In the report of an interview (by Eduard Polak, see 1910.03) with the Free Liberal and Bloemendaal lawyer P. Tideman (see 1907.02), the Social Democratic newspaper Het Volk (first editor in chief, P.J. Troelstra) also published this thank-you letter sent by Kuyper to Miss. M. Westmeijer. Dated The Hague, June 18, 1904 and composed on a postcard bearing the letterhead of the States General, the note was intended to serve as evidence for a charge that Tideman had leveled at an election meeting in Ommen on June 11, 1909, in the lead-up to the elections for the Second Chamber.

Tideman accused Kuyper during his term as prime minister of accepting money for the Anti-Revolutionary election fund in exchange for arranging a royal honor (see 1909.20). The affair received much attention in the press. The report of the interview and the accompanying documents (including the thank-you note) were also immediately published in Het Handelsblad (June 27, 1909). The so-called lintjeskwestie [decorations affair] was born.