WesWorld

April 2, 1934

Kingdom of the Netherlands Foreign Minister Pieter van Grootveld accepts Minister Stresseman's invitation to a September 20th conference to be held in Kiel , Germany. Herr Grootveld will appear on behalf of the Queen and United Kingdom of the Netherlands to fulfill its obligation under Part 1, Section II of the Cleito Treaty, to participate in a conference of Cleito signatories. If for some reason the Kiel site is not acceptable to some parties, the Queen would be pleased to host the conference in her palace where she hosted the Hague Peace Conferences.


The Kinshasa Klarion, April 3rd
The disquiet regarding our Queen's accession to the Belgian crown broke out into violence today when a young man called for the removal of the Queen in the main Square. Police were able to intervene in time to save the mans life and take him to hospital, where he is expected to recover.

The incident is indicative of the taint the Belgian crown has in the minds of the people due the association with Leopold's twenty year reign of terror which the Queen's intervention ended. While the Belgian parliament joined in the international condemnation of Leopold's rulership of the Kongo, that it too so long, and since so many of Leopold's Force Publique were drawn from the Belgian populace, there is a strong association and residual bitterness in the minds of many who survived those murderous years(1).

The Queens office issued the following statement "Her Majesty remembers the state of the country in 1906. The bloody aftermath of Leopold's rule, and the bitter battles between her Household troops and those who refused to relinquish their power and stand trial for their crimes. The Kongo has changed greatly in the past quarter century, and has a proud and strong people, but just as the House of Orange has obligations to the peoples of the Kongo, so do we have ancient obligations to the people of Belgium. You have my word that working to serve one will not harm the interests of the other."

(1) in the twenty year span of Leopold (King of Belgium)'s personal rule, it is estimated that 1/3 to 1/2 of the people of the Congo perished. Members of the Force Publique were required to present a human ear for every rifle round expended, and amputations were a common motivational technique.

The Ghent Gazette , April 5th
Avia-Fokker has signed a contract to break ground on a new engine production facility in Brugge and is in negotiations with the government of the Kongo regarding establishment of a domestic engine factory. While the Avia division is known to be working on some in-house engine designs, the majority of production is expected to be licensed versions of Hispano-Suiza and Bristol engines, but the new facility will also produce other versions. The expansion of engine production capacity should also fit with the Governments plans for the re-engining the D.XVIIbis aircraft with later models of the Hispano-Suiza engine.

In other aviation news, Phillips has announced progress on an improved supercharger, with a prototype providing sea level equivalent power at altitudes of 5,000m, 25% greater than previously.


The Batavia Bugle April 7th
Governor-Generaal A.C. De Graeff traveled to Borneo today to inspect progress on a road seeking to open a route between Ngabang and Sanggua. The Governor is said to be quite pleased with the progress and reliability of the road tractors purchased from Skoda-Davao of the Philippines. This road is one of several being constructed to connect to remote areas of the archipelago. This particular road system is eventually to connect from Pontiak to Sintang and Simitau, giving an access route to areas away from the river.



Rumors are that the Government would like to connect to British Borneo at Simangang, but no work is being performed. Engineers are surveying routes from Sintang to the head of the valley near Mount Raja, where they hope to cross the Muller mountains and connect to Kualakuran at the head of the Kahajan river. If that route is feasible, then they can cross the headwaters of the Barito river, connecting to Tandjung, Tanahgrogot and finally to Balikpapan, forming a Trans-Borneo road. . Needless to say, this road is expected to provide employment for years to come.

Eduwart Land : Herr Krook, can we get a quarterly report on the status of the military?

Jan Krook, War Minister : Certainly. The primary variables are of course the possibility of further integration with Belgium, wether full integration or partial under the auspices of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, or as an extension of the Benelux treaty . . .

Eduwart Land : Confidentially, a number of their politicians from several parties, as well as the National Congress, have made some contact. There is no political will to merge the nations, but union under the UKN is most likely. Luxembourg, which of course has a monetary union with Belgium and considered full union after the war, has been quite concerned that they are not forgotten. We will likely form some informal committees with leaders from both countries to lay the groundwork for after the Belgian elections this October. Until then, we are going to proceed as normal.

Jan Krook: Thank you for the update Herr Land. For the reports, I will defer to my subsecretaries, gentlemen, keep it short, Army?

Herman Loeder, Staatssecretaris of the Army : Construction and improvement of the fortified belts is going well, the Belgian depression has provided a cheap labor pool, and we anticipate completion in 1936 per your original schedule.

We still anticipate moving two divisions from frontline to strategic reserve. The 15th Division has been designated for redeployment of NEI and work on the basing there is proceeding. Should we enter into a closer military relationship with Belgium, that would add 16 active divisions and 6 reserve divisions, and both of our countries could probably entertain a mild force reduction and joint mobile reserve as a result.

Kongo has requested joint large scale maneuvers. They are proposing separate plain, jungle and hill maneuvers. The brigades in Ubangi-Shari and the 18th division in eastern Kongo can provide two of those, and the 15th should be shipping past in July and August, we may want to land a regiment to coordinate some exercises near Matadi.

Development of the heavy tanks is proceeding at FN and Skoda, though FN is having issues with the suspension. The Skoda design is looking far more promising, though they were using dual bogies to support a wider track, but over the winter they found frozen mud would not just jam the bogies, but also wedge them apart. We will likely be looking at potential production this fall or early next year.

We have completed deliveries of the PA-IV armored cars and the second batch of Vickers tanks. We are considering turning away from the Vickers and back to the Carden-Lloyd tankettes for reconnaissance, as the amphibious capability gives them so many more options in most of our theaters. The primary tank would be the Skoda LT-33, which has been serving well, and we are planning further orders to allow full replacement of the FT-17s. We have a plan to select the best FT-17s for storage and scrap the remainder. While the Kongo expressed interest in the FT-17s it now looks like they will pursue purchasing LT-33s from Skoda-Davao.

The 45mm/L48 ATG program you initiated is going well. We have substituted a Skoda breech design from their 47mm gun, allowing us to use a larger cartridge. The new version propels a 1.4kg shell at over 850m/s, which is quite satisfactory. While final versions are being prepared, we believe the production version will be below 600kg. Once we are satisfied, we will make the order for the remaining Lt-33s armed with this weapon.

The only other armored vehicles of note are the Italian 75/L18s assault guns and 10cm mobile artillery in development. We have been pleased with the state of development. We expect by late next year we can look to integrate those into mobile counterstrike forces.

Development of the new 155mm artillery carriage is looking quite favorable. The firing platform concept appears to be a winner, though we are still investigating the best means of obtaining clearance. We are currently testing the smaller version for the 10cm gun in combination with the Sonic spigot mortar array. This is now in combination with the FN artillery tractor and looks promising for certain applications.

Krook : Excellent Loeder. So, what does the Air Force want?

Hendrik Visscher, Staatssecretaris of the Air force : More funds.

The Air Force continues to desire the long range heavy bombers as a means of shattering enemy homeland infrastructure, but a report released today detailed the costs of such a program. Detailed cost estimates reveal that a limited order of 36 D119 bombers would require substantial fixed costs in infrastructure. Comparatively a full squadron and spares of 144 D119 bombers would spread these fixed costs, as well as benefit from some mass production, for a 31% cost savings. However, in place of a squadron of 36 D119 heavy bombers, an estimated 378 D.XIXc fighters or nearly 150 G.s can be acquired, and in place of a wing of 144 D119 bombers, an estimated 1,152 D.XIXc fighters or 460 G.1s could be bought. Support and personal costs would of course considerably diminish this ratio, but as the bombers require more personal, not as much as one may think.

The Nordmark competition has caused a considerable angst to have a heavy bomber fleet with at least a 2,500nm range, if not 3,500nm. The former would allow operations anywhere in SE Asia, and the latter would considerably ease transport ranges. Unfortunately, the cost of such a large bomber places it out of range in large numbers. A fast long range bomber for deep strikes may be worth acquiring in limited numbers, but only if bombing accuracy improves. Therefore we recommend funds be expended on improving bombsights at this time.

Otherwise we are seriously looking at switching from the T.Va to the T.VII that Fokker presented to Nordmark, performance is excellent and the cost only marginally greater.

For the heavy fighter role we are looking towards the FW-187 for some roles, and the G.1 for others. Depending on the capability of the G.1 we may or may not field a separate light bomber. Atlantic aircraft has presented a design that may be worth consideration also.

On fighters, the D.XIXa is performing well in service, and engine reliability is now quite good. As they enter service they are displacing D.XVIIs, while the D.XVIIbis are rugged and overbuilt and should be serviceable for some time. Hispano-Suiza is still improving the engine and our late 1934 fighter production will likely switch to a D.XIXb with an improved 12Y engine, and possibly an improved supercharge, to make the D.XIXc. We will be converting at least the carrier D.XVIIbis to a v2 with the 12Y-21 for just a little better performance. After that, there are a number of prototypes available now and we will pick one or two to move towards a production 1935 or 36 fighter.

On the armaments front, we are leaning towards including a cannon in our fighter weapon arrays for anti-bomber use. We are considering the 23mm Madsen versus the 20mm for this role. We would like to develop a midsized 17mm weapon for testing to establish if there is merit to having a mid ranged weapon. The German 15mm looks best for scaling up for this purpose. but we plan on doing more live fire exercises against scrapped planes to evaluate effects, but we want the hulks to be fully fueled and armed.

Lastly, on the bomb front, we believe we have a reasonable facsimile of the rubbergas weapon that we are testing in Guiana now. Though we may have an equivalent using an aluminum salt gelling agent. The multi-bomb dispensers are a failure to date, though we understand the Italians may have made progress in this area. Again, as a generic recommendation, we suggest further funds for improved bombsights. For that matter, gunsights and canopies.

As a general concern, the insistence on a large pool of reserve fighters has at this stage resulted in hundreds of D.XVII biplanes being flown once or twice a month for training. At this point, they lack the speed to be adequate in first line combat. They might be adequate in a lower threat level area, such as the Kongo or Guiana, but not Europe or the Indies where we have them. Likewise the old CVD and F.VII-v3m bombers are old and inadequate. Having these planes as reserves simple saps funds from other allocations. A far smaller number of dedicated trainers would serve to keep the reserve aircrews ready to serve as replacements, at far lower cost.


Krook : Interesting Visscher, though I am not to sure my party would stand for dropping half of the on-paper strength of the air force, regardless of its worth in combat. So, is the Navy proposing to scrap half the fleet, Herr Van Deventer?

Theodoor Van Deventer, Staatssecretaris of the Navy:

Terribly sorry to disappoint you Herr Krook, but we plan to continue the refit programs. Construction is preceding on schedule. We have routed more resources to the defense programs in the Indies and temporarily idled work on the Boerentange class to ensure work on the Zeven Provincien and Heemskerk will be completed on schedule. We are expecting that Zeven Provincien will be passing De Hollandia around Cape Horn this August, and De Hollandia will commence her refit in September. This fall we are slated to commence the rebuild of De Hollandia, and will restart the Boerentange. Lead ships of the new minesweepers, minelayers, and submarines have been laid down. We have also obtained plans for Iberian assault boats and landing craft and plan to construct a handful for practice. Once the sonic detector tests on Zx-13 are finished, we will lay down the lead for the new sloop class. Scrapping of the Ijelsijk and Palembang classes is expected to commence this fall as well.

The scheduling of the De Hollandia and Zeven Provincien, along with CVx Hund appearance at Talons, means we will have three units in the South Atlantic this summer, which sounds like when the 15th division will be transiting the area. I realize we didnt budget for the matter, but I recommend combining any exercises involving the 15th division in the Kongo with naval maneuvers. We can also explore a possible exercise with the South Africans.

Our other concern is the treaty. The design bureau has completed our post-treaty OPFOR update, presuming the treaty does fail, and is not replaced, then De Vries believes we are looking at the following:

Battleships we expect to grow to roughly 270mx 33m x 9.75m. The later two dimensions are dictated by Panama and Suez, but even without those restrictions these are not unreasonable numbers. This gives a vessel of around 51,000 tons normal. Speed is expected to climb to 32-33 knots, allowing most treaty battleships to be caught. With a 5 deck, and 15 belt, they will likely mount around 9 x 16 guns.

Aircraft carriers will likely become more popular, simply as the removal of tonnage limits will allow more carriers of a viable size. The current vessels seem adequate for the role, and more platforms are desirable, so we are unlikely to see massive changes in size or speed. Considering the vulnerability, what we may see is more of the armored carriers, which field similar air groups, but are somewhat more resilient to light damage. The drawback is the airgroup size to cost ratio, and they are much harder to modify or repair if damaged as armor steel is difficult to work.

The treaty Cruiser A category will likely be replaced by battlecruisers with 10-12 guns, and about 32-34 knots of speed, and displace 20-30,000 tons. There may be an interim armored cruiser design like the Italian vessels, or our next proposed CA, but we expect that those will be overtaken by battlecruisers. As such, any expenditure of A tonnage should be with the expectation that 34kts is the minimum and in the future they will be working in conjunction with the light cruisers.

Treaty Cruiser B will likely remain, as there is to great a need for sheer numbers of capable vessels which they fulfill, though the speed will be pushed towards 34-35 knots, which will probably require more in the 8-10,000 range, but we believe the majority will be 6-8,000 and 34 knots. In order to remain in this range they will retain the 6 gun and armor.

Destroyers will likely remain in the 1600-2000 ton range, with a 34-35 knot speed.

How does this impact our fleet? Well this assessment points to the fact our lighter forces are already within acceptable range of the future OPFOR. It is our larger units which become less useful.

The De Rutyers, Utrechts and Heemskerck have adequate armor and reasonable main batteries, they will at least be able to contest the issue. The Ijilsiks are obsolete and will be scrapped. There had been discussion of a major reconstruction of the Zeven Provinciens, but studies show that even rebuilt they would not have the requisite guns or speed to oppose the new battleships, but with the current rebuild will still be effective against the new BCs, so we will proceed on De Hollandia.

Based on the forecast, it would appear that the Friesland CAs will be obsolescent, and the reconstruction to augment the deck armor likely not worth doing, but they will still be useful units and the major refit to refurbish the vessels and improve the secondary suite would still be worthwhile. The Breda CL are probably worth rebuilding with better, or some, deck armor.

For light anti-aircraft artillery, we are moving from the 1927 20mm mount to a new mount with a 23mm Madsen and the 23x152 cartridge. The field reports from the 40mm Hazemaijer mounts indicate they are a bit more of a maintenance concern than desired, but otherwise performing quite well. The reflector sight system coupled with the lead calculator is reliable, but requires good crew integration.

Development of the stabilized dual-purpose mounts is not going so well. The stabilized mounting systems are adequate in two dimensions but we are encountering repeated jams and mechanical failures, which is exacerbated in the tri-axle versions. A redesign has been ordered, but some very small pins in center of the apparatus are shearing completely and need to be replaced with a stronger material prior to some of the other issues being worked out. We havent fitted the quadaxial mounting prototypes, but the system requires 11 gyros to operate in a very complex arrangement, and we expect the same problems, so we are redesigning for a more robustly engineered version.

Simple scaling up of the Hazemeijer system did not account well for the additional mass and leverage effects of the larger mounts. Further we are having more issues with shorts. Experiments indicate they encounter adverse interaction with the ships motions- namely the compensators become overworked and break in moderate seas- and the seals are not sufficient to keep the units clean in the North Sea. This leads to maintenance issues, which are stressing the mounts further. Add in the aimed for compactness and lightness, and they are underbuilt and difficult to maintain. The early model, utilizing the heavy inertial mass attached to the lower portion of the subassembly is performing better, but the additional weight of the mass is undesirable.

On the bright side, the program to chrome plate the bores on liner changes looks to be a very successful choice, and we are seeing barrel life expectancies climb substantially.

As you know we will shortly be fitting the first operational directional telemobilescope navigation device on the ZP. Of the ones being tested on CLx Den Helder this shows the most promise. At this point it still lacks resolution and range to be effective as a night fighting tool, but may aid nighttime squadron navigation and station keeping. We expect doing it now in conjunction with the other electrical refits is best, as are having enough issues with shoehorning the Mk1 tachymetric fire control system into the ZP, as the damn ship was built to a different electrical standard.

The Phillips active directional underwater sonic detection and location system is performing within expectations, though we are experiencing reliability issues and need better system of integration to control rooms. The primary problem is shielding the mount at speeds of over 18 knots, we have tried a combination of both exterior clamshells and a retractable mount, and these are in testing on Zx13. At this juncture it looks like the best plan is to expect to field it in the sloops first, and then consider retrofitting destroyers.

On the nautical air front, we are fairly satisfied with the current group of aircraft. We are trying the D.XIXb on Hund, and it may replace the D.XVIIbis on the Brederode and Eendracht this year. The C.XIW floatplane is entering the fleet, and we are looking at the next generation of reconnaissance, both ship and maritime patrol.

Lastly, facility enhancement is going well. We expect Balikpapan to be fully operational later this year. The improvements at Tjilatjap are scheduled to commence this year, with the additional dredging being the greatest importance if we want the option to berth capital ships there regardless of tides.

Krook : Very good Van Deventer. So, de Rave, what do the Marines want, and no you cant have it. Joke.

Willem de Rave, Staatssecretaris of the Marines : Terribly funny Krook.
The primary project the Marines have is the semi-automatic rifle trials. If Loeder does schedule some exercises with the Kongo this summer, that may be a good opportunity. The Marines have taken delivery of the second batch of the Carden-Lloyd amphibious tankettes, and are considering a third.

The Marines would also like to consider augmentation of the current transports to allow a dedicated regimental landing and support, and adding some capacity for Kommando companies. Preferably in dedicated landing craft. The Iberian craft and assault boat designs will at least allow us to evolve a employment doctrine, and make advances in regards to amphibious defense doctrine.

Other than that, the only real news is the adoption of the 23mm anti-aircraft gun and incorporating it in the fire support battalions.

Krook : Draw up the design requests for the regimental lift capacity. I think after the diversion of shipping for the Queens Bolivian adventure, and this summer for the 15th Division, dedicated lift capacity may look more attractive.

Eduwart Land : De Rave, do not get the Marines hopes up. We have many, many demands on our finances, and redeploying the 15th instead of turning it into a reserve formation it has not had a good effect on them. I do not see how we will be able to fund such items until the second half of 1935 at the earliest. Lets get the exercises arranged, and fund that bombsight. I will expect proposals for restructuring the airforce reserves into a usable force supplement, and phasing out the FT-17s.

Thank you Gentlemen. Now, treasury?

Very good and very interesting.

Quoted

The only other armored vehicles of note are the Italian 75/L18s assault guns and 10cm mobile artillery on order. We have received our first batches and are looking to integrate those into mobile counterstrike forces.

Not for at least another year yet.

I'm not quite sure on the cost estimates for the heavy bombers. A figure of 10x - 15x as much as a fighter seems more appropriate looking at other figures.

Interesting projections on the speed/size of post-Treaty ships. Not exactly the same conclusions that Germany has come to, but interesting nonetheless.

I'll get the 75/18 changed to a promising prototype then.

The bomber estimates are simply derived from planebuilder so I have no clue as to the reliability. I believe I have read that a B-17 cost 5:1 vs. a P-51 but I have no idea of the accuracy of my recollection.

As for the Post Treaty bit, it started as a way to project for my own forces, it has it's own perspective and certainly won't be accurate for all. But I decided to roll it into the other bits of "technical" discussions I had partially written.

http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps51153…/digest/t82.htm

This gives costs of the various US aircraft in WWII.

Nice site RA.
I once had a subset of that information saved, but I can't figure out what I did with it. However it indicates my recollection of 5:1 is about right for the P-51:B-17s, and the P-40:B-17 but it varies by fighter:bomber and looks like it would generally be more. I wonder if the P-51 development cost was absorbed by the UK? That could explain the relatively low cost.

While the varying numbers produced would introduce different economies of scale, I am not seeing the 10-15x ratios I used from planebuilder.

The 5:1 or 6:1 looks better, but I'll go change my estimate to 8:1, which appears little high but I would expect additional costs on the first heavies.
For 1941, only the P-40:C-54 hits that,

The Brussels Sprout, April 9th

The break in the weather was a welcome relief to the citizens of the capital, but along with the sun came a surprise. While the residents of Den Hague may be accustomed to the sight of their monarch cycling, but to the people of Brussels it was somewhat unexpected to have ones new Queen, trailed by a pair of winded guards who looked distinctly uncomfortable, pedal up to a sidewalk café for lunch. Queen Wilhelmina reportedly does not cycle as much as she used to, but we are given to believe this will not be the only occurrence.

The Hague Herald , April 11th

Foreign minister Pieter van Grootveld held a press conference today and fielded questions from reporters.

Re: Clieto
The Netherlands is intending on attending the American meeting. We are pleased that both the Germans and Americans see this issue of sufficient merit as to take action.

Re: Italy
We are of course concerned regarding the political turmoil occurring in Italy in recent days. We are hopeful that events will come to a peaceable and orderly conclusion. Given the erosion of Italys foreign standing, protracted domestic unrest would not be helpful in reestablishing that states rightful stature.

Re: Paraguay:
The state appears to be decaying into civil war. We are quite concerned with the news of the refugees, as well as the potential for spread. Reports from the area indicate that revolutionaries are infiltrating the refugee camps and causing problems within. We can only hope that the Paraguayan government is able to reassert control or come to terms.

Re: Dutch East Indies:
The Malay archipelago is an internal affair, not really the task of my ministry. My understanding is that work is proceeding establishing the separate administrative districts and establishing lists of appointees for the district legislatures. While there will of course be a need for additional governors, I am not aware of the Queen having made those appointments of yet, as she is understandably preoccupied.

Re : Belgium:
We of course look with interest on the events occurring in our neighboring country, but it would not be proper to unduly comment on the internal politics of that state. We expect that the recent election and new constitution will prove of long term benefit, despite the short term turmoil that precipitated these events.

The Kinshasa Klarion. , April 20th
The Commander of the Kongo detachment has filed this report from abroad.

The troops have reached the assigned sector of Bolivia, in the upper Amazon jungle. The terrain is most comparable to the Nord Sud region near the Lunkenie river, though the plants and animals differ in many ways.

The advance troops have notified the local populace of our mission and expectations. Reception of the troops has generally been acceptable, with some recalcitrance on the part of European descended peoples, and broader acceptance among those of Incan (1) descent. Language, despite the Dutch translators, is proving a problem as numbers of the Incan peoples do not speak Iberian. The local clergy is proven most helpful in this regard.

The bridge on the Madre de Dios at Puerto Heath has been repaired, and contact made with the Brazilian troops at Maco, where arrangements are being made to repair that bridge.

There have been three violent incidents of note.
The first was a common brawl in La Paz, in which Kongo troops engaged in fisticuffs with other League of Nations forces.

The second involved one of our patrols being attacked, but a mounted platoon rode to the sound of the guns and mousetrapped the attackers. Kongo forces sustained two dead and five injured, ten prisoners were taken. The prisoners claimed to be part of an active Bolivian infantry company and have been afforded POW status. One has been released as an envoy to seek the surrender of the Bolivian unit.

The third incident involved an error on the part of our troops. A civilian was injured and indemnity has been paid. Two of our soldiers have been detained.

At this time 27 number of people detained, 432 rifles and other small arms examined and released to owners, 87 weapons have been confiscated and replaced, 32 weapons of all types have been confiscated.

(1) Probably not of Incan descent in the upper Amazon of Pando state, but to the commander, indigenous peoples of this areas are noble descendants of the fabled Incas.

The Rotterdam Reporter April 23rd
The governments of the Benelux region have combed their stockpiles and advanced discard dates to allow the declaration of surplus. The surplus items include a large number of tents, company kitchens, fuel oil, water purification gear , and an assortment of generators and other miscellaneous gear. These supplies will embark in Rotterdam and Antwerp and accompany Red Cross personnel to the Paraguayan refuge camps.

The Brussels Sprout , April 25th
The Chief of the Queens Special Investigative Service brought charges against 18 individuals, today, including several prominent names.
He announced The new Constitution establishes the oversight role of the Monarch. The notorious corruption and bribery that was occurring in the prior administration was intolerable. The Queen has directed the SIS to focus on preparing cases which focus on the main power brokers. To do so we have examined over 100 cases and reached agreements with many who were implicated of lesser involvement to exchange suspension of the charges for information. To this end we have brought indictments against these 18 businessmen and politicians.

These 18 represent those whom we believe we can successfully prosecute as major power brokers. There are as yet some prominent individuals whom we cannot yet build a viable case against.

We wish to serve notice that it is necessary for government functionaries to not only avoid improprieties, but the very appearance of impropriety. The people of Belgium deserve a government they can trust and respect, and those must be earned.

The Amsterdam Advocate May 10th
Prince William and Foreign Minister Pieter van Grootveld departed today for the Kingdom of the Kongo. The Prince is to meet his father the Prince Consort in Kinsasha. They will then journey to Likasi for the ceremonial completion of the South African- Kongo rail system first proposed in the 1921 SANTA treaty. The connection from Dar Es Salaam to Likasi featured some of the hardest rail building in the system, but provides the a new port for Kongo goods, as well as allowing rail traffic to journey from Dar Es Salaam to Dounala, to Cape Town or Matadi.

The Crown Prince will be representing the United Kingdom of the Netherlands as heir to the thrones of both the Netherlands and the Kongo, while the Prince-Consort will represent the Grand Duchy of Ubangi-Shari. Foreign Minister van Grootveld will represent the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and will be consulting with his South African and Kongo opposites afterwards. The Prime Minister and the Dukes of the Kongo will also attend, representing their Kingdom.

The SANTA treaty has proven to be of great benefit to all parties involved, considerably aiding both the economies of the Kingdom of the Kongo, which has received large inputs of capital to responsibly develop the extensive natural resources; to the South African Empire which provides the technical knowledge and factories to turn these resources into sought after goods. The Kingdom of the Netherlands has also prospered in conjunction with her brethren, as her trade network benefited and from the security of South African iron for Sumatran oil. While the Kingdom of the Kongo has arguably benefited the most, strong economic and security benefits can be traced to this landmark treaty.

The Hauge Herald May 13th
In an unusual maneuver, the DZMSBD party, which admittedly is an uncomfortable member of the government, introduced legislation to declare India and Japan in violation of the Cleito treaty, cancel all treaties and agreements with those nations, suspend all trade and bar passage and portage to their vessels. The latter would be a violation of the international law of the sea, as recognized by the Netherlands, unless they were considered belligerent nations. Most surprisingly, members of the opposition Vrijheidsbond party seconded the bill. The two parties comprise 36% of the States-Generaal, and seemed to have no hope of passage until the Arbeiders-Democratische Bond party astounded watchers by offering support in exchange to extending the provisions to all violators of the Clieto treaty.

The amendment had nearly been accepted by the main bills sponsors when it was pointed out that countries such as Atlantis and Italy, and many others, had been accused of being in violation and that acceptance would have dire repercussions. The tiny Partij van de Arbeid then countered with a bill demanding the withdrawal of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from AANM on the basis of the Italian incidents, the very proposal of which sent Mr. De Voor and the Vrijheidsbond (who of course were the ones to join) into a lather made worse when the 2 communist party members had the temerity to second it, followed by members of Arbeiders-Democratische Bond who had just been supporting the other bill. A livid Mr. De Voor had to be calmed to the great amusement of the Arbeiders-Democratische Bond members.

The strange spectacle ended with both bills being rejected, though the reason for the introduction of bills which had no hope of passing the Erste Kamer, or garnering the Monarchs signature, must be wondered at. Certainly the DZMSBD served up a challenge to its coalition partners in government.

The Batavia Bugle May 15th
Brandt boat works in Soerabaja completed the last of 10 assault boats today. These 10 ton craft are based on an Iberian design and have been requested by the Marines for experimentation. Brandt will now commence construction of 4 larger landing vessels, each 20 tons.

The Brussels Sprout , May 20th
The Belgium parliament passed a package of laws today which seek to restructure a number of laws concerning the economy, as well as adopting new budgetary and accounting guidelines. Interestingly an amendment, boosting the pay of inspectors and customs officials while doubling the legal penalties associated with graft in their position, was also attached. While the parliaments authority is only provisional, and these laws must be readopted by the parliament elected this fall, the package is meant to signal to business the future economic terrain and can be expected to become part of the campaign landscape come this fall.

June 1st
The Kingdom of the Netherlands finds that there is a defacto state of war between Argentina and Paraguay and declares itself Neutral in this conflict. The Kingdoms of Kongo and Belgium follow suit.

The Amsterdam Advocate, June 1st.

When asked to comment on the words of the Argentine Defense Minister regarding the League of Nations, Staatssecretaris of Foreign Affairs, Frank Reuter stated

"That is an unfortunate perception and a misunderstanding of the role of the institutions. The situation in Bolivia was that none of the parties were interested in arbitration earlier in the conflict. Only towards the end of the conflict did this become an option. At that time the Netherlands brought the issue before the League of Nations. We have a similar situation here, where neither Argentina nor Paraguay are interested in seeking the aid of the International Court of Arbitration in the Hauge, nor League action, though given the apparently chaotic state, there is considerable uncertainty what could be done."

The Batavia Bugle , June 5th
Governor-Generaal A.C. De Graeff announced a trade pact today. The Regional Asiatic Trade Society involves trade among the Netherlands East Indies, The Kingdom of Siam, San Hianando, the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Sultanate of Brunei. The Governor stated that, with the approval of the membership, more countries could be added.

The governor stated that the trade pact effected products produced locally, for the benefit of local peoples. Goods produced in, for example, the Netherlands, will not qualify, only those physically produced in the Netherlands East Indies. By providing an incentive for local production, local businesses, and even foreign companies should have increased incentive to produce local goods and thereby provide more employment for local peoples. The Governor stated that, with the approval of the membership, more countries could be added.

The Governor-Generaal indicated the agreement includes caps to maximum tariffs, elimination of trade disrupting subsidization, clear customs procedures and expanded customs ports, and a multi-party arbitration court over trade matters.

Specific provisions include.
Stamp of origin for local products
Cap tariffs at 3% for locally produced goods.
Businesses which receive Government subsidies which exceed their tax burden are ineligible.
Member countries will designate ports for expedited local trade.
At these ports they will undertake : to provide sufficient customs staff to conduct inspections and process paperwork within three days of docking.
Port fees, civil docking, access to dockworkers for local vessels to be equalized with domestic vessels.
Civil repair and support facilities will be made available to local vessels at the same rates as domestic.
Monetary exchange facilities will be made available, at no additional fee and using the prior business day's international rates, at the customs office.

Oversight board for handling complaints will be formed from members. The board will arbitrate disputes and may order corrective measures. The board may also authorize appropriate penalty clauses, including awarding enhanced tariffs, or suspending a member, on a majority vote.

Got to love the political manueverings in The Hague. Very nicely done, and definitely amusing.

The joys of uneasy coalition governments

Quoted

The Batavia Bugle , June 5th
Governor-Generaal A.C. De Graeff announced a trade pact today. The Regional Asiatic Trade Society involves trade among the Netherlands East Indies, The Kingdom of Siam, San Hianando, the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Sultanate of Brunei. The Governor stated that, with the approval of the membership, more countries could be added.

Signed personally by His Majesty the King, and also (and mysteriously) intialled "M"...