Georgist Activity in Holland

Charles Joseph Smith

[Reprinted from Land and Freedom, May-June 1940]

The fine work our Dutch comrades have been doing makes all the more poignantly sad the recent news from their fine little country. As in Denmark, things are so unsettled that we do not know what will become of the future of our Georgeist friends and the Cause they are working for. We sincerely hope that they will be able to carry on.

The most persistent foreign Georgeist periodical we have been receiving has been the Dutch Ons Erfdeel ("Our Heritage"). This is a weekly published at Groningen, and edited by H. Kolthek. The latest issue to reach us is dated April 20. At that time the Party of Justice and Freedom (De Partij Recht en Vrijheid), of which Ons Erfdeel is the official organ, was planning its annual Convention for May 2, in Utrecht. Organization matters and similar problems were on the agenda for discussion. Various Chapters had already sent in their reports for the Convention, indicating the progress of their activities.

Two important Chapters of the Party are in the Province of Groningen; one, the Leeuwarden Chapter, and the other, the Groningen Chapter. This latter is the seat of the headquarters of the Party as well as the publication office of Ons Erfdeel. The Leeuwarden Chapter is very active, having established the first Henry George School in the Province, last December. Good news also comes from the Hague Chapter, which reports a large sale of "Progress and Poverty" in the newly translated edition. This Chapter has published sharp criticisms of the country's financial system, which has excited the indignation of the conservative press. But this has in no wise deterred the progress of the Hague Georgeists. A Henry George School flourishes there, and a new edition of the Teachers' Manual has recently been issued.

The April 20 issue of Ons Erfdeel was accompanied by a supplement, in pamphlet form, on "Georgeism and Catholicism." This contained an essay on the subject by the officers of the Party, and a Dutch translation of the famous Statement of Dr. Edward McGlynn, the one approved by the Papal Ablegate. It also contained a letter from August Diemont to Pope Pius XII., which quotes many Bible extracts concerning man's right to the earth. Diemont asks His Holiness, in his efforts for peace, to remember the message Henry George gave to the world.

Ons Erfdeel reports that the outbreak of the war last September interfered somewhat with Georgeist activities at first, but later, forward strides were taken in spite of the serious situation. The circulation of the journal has even increased.

Good luck, comrades!