N. S. B.

The living Sphinx of the Netherlands, crop-haired, eagle-beaked Premier Hendrik Colijn has brought Her Majesty's Government unscathed through Communist brickbat assaults and the worst of Depression only to face last week the "Dutch Nazis." For stanch old Dr. Colijn it was exquisitely embarrassing to have to explain to his strong-minded Queen, Nazi-contemptuous Wilhelmina, how it has come about that one of the Premier's own sons is a "Dutch Nazi" or N. S. B.

In Germany Nazi stands for National Socialist. In the Netherlands N. S. B. stands for National Socialistische Beweging. Glib Dutch youths explain that their N. S. B. combines the best features of Italian Fascism and German Naziism with the drawbacks of neither and serviceable Dutch additions. Queen Wilhelmina, not to be hornswoggled, fired from his fine soft government job some years ago the founder of the movement, Dike-Builder A. A. Mussert, who had been Hydraulic Engineer of Utrecht Province.

Engineer Mussert has the stocky, powerful figure of Napoleon, the unruly forelock of Hitler, and his name begins with the same letters as Mussolini. If Queen Wilhelmina would let members of his N. S. B. wear distinctive "political shirts," Engineer Mussert has said that they would be not brown but black. He talks about installing in the Netherlands a version of Il Duce's Corporative State with buxom Queen Wilhelmina shrunk in political size to match peewee Victor Emanuel III.

Elections last week were for the Netherlands' provincial councils in which Premier Colijn's coalition has had a majority strength of 58%. Hitherto Engineer Mussert, much addicted to quiet maneuvering behind the scenes, has put up no candidates, saying "The N. S. B. is a movement, not a party." Last week when votes were counted the Colijn coalition strength was still a rock-ribbed 58% majority but other Dutch parties had lost to Mussert some 8% of the vote, thus giving N. S. B. 39 seats in ten provincial chambers.

With Mussert lying low as usual, one of his successful candidates, Count Marchant Dansembourg, predicted with fine Netherlandish restraint that in the general election of 1937 N. S. B. will poll 40% of the vote.

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