_Administration._--The Dutch possessions in Asia lie between 6° N. and
11° S. and 95° E. and 141° E. Politically they are divided into lands
under the direct government of the Netherlands vassal lands and
confederated lands. Administratively they are further divided into
residencies, divisions, regencies, districts, and _dessas_ or
villages. In the principal towns and villages there are parish
councils, and in some provinces county councils have been established.
Natives, Chinese and Arabs, are given seats, and in certain instances
some of the members are elected, but more generally they are appointed
by government. The islands are often described as of two groups, Java
and Madura forming one, and the other consisting of Sumatra, Borneo,
Riouw-Lingga Archipelago, Banka, Billiton, Celebes, Molucca
Archipelago, the small Sunda Islands, and a part of New Guinea--the
Outposts as they are collectively named. The Outposts are divided into
20 provinces. A governor-general holds the superior administrative and
executive authority, and is assisted by a council of five members,
partly of a legislative and partly of an advisory character, but with
no share in the executive work of the government. In 1907 a Bill was
introduced to add four extraordinary members to the council, but no
immediate action was taken. The governor-general not only has supreme
executive authority, but can of his own accord pass laws and
regulations, except in so far as these, from their nature, belong of
right to the home government, and as he is bound by the constitutional
principles on which, according to the _Regulations for the Government
of Netherlands India_, passed by the king and States-General in 1854,
the Dutch East Indies must be governed. There are nine departments,
each under a director: namely, justice; interior; instruction, public
worship and industry; agriculture (created in 1905); civil public
works; government works (created in 1908); finance; war; marine. The
administration of the larger territorial divisions (_gouvernement_,
_residentie_) is in the hands of Dutch governors, residents, assistant
residents and _contrôleurs_. In local government a wide use is made of
natives, in the appointment of whom a primary consideration is that if
possible the people should be under their own chieftains. In Surakarta
and Jokjakarta in Java, and in many parts of the Outposts, native
princes preserve their positions as vassals; they have limited power,
and act generally under the supervision of a Dutch official. In
concluding treaties with the vassal princes since 1905, the Dutch have
kept in view the necessity of compelling them properly to administer
the revenues of their states, which some of them formerly squandered
in their personal uses. Provincial banks have been established which
defray the cost of public works.
_Population._--The following table gives the area and population of
Java (including Madura) and of the Outposts:--
+------------------------------+--------+-------------------------+
| | Area: | Pop. |
| |English +-----------+-------------+
| | sq. m. | 1900. | 1905. |
+------------------------------+--------+-----------+-------------+
| Java and Madura | 50,970 |28,746,688 | 30,098,008 |
| / Sumatra, West Coast| 31,649 | 1,527,297 |\ |
| | Sumatra, East Coast| 35,312 | 421,090 || |
| | Benkulen | 9,399 | 162,396 || |
| Sumatra< Lampong Districts | 11,284 | 142,426 | > 4,029,505 |
| | Palembang | 53,497 | 804,299 || |
| \ Achin | 20,471 | 110,804 |/ |
| Riouw-Lingga Archipelago | 16,301 | 86,186 | 112,216 |
| Banka | 4,446 | 106,305 | 115,189 |
| Billiton | 1,863 | 43,386 | 36,858 |
| Borneo, West Coast | 55,825 | 413,067 |\ |
| Borneo, South and East | | | > 1,233,655 |
| Districts |156,912 | 716,822 |/ |
| Celebes / Celebes | 49,390 | 454,368 | 415,499 |
| \ Menado | 22,080 | 429,773 | 436,406 |
| Molucca Islands | 43,864 | 410,190 | 407,419 |
| Timor Archipelago | 17,698 | 119,239 | 308,600 |
| Bali and Lombok | 4,065 | 1,041,696 | 523,535 |
| New Guinea to 141° E. |151,789 | 200,000 | .... |
+------------------------------+--------+-----------+-------------+
| Total |736,815 |36,000,000 | 37,717,377*|
+------------------------------+--------+-----------+-------------+
* Including 487 in Merauke, the capital of Dutch New Guinea.
In no case are the above figures for population more than fairly
accurate, and in some instances they are purely conjectural. The
population is legally divided into Europeans and persons assimilated
to them, and natives and persons assimilated to them. The first class
includes half-castes (who are numerous, for the Dutch are in closer
relationship with the natives than is the case with most colonizing
peoples), and also Armenians, Japanese, &c. The total number of this
class in 1900 was 75,833; 72,019 of these were called Dutch, but
61,022 of them were born in Netherlands India; there were also 1382
Germans, 441 British and 350 Belgians. Among the natives and persons
assimilated to them were about 537,000 Chinese and 27,000 Arabs. In
the decade 1890-1900 the increase of the European population was
30.9%, of the Arabs 26.6%, and of the Chinese 16.5%. A large
proportion of the Europeans are government officials, or retired
officials, for many of the Dutch, once established in the colonies,
settle there for life. The remaining Europeans are mostly planters and
heads of industrial establishments; the Arabs are nearly all traders,
as are some of the Chinese, but a large number of the latter are
labourers in the Sumatra tobacco plantations and the tin mines of
Banka, Billiton, &c. The bulk of the natives are agriculturists.
_Religion and Instruction._--Entire liberty is granted to the members
of all religious confessions. The Reformed Church has about 40
ministers and 30 assistants, the Roman Catholic 35 curates and 20
priests, not salaried out of the public funds. There are about 170
Christian missionaries, and the progress of their work may be
illustrated by showing that the number of Christians among the natives
and foreign Orientals was:--
+--------------------+---------+---------+---------------+
| | In 1873.| In 1896.| In 1903. |
+--------------------+---------+---------+---------------+
| In Java and Madura | 5,673 | 19,193 | About 34,000 |
| In the Outposts | 148,672 | 290,065 | " 390,000 |
+--------------------+---------+---------+---------------+
About 10,000 natives go annually to Mecca on pilgrimage.
Both the government and private enterprise maintain vernacular
schools. Large sums have been voted in Holland for the establishment
of primary and secondary schools, and the government has undertaken to
assist in the establishment of parochial schools, the object being
that every village, at least in Java, should possess one. There are
schools for higher education at Batavia, Surabaya and Semarang; at the
first two of these towns are government schools for mechanical
engineering, and at Batavia a crafts school and a medical school for
natives. There are five colleges for native schoolmasters and four for
sons of native officials. Government schools for the European
education of Chinese children are established in the principal towns.
Private mechanical and crafts schools are established at Jokjakarta,
Surabaya and Semarang, and there is an agricultural school at
Buitenzorg.
_Justice._--As regards the administration of justice, the distinction
is maintained between (1) Europeans and persons assimilated with them
(who include Christians and Japanese), and (2) natives, together with
Chinese, Arabs, &c. The former are subject to laws closely resembling
those of the mother country, while the customs and institutions of
natives are respected in connexion with the administration of justice
to the latter. In 1906 a bill was passed somewhat modifying the
existing status of the classes above mentioned, and especially
directing new ordinances with regard to the judicial treatment of
Christian natives. A general judicial revision being also in
contemplation, this bill did not immediately come into force. Justice
for Europeans is administered by European judges, but, as with
administration at large so in judicial matters, native chiefs have
extensive powers in native affairs. For European justice the High
Court of Justice is established at Batavia; there are councils of
justice at Batavia, Semarang and Surabaya, with authority not only
over Java but over parts of the Outposts; there is a resident court of
justice in each residency. For native justice there are courts in the
districts and regencies; residents act as police judges; provincial
councils have judicial powers, and there are councils of priests with
powers in matrimonial disputes, questions of succession, &c.
As regards pauperism, the government subsidizes Protestant and
Catholic orphan houses.
_Finance._--The revenue of Netherlands India has been derived mainly
from customs, excise, ground-tax, licences, poll-tax, &c., from
monopolies--opium, salt and pawn-shops (the management of which began
to be taken over by the government in 1903, in place of the previous
system of farming-out), coffee, &c., railways, tin mines and forests,
and from agricultural and other concessions. But attempts have been
made, and have been largely successful, to make the revenue dependent
to a less extent on monopolies and the products (especially
agricultural) of the land; and to abolish licences and substitute
direct taxes. There is a progressive income-tax for Europeans, and the
system has also been applied in the case of natives.
The following table affords comparisons in the revenue and
expenditure:--
+------+-------------+--------------+
| Year.| Revenue. | Expenditure. |
+------+-------------+--------------+
| 1880 | £12,236,500 | £12,244,666 |
| 1890 | 11,482,457 | 10,644,728 |
| 1900 | 11,832,417 | 12,313,854 |
| 1905 | 12,951,497 | 13,844,173 |
+------+-------------+--------------+
The monetary system is similar to that of Holland (the unit being the
_guilder_), but there are also certain silver and copper coins of
small value bearing Malay or Javanese inscriptions. The Java Bank,
established in 1828, with headquarters at Batavia, is the only bank
issuing notes, two-fifths of the amount of which must be covered by
specie or bullion. The government has a control over the
administration of this bank.
_Defence._--The army is purely colonial, i.e. distinct from that of
the Netherlands. Its strength is a little under 40,000, about
one-third being Europeans of various nationalities and two-thirds
natives of various races. No portion of the regular army of the
Netherlands is allowed to be sent on colonial service, but individual
soldiers are at liberty to enlist, by permission of their commanding
officers, in the army of Netherlands India, and they form its nucleus.
Native and European soldiers are generally mixed together in the same
battalions, though in separate companies. The officers were all Dutch
till 1908, when a trial was made of native officers from noble
Javanese families. The artillery is composed of European gunners, with
native riders, while the cavalry are Europeans and natives. A military
academy is established at Meester Cornelis, near Batavia. Schools for
soldiers are attached to every battalion. There are certain local
forces outside the regular army--militia in some of the large towns,
native infantry in Madura, and guards of some of the vassal princes.
Unlike the army, which is purely colonial, the navy in Netherlands
India is partly colonial, partly belonging to the royal navy of the
Netherlands, and its expenses are therefore borne partly by the mother
country and partly by the colony. About six ironclads and twenty
smaller vessels of the royal navy are stationed in colonial waters;
the vessels of the colonial marine number about twenty-four, and
undertake police supervision, prevention of slave trading, &c.
_Trade and Industries._--The principal articles of export are sugar,
tobacco, copra, forest products (various gums, &c.), coffee,
petroleum, tea, cinchona, tin, rice, pepper, spices and gambier. The
average annual value of exports during 1900-1905 was £22,496,468, and
of imports £17,050,338. A great proportion of the exports goes to the
mother country, though a considerable quantity of rice is exported to
China. An indication of the mineral products has already been given;
as regards the export trade, tin is the most important of these, but
the Ombilin coalfields of Sumatra, connected by a railway with the
coast, call for mention here also. Agricultural labour is very
carefully regulated by law, in the enforcement of which the residents
and lower officials have wide powers. One day's gratuitous labour out
of seven or more can be demanded of labourers either on private or on
government estates; but in 1882 this form of labour was for the most
part abolished as far as government estates were concerned, each
labourer so exempted paying one guilder per year. The principal
private agricultural estates are in the west of Java, in which island
the greater part of the soil is government property. Such estates have
increased greatly in number and extent, not only in Java but
elsewhere, since the agrarian law of 1870, under which it became
possible for settlers to obtain waste lands on hereditary lease for 75
years. In 1899 the total acreage of land ceded was 1,002,766 acres; in
1903 it was 1,077,295. The government ceased to cultivate sugar in
1891, but coffee, and to some extent cinchona, are cultivated on
government plantations, though not in equal quantity to that grown on
land held on emphyteusis. The average annual yield of sugar in
1900-1905 was 852,400 tons, but it increased steadily during that
period. The average annual yield of coffee during the same period was
101,971,132 lb.; it fluctuates greatly. The average annual production
of tobacco is about fifty million pounds from each of the islands of
Java and Sumatra. The total annual yield of the tin mines is about
15,000 tons, and of the coal mines 240,000 tons. The average output of
petroleum annually in 1900-1905 was 120,000,000 gallons; this, again,
has fluctuated greatly. There are upwards of 3000 miles of railways
and steam tramways in Netherlands India, but these are almost entirely
in Java; elsewhere only Sumatra has a few short lines. The principal
steamship company in the archipelago is the Royal Packet (_Koninklyke
Paketvaart_) Company.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--See _Aardrijkskundig en statistisch Woordenboek van
Nederl. Indië_ (Amsterdam, 1869), to which P. J. Veth and other
specialists were contributors. A general survey of the people,
administration and resources of the Dutch colony is provided in
_Twentieth Century Impressions of Netherlands India_, ed. by Arnold
Wright (London, 1910). See also A. R. Wallace, _Malay Archipelago_
(London, 1869, and later editions, notably for zoological
distribution) and _Island Life_ (London, 1880, notably for
ornithology). H. O. Forbes, _A Naturalist's Wanderings in the Eastern
Archipelago_ (London, 1885); P. van der Lith, _Nederlandsch Oostindië_
(2nd ed., Leiden, 1893-1895); F. H. H. Guillemard, _Australasia_, vol.
ii., in _Stamford's Compendium_ (London, 1894); _Encyclopaedie van
Nederlandsch-Indië_ (the Hague, 1895-1904); _Guide à travers la
section des Indes néerlandaises_, Paris Exhibition (the Hague, 1900);
A. R. Colquhoun, _The Mastery of the Pacific_ (London, 1902); M.
Weber, _Der indo-australische Archipel und die Geschichte seiner
Tierwelt_ (Jena, 1902); G. Karsten and H. Schenck,
_Vegetationsbilder_, vol. ii. (Jena, 1903); J. van Bemmelen and G. B.
Hooyer, _Guide through Netherlands India_ (London, 1903); D. Bezemer,
_Nederlandsch Oost-Indië_ (the Hague, 1904); H. Blink, _Nederlandsch
Oost- en West-Indië, geographisch, ethnologisch, en economisch
beschreven_ (Leiden, 1904, sqq.). Among Dutch official publications
may be mentioned _Jaarcijfers door het Centraal Bureau voor de
Statistiek_; _Jaarboek van het Mijnwezen in Nederlandsch Oost-Indië_
(Amsterdam); _Koloniale-Economische Bijdragen_ (the Hague); _Koloniaal
Verslag_ (the Hague); _Regeerings-Almanak voor Nederlandsch-Indië_
(Batavia). A number of important periodicals (_Tijdschrift_) of
various institutions are issued at Batavia, &c. _Languages_: P. J.
Veth in _De Gids_ (1864); R. N. Cust, _Sketch of the Modern Languages
of the East Indies_ (London, 1878); and for bibliography, Boele van
Neusbroek, _De Beoefening der oostersche talen ..._ (Leiden, 1875).