Levinus Wilhelmus Christiaan Keuchenius

Levinus Wilhelmus Christiaan Keuchenius (1893)

Levinus Wilhelmus Christiaan Keuchenius (born October 21, 1822 in Batavia , Dutch East Indies , † December 17, 1893 in The Hague ) was a Dutch lawyer , ministerial official and politician of the Anti-Revolutionaire Partij (ARP), who after a career as a lawyer in Dutch East Indies and became a member of the Second Chamber of the States General in 1866 as Secretary General in the Colonial Ministry . Shortly afterwards, the motion of no confidence he initiated against the then Colonial Minister Pieter Mijer led to a loss of confidence between the government and the States General after Mijer had proposed himself for the post of Governor General of the Dutch East Indies, albeit in conformity with the constitution, as the incumbent Colonial Minister . The crisis known as the Mijer question (Kwestie-Mijer) ultimately led to the introduction of the so-called trust rule (Vertrouwens rule) , which provided for the resignation of a member of the government if he no longer had the confidence of a Chamber of States General.

Within the ARP, he was one of the loyal supporters of Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer , one of the pioneers of the ideas of this party founded in 1879. Between 1888 and 1890 he served as Minister for the Colonies in the cabinet of Prime Minister Æneas Mackay . His stance as a fanatical advocate of special instruction in the colonies ultimately led to the liberal majority in the First Chamber of the States General resigning as minister on February 17, 1890, and Prime Minister Mackay himself taking over the post of colonial minister.

Life

Studies, activities in the Dutch East Indies and Secretary General of the Colonial Ministry

Keuchenius whose father Guillaume Adriaan Keuchenius administrative officer in the Dutch East Indies, was the J. Lagerwey boarding school started after the visit in Geertruidenberg on 16 April 1839 study in the subjects of Roman Law and Dutch law at the University at Leiden , which he Graduated on June 23, 1842. At the same time there was his doctorate in law with a dissertation . He then took up a position as a lawyer and later as a public prosecutor in Surabaya , which he ended in 1844. He then worked between January 20, 1845 and December 19, 1845 as a civil servant and then from December 19, 1845 to February 1846 as an agent and most recently between February 1846 and March 1848 as chief agent at the Attorney General of Surabaya.

After he was between March 3, 1848 and March 1, 1850 judge at the Higher Court (Raad van Justitie) of Batavia, he was on March 1, 1850 Attorney General at the Supreme Court of the Dutch East Indies (Hoogerechtshof van Nederlands-Indië) in Batavia and worked there until December 1, 1851. He then became a judge himself at this Supreme Court, to which he was a member until October 1, 1854.

Then Keuchenius acted between October 1, 1854 and June 1, 1859 as Secretary General of the Ministry for the Colonies. As the highest official in this ministry, he was one of the closest advisers to the then Colonial Minister Charles Ferdinand Pahud , Pieter Mijer and, most recently, Jan Jacob Rochussen . For his many years of service he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Dutch Lion in May 1855 .

After completing this activity, he became a member of the Council of the Dutch East Indies (Raad van Nederlandsch-Indië) on June 10, 1859, serving as the oldest member temporarily until April 5, 1865 as vice-chairman of this central administrative body of the Dutch colony. He was then in the Netherlands from April 1865 for health reasons.

Member of Parliament, Mijer question and return to the Dutch East Indies

Keuchenius put a motion of no confidence in the then Colonial Minister Pieter Mijer in 1866 after he had proposed himself for the office of Governor General of the Dutch East Indies

On August 8, 1866, Keuchenius became a member of the Second Chamber of the States General for the first time and initially represented the constituency of Arnhem until October 1, 1866 .

Shortly afterwards, the motion of no confidence he initiated against the then Colonial Minister Pieter Mijer led to a loss of confidence between the government and the States General after Mijer had proposed himself for the post of Governor General of the Dutch East Indies, albeit in conformity with the constitution, as the incumbent Colonial Minister. The government took the view that the appointment of the governor general made by the king on the proposal of the colonial minister should not be dealt with by parliament. The crisis known as the Mijer question (Kwestie-Mijer) eventually led to the introduction of the so-called trust rule (Vertrouwens rule) , which provided for the resignation of a member of the government if he no longer had the confidence of a Chamber of States General.

After leaving parliament shortly afterwards, Keuchenius first worked as an editor at the daily newspaper Nieuw Bataviasch Handelsblad from November 1868 , before resuming work as a lawyer and prosecutor at the Supreme Court of the Dutch East Indies on August 7, 1869 worked until September 1879.

Re-election as deputy and colonial minister

After 1879 Keuchenius concluded that of Abraham Kuyper founded Anti-Revolutionary Party to

After his return to the Netherlands, Keuchenius was re-elected to the Second Chamber of the States General on October 6, 1879 as a representative of the Anti-Revolutionaire Partij (ARP), newly founded by Abraham Kuyper , this time in the Gorinchem constituency until October 11, 1884 represented. Within the ARP, he was one of the loyal supporters of Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer, one of the pioneers of the ideas of this party.

He then represented the interests of the Middelburg constituency as a member of the Second Chamber of the States General between November 17, 1884 and May 18, 1886 , before he was from July 14, 1886 to August 17, 1887 and again between September 19, 1887 and on March 27, 1888 was a member of the Second Chamber for the constituency of Amersfoort . During his membership in parliament he was between September 1883 and September 1887 chairman of the faction of the ARP (Antirevolutioneire Kamerclub) in the Second Chamber of the States General.

On April 20, 1888 he was appointed Minister for the Colonies (Minister van Koloniën) in the cabinet of Prime Minister Æneas Mackay the Younger and held this ministerial office until February 17, 1890. His attitude led as a fanatical advocate of special instruction in the colonies ultimately to the fact that the liberal majority in the First Chamber of the States General achieved his resignation as minister on February 17, 1890 and Prime Minister Mackay himself took over the office of colonial minister.

Keuchenius then became a member of the Second Chamber of the States General on March 26, 1890, and represented the Goes constituency in it until his death on December 17, 1893 .

Background literature

• Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer : Mr. Keuchenius en zijne neither partijders in 1869: een karakterstudie , Amsterdam, 1869
• Abraham Kuyper : Mr. Levinus Wilhelmus Christiaan Keuchenius , Haarlem, 1895
• R. Reinsma: Keuchenius as tegenhanger van Fransen van de Putte , in: Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 74 (1961), pp. 194-202
• GJ Schutte: Keuchenius as minister van Koloniën , in: Th.BFM Brinkel u. a. (Editor): Het kabinet-Mackay , Baarn 1990
• FL Rutgers: Levens report van mr. LWC Keuchenius , in: Handelingen van de Maatschappij der Nederlandsche Letterkunde , Haarlem 1894–1895, p. 243

Web links

• CV in Parlement & Politiek