Page 14 - Lambert Wackers

Shortly after the start of the war, the Koninklijke Steuncomité (Royal Committtee of Support)
was formed to show that neutrality did not mean insensitivity. Lambert Wackers was on
the local support committee in Amsterdam.
Although World War I did not rage inside the Netherlands, it nonetheless caused significant
problems in many areas. In the first months of the war, over a million Belgians fled to The
Netherlands, the largest stream of refugees in Dutch history. As a result, the population in
the Netherlands increased by about 15%: from 6.2 million to about 7.2 million. This led to
scarcity of all basic necessities of life, shortage of food, and housing. The government issued
distribution coupons that allowed the population to buy limited amounts of scarce goods
such as coffee, tea, meat, cheese, milk, butter, wheat, soap and coal.

This short newspaper article explains how this committee encouraged voluntary withholding of small amount
(0.5 percent) from pensions of retired military officers and administrators. These contributions will be
distributed to the Royal Committee of Support and its local committees to support people in need.
This may be seen as evidence that Lambert Wackers was a socially sensitive person.

~~~

De Nederlandsche Draadlooze Telegrafie Maatschappij
Despite the disappointing experience with broken promises in 1909, Lambert had not
lost his passion or interest in wireless communication.

On December 19, 1916, the "Daily News for Dutch East Indies" wrote the following,
"Today, The Holland-America Line, the Royal Dutch Lloyd, the Kon. Paketvaart Maatschappij,
the West India mail service, the Java China-Japan Line and the Kon. Nederlandsche Stoomboot
Company have together founded the Nederlandsche Draadlooze Telegraaf Maatschappij
(NTM, The Dutch Wireless Telegraph Company).

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