Theodor Herman "Theo" de Mester ( Dutch. Theodoor Herman "Theo" de Meester ; December 16, 1851 , Harderwijk , Netherlands - December 27, 1919 , The Hague , Netherlands ) - Dutch statesman, chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands (1905-1908).
| Theodore De Mester | |||||||
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| Monarch | Wilhelmina | ||||||
| Predecessor | Abraham Kuiper | ||||||
| Successor | Theodorus Hemskerk | ||||||
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| Head of the government | He himself | ||||||
| Predecessor | Jan Hart van Tecklenburg | ||||||
| Successor | Maximilien Kolkman | ||||||
| Birth | December 16, 1851 Harderwijk , Netherlands | ||||||
| Death | December 27, 1919 (68 years old) The Hague , Netherlands | ||||||
| Father | |||||||
| The consignment | Liberal union | ||||||
| Education | University of Utrecht | ||||||
Biography
Born in the family of a Dutch politician, a member of the House of Representatives from Zwolle County.
After graduating from the University of Utrecht for several years, he worked as a municipal adviser in Zwoll .
- 1885-1892 - Municipal Secretary in Groningen,
- 1892-1898 - General Treasurer of the Ministry of Finance,
- 1898-1905 - Vice President of the Council of the Dutch East Indies . He showed himself as a supporter of the provision of greater financial independence of the East Indies.
He was a member of the Liberal Union party.
From 1905 to 1908 - Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands, at the same time served as Minister of Finance. The cabinet did not have a majority in either of the two houses of parliament, and it received the name "porcelain cabinet." Also, most prominent liberals of the time refused to join it. Of the plans for a radical tax reform, only the proposal to abolish the ten percent duty was implemented. The government first resigned in December 1906, when the Senate rejected the defense budget for 1907, disagreeing with the idea of abolishing the so-called permanent part of the militia with artillery and cavalry. This resignation was rejected by Queen Wilhelmina , however, in December 1907, after the Dutch parliament did not approve the defense budget for 1908, the cabinet resigned, temporarily remaining in office until February 1908.
In 1908-1910 - Member of The Hague City Council, from 1910-1917. - Member of the Second Chamber of the General States of the Netherlands, from 1917 until the end of his life - member of the Council of State .
He was also the political editor of Het Vaderland (1912–1914) and chairman of retirement councils for civilian and military civil servants. He headed the state commission created in 1915 to prepare a general review of the legislation on non-military pension provision.