Page:Scented isles and coral gardens- Torres Straits, German New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, by C.D. Mackellar, 1912.pdf/346

264 she reaches her own great possessions here—she will do what no one else can do. Were I a Dutchman I would entreat her to do it—as it is, I do entreat. What pleasure she herself would surely derive from it all, and what is it but a few months' change from Holland? She is sovereign out here over millions of people, and nowadays the empires over the seas have claims upon their sovereigns, the day for indifference has gone by.

[Now things have changed. A baby has done it. The coming of the child—the hope of the Netherlands—has given new spirit to the Dutch people, and is wakening them up; there is no longer any talk of coming under other flags. But they must not fall asleep again; they must no longer leave their isles and seas to a lonely solitude. The day has gone by when a nation can claim a land—as the Dutch did their part of New Guinea—and warn all others off, though they do not occupy it themselves. Effective occupation alone can make it theirs, and that gives promise now of taking place. The House of Orange has an heir—that means much. The Princess Juliana is the most important child in Europe. Nevertheless, sovereigns of great empires can no longer remain quietly at home as of yore; the world and its peoples have changed; the over-seas peoples have grown so rich and powerful that their claim upon their monarchs is as great a one as that of the home people. It is no longer a journey of time and danger to get to the other side of the world; it is merely a short pleasure trip. The Germans once called their sovereign “Gondel Willy” on account of his partiality for making journeys; it was fatuous wit, for the journeys of the German Emperor showed his wisdom and advertised his country, and a consequence of them has been that now all Germans want to travel and see things for