netherlands. His private life is said to have been the cause of this, according to a newspaper report. The Historical Nieuwsblad With its WWI newspaper, it provides an interesting glimpse into the political struggle and the norms and values of a century ago. And the subjective reporting about this by the compartmentalised press.
'Minister of Finance Treub resigns to Queen' From our reporter in The Hague (De Graafschap, January 28, 1916).
“Minister of Finance Willem Treub (Free Democratic Union, merged in 1946 into the PvdA red. ) has requested an audience with the Queen and will resign. The reason is a conflict with the House of Representatives. Treub worked on the revision of the tax system. To finance his draft Old Age Pensions Act (a predecessor of the AOW from 1956 red. ) he also submitted a pension tax proposal. He wanted to link these proposals together in the House of Representatives.”
“During the discussion of these plans by the House, SDAP MP Jan Schaper submitted a motion that this link cannot be accepted (the Social Democratic Workers' Party also merged into the PvdA in 1946 red. ). According to Schaper, the old-age pension is insurance in the worst form. Although Minister Treub had stated that he saw this motion as a disapproval of his policy, it was nevertheless passed by a vote of 45 to 42. Some liberals from Treub's party also voted in favor of the motion. Just like some right-wing MPs, who took advantage of the opportunity to damage the cabinet.”
“Through politics like this, a man like Treub now falls. Together with Prime Minister Pieter Cort van der Linden and Minister of Foreign Affairs John Loudon, he formed a triumvirate that so far guided the Dutch ship of state safely between the numerous visible and blind cliffs during the furious hurricane that is currently raging over Europe. After the motion was passed, the ministers met in the House of Representatives for further consultations and Treub decided to go to the Queen.”
'And again Willem Treub is getting a divorce' The Time (Katholic Dagblad from 1845 to 1974 ed. )
“It is customary to disregard the private lives of politicians. But we hear that the intention of Minister Willem Treub to resign cannot be explained solely for political reasons, although he claims that it is."
“The minister's household in Scheveningen has been broken up. He advertised in Het Vaderland that he had taken up residence in a boarding house in The Hague. We learn that this is related to his plans to remarry. Not all MPs on the left are happy with this. As is known, Treub already divorced his first wife and married another woman.”
The News of the Day writes:'It is certain that Mr Treub, finance minister and liberal democrat, will resign for reasons of a private nature. It is an open secret that he is getting divorced. He wants to get married again. This time with a daughter of the stage actor Judels, with whom he has been living together in Hotel Central for some time. His wife is in Switzerland.'”
Further reporting
By NRC (liberal):“Treub was a powerful figure, a gifted man and a hard worker. To put our finances back in order, we needed the direction of someone of talent and drive. Treub has both; his policy of resolving the financial problem before peace and reforming our tax system on a new basis was applauded. There was room for consultation between the government and the House of Representatives. The Chamber itself had already indicated that it was prepared to comply. Treub, for his part, could therefore also have shown some pliability. Unfortunately, the minister did not understand that.”
By The People (Social Democratic):“Even though Treub has done good things for the workers, it was impossible for the Social Democratic faction led by Jan Schaper to maintain him. It was a duty for the entire left to break away from him. During the debate, three sides of Treub emerged:that of the old socialist hater, that of the principled opponent of the state retirement and that of the man who takes a sharper stance against his opponents the more vigorously they object to his policy.”
Again by De Tijd (Roman Catholic):“It is politics of the flattest kind that has caused Minister Treub to fall. The left has not been satisfied with the minister's accommodating attitude. He waived his demand to see the preliminary reports of the tax drafts before the public discussion of the Old Age Pensions Act in the House of Representatives. But the Chamber did not want to wait. One should therefore not speak of 'Treub's suicide'. Whatever he may be accused of, certainly not that he did not defend his opinion liberally and openly or that he deliberately sought a conflict with the House.”
These news items are from the WWI newspaper of January 2015, a bimonthly special of Historisch Nieuwsblad, with reports about the First World War from the newspapers of that time.
There will be a total of eight editions. More information about reordering previously published copies can be found on the website of the WWI newspaper.