CORNELIS VAN MATHENESSE

At the time Holland was a republic and a confederation of different states. There was an assembly of delegations from each of the States but most important decisions tended to be made by the Prince and a few of the representatives in his sway. Mathenesse was the delegate of the largest and wealthiest state but even others in his state delegation were out of the loop. Others claimed that the necessity of secrecy was just a pretext for a small group to dominate the republic. See {620069}. This battle goes on in almost every country including the United States where there are many matters in which only a few members of Congress and the President make decisions with national security given as the reason. In many cases there has been such a reason, but it is very easily corrupted into a pretext as only the people on the inside who get to make the decision know what the secret material was.

At the time Holland was a republic and a confederation of different states. There was an assembly of delegations from each of the States but most important decisions tended to be made by the Prince and a few of the representatives in his sway. Mathenesse was the delegate of the largest and wealthiest state but even others in his state delegation were out of the loop. Others claimed that the necessity of secrecy was just a pretext for a small group to dominate the republic. See {620069}. This battle goes on in almost every country including the United States where there are many matters in which only a few members of Congress and the President make decisions with national security given as the reason. In many cases there has been such a reason, but it is very easily corrupted into a pretext as only the people on the inside who get to make the decision know what the secret material was.