NETHERLANDS INDIA.
As the Dutch have administered in what they call Netherlands India,
a colonial system quite different in its methods from the systems
adopted by other nations, I have thought it worth while to make some
inquiries concerning it.
The Malay archipelago, which might almost be described as a
continent cut up into islands, has furnished a farm on which several
nations have experimented in colonialism, but the Dutch, both in
length of occupancy and in the number of people subjected to their
rule, are easily first. The archipelago is more than four thousand
miles long from east to west, and if the Philippine Islands are
included, thirteen hundred miles wide. Some of the islands are
larger than European states; Borneo and New Guinea each have an
area greater than the British Isles. On the map the islands of
the archipelago look like stepping stones connecting Asia with
Australia, but some writers, arguing from the fauna and flora as
well as from the depths of the surrounding waters, contend that the
western islands are an extension of Asia and the eastern ones an
extension of Australia. Alfred Russell Wallace, for instance, points
out that the animals, birds and natural products of the two sections
differ so much as to suggest that one group is much older than the
other.
This archipelago is the home of one of the branches into which the
human family is divided, viz., the Malay or brown race. These people
are distinct in appearance, and in many of their characteristics,
from the yellow and black races as well as from the white race.
There are in some of the islands remnants of aboriginal tribes, but
the Malays from time immemorial have furnished the prevailing type.
They have shown themselves capable of continuous and systematic
labor where they have been subjected to coercion, or where a
sufficient inducement has been presented as a stimulus; but the
depressing influence of a continuous summer, added to the bounty of
the tropics, has naturally made them less industrious than those
who live in the temperate zone. The clothing required by the Malay
is insignificant in amount and value. The little children are bare
and seem to enjoy a shower as much as ducks do. In Sourabaya, the
second city in Java, we saw a group of them naked, sliding on their
stomachs on a marble floor of an open porch during a heavy rain.
This seemed a fairly satisfactory substitute for the ice ponds of
the north.
The adults, both men and women, wear a sarong (except when the men
content themselves with a breech cloth). The sarong, a simple strip
of cloth, is draped about the figure with all the fullness in front
and fastened in some mysterious way without the aid of buttons,
hooks or pins. This garment, if garment it may be called, gives
opportunity for the exercise of taste, and the range in price is
sufficient to permit of some extravagance in dress. The best native
sarongs are more expensive than silk, the cloth being overlaid with
wax, upon which the pattern is traced, and the dyes applied by hand.
The masses use a cheap cotton print manufactured in Europe. One of
the striking peculiarities of Javanese life is the adoption of the
sarong by the European women for morning wear. Ladies who appear
at dinner in full evening dress may be seen on the balconies and
streets in the morning hours clad in loose hanging sarongs and thin
dressing sacques, their bare feet encased in sandals. On the Dutch
boat upon which we left Batavia we saw posted notices designating
the hours during which the sarong could be worn, and giving
permission to men to wear a pajama-like outfit during the same hours.
[Illustration: A NATIVE.]
The Malay women wear no hats, but the men usually wear a turban, the
tying of which is a great perplexity to the foreigner.
The natives of the Malay Islands appear to be a mild mannered and
peaceful people, although fighting tribes have been encountered in
the mountain regions, the suppression of which has cost the Dutch
many lives and a large outlay of florins. In Sumatra there are
sections that have never been subdued.
The Chinaman is to be found throughout the archipelago; in fact, he
far outstrips all other foreign elements. The population of Java is
given as 28,747,000 in the government statistics, and of this total
277,000 are Chinese. The number of Europeans is given as 62,477,
and the number of Arabs at 18,000, while a little more than three
thousand come from other Asiatic countries. I was informed that the
62,000 described as Europeans included the half castes who number
more than 40,000, the number of real Europeans being about 20,000.
In the other islands controlled by Holland, the population is given
at a little more than five and a half millions, and the number of
Chinese at 260,000, while the European population is estimated
at 13,000, the Arabs at 9,000, and other Asiatics at 13,000. It
will be seen from these figures that the Chinese form the chief
foreign ingredient in Netherlands India, as they do in Borneo and
the Straits Settlements. In Java, where we had a chance to observe
them, we found that the Chinese monopolized the mercantile business
except where they were compelled to share it with Arabs and Indians.
We also heard of them as money lenders, the rate of interest being
generally usurious. It may be said to their credit, however, that
as Shylocks the Arabs can surpass them. The superiority of the Arab
in this respect has given rise to the saying among the natives
that the Chinaman leaves a native with nothing but a sarong while
an Arab strips him bare. Many Chinamen have grown rich and have
permanently identified themselves with the country, and of these
some have discarded the queue entirely while others have retained it
in a diminutive form, a little wisp of hair lengthened out with silk
thread and growing from a spot not much larger than a dollar.
Apropos of the Chinese agitation against our exclusion act, it
is interesting to know that the Chinese born in Java presented a
petition to the governor general a few years ago asking for the
restriction of the further immigration of Chinese coolies. The
petition was not granted, but the leader of the movement so aroused
the wrath of the coolies that they called upon him in a body and
pelted his house with mud.
In all of the Malay states the opium vice is turned to account
by the rulers. In some places the sale of opium is a government
monopoly, while in others it is farmed out to the highest bidder.
In North Borneo there is a district called Sarawak owned and ruled
by an Englishman who is known as Rajah Brooke. When we were passing
through Singapore, I noticed in a morning paper an advertisement
wherein the Sarawak government asked for bids for a three years'
lease of the "opium farm," "gambling farm," and "arrack farm"
(arrack is the native name for an intoxicating liquor). In all of
the archipelago the vices of the people seem to be as remunerative
to the government as their virtues, and I was reminded of the
Chinese official at Pekin who jokingly informed me that he had a
selfish reason for opposing the boycott of American goods, because
it would deprive him of American cigarettes, of which he was very
fond.
The Dutch traders followed the Portuguese into the East Indies,
and in time supplanted them. Holland then chartered the East India
Trading Company and Amsterdam became the spice center from which
all Europe drew its supplies. The Dutch Trading Company was manned
by a thrifty crew, and it was not long before they conceived of
monopolizing the world's spice market, and they accomplished this
by destroying groves and prohibiting competition by treaty with the
natives. They are also charged with destroying spice by the ton in
Amsterdam in order to maintain the price. One apologist for this
almost universally condemned practice of the Dutch, says:
"When the Dutch established their influence in these seas and
relieved the native princes from their Portuguese oppressors, they
saw that the easiest way to repay themselves would be to get this
spice trade into their own hands. For this purpose they adopted
the wise principle of concentrating the culture of these valuable
products in those spots of which they could have complete control.
To do this effectually, it was necessary to abolish the culture and
trade in all other places, which they succeeded in doing by treaty
with the native rulers. These agreed to have all the spice trees in
their possessions destroyed. They gave up large, though fluctuating,
revenues, but they gained in return a fixed subsidy, freedom from
the constant attacks and harsh oppression of the Portuguese, and
a continuance of their regal power and exclusive authority over
their own subjects, which has maintained in all the islands except
Ternate to this day. It is no doubt supposed by most Englishmen, who
have been accustomed to look upon this act of the Dutch with vague
horror, as something utterly unprincipled and barbarous, that the
native population suffered grievously by this destruction of such
valuable property. But it is certain that this is not the case."
He then proceeds to charge that the native sultans had a "rigid
monopoly" of the spice trade before the Dutch arrived, and that the
latter by prohibiting the cultivation of spices left the natives
more time for the production of food and other salable things, and
concludes: "I believe, therefore, that this abolition of the spice
trade in the Moluccas was actually beneficial to the inhabitants,
and that it was an act both wise in itself and morally and
politically justifiable."
[Illustration: A GROUP OF JAVANESE]
It will be noticed that in a very brief space he employs the
arguments mainly relied upon to support monopoly wherever it has
appeared, and also for colonialism in its worst forms. In the first
place, the Dutch had to "repay themselves" for having "relieved the
native princes from their Portuguese oppressors"--that is, they had
to collect pay for their philanthropy; second, as the sultans were
doing the same thing, the Dutch might as well do it--that is, the
very familiar argument, "If we don't do it, somebody else will;" and
third, it was a good thing for the natives--it is never difficult
to prove this to the man who profits by the system. But nothing
is said as to the effect of the monopoly upon consumers of spices
throughout the world. It does not seem to occur to the writer above
quoted (Wallace) that they are to be considered. The view point from
which he looks at the whole matter can be judged from his admonition
to the British that they must not be too much "afraid of the cry of
despotism and slavery" if they are to improve their "rude subjects"
and raise them up toward their own level.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Dutch East India
Company became involved and turned its possessions over to the crown
of Holland, since which time Netherlands India has been a crown
colony. There was a brief interim of British rule (1811 to 1816),
but at the close of the Napoleonic wars the Dutch regained their
possessions by treaty, and the English congratulated themselves that
they had been relieved of a burden.
The Dutch have governed Java through the natives, a resident
acting as "elder brother" to the Javanese ruler. While the native
government has not been disturbed, and while the native ruler is
protected from rival claimants, he is really a prisoner in his own
castle, and can not leave the premises without permission. However,
as these native rulers receive good salaries and are allowed to
exact homage from their subjects, they seem quite content with their
lot, and the people, naturally docile, yield obedience to the chiefs
of their own race.
The culture system, aside from the indirect method of ruling, is
the distinguishing feature of Dutch colonialism as it existed until
recent years. The East India Company followed the practice of the
native princes and collected a land tax or rent of one-fifth the
crop, and required in addition the labor of all able-bodied males
for one day in five. During the five years of British rule, forced
labor was abolished and a land tax substituted for the one-fifth
rent, while a separate property system was encouraged. As soon as
the Dutch resumed control, they went back to their old régime except
that they demanded one day's labor in seven instead of one day in
five. By regulating the crops to be planted, by collecting the fifth
of the produce of the land and by compelling the peasants to plant
one-fifth of the village land in crops to be sold to the government
at a fixed price far below the market price, the government of
Holland derived large revenues from its India possessions. It has
been estimated that in fifty years a sum exceeding three hundred
million dollars was exacted from the natives in forced labor and in
the sale of produce below the market price. As might be expected,
the greed which manifested itself in the conduct of the government
aroused increasing criticism, and the authorities were at last
compelled to change their methods.
Those who travel through Java are unanimous in their praise of the
beautiful roads and the substantial bridges that span the streams:
they admire the commodious plantation homes, the splendid tea and
coffee farms and the well built and well kept cities, and they
are inclined to excuse the means employed by the foreigners in
the development of the islands. It must be remembered, however,
that the rice fields, which are most attractive, existed before
the Europeans set foot upon the soil and that the spices, instead
of being introduced by the Dutch, were the products which first
attracted their attention. The Dutch have charged a high price
for the services rendered, and have given little attention to the
intellectual and moral improvement of the people. Being surprised
that the Javanese had a well developed system of agriculture and
irrigation before the Europeans arrived, I asked an intelligent
Hollander: "What, then, have the Dutch taught the Javanese?" and he
replied laughingly, "We have taught them to pay us their money."
The fact that the culture system has, after full discussion, been
abandoned is a sufficient condemnation of it, and the fact that
reforms are being introduced is a confession that they were needed.
I had the pleasure of meeting the present governor, General Van
Heutsz, and found him interested in enlarging the educational
system, and in lightening the burdens upon the people. He has
already reduced the labor requirement one half, so that the natives
now give one day in fourteen to the government instead of one day
in seven.
The governor of Netherlands India receives the same salary as our
president, and the resident receives a salary which, including
allowances, amounts to nearly ten thousand dollars. The expenses
of the colonial government are paid by the natives and by the
foreigners residing there, but the government of Holland no longer
draws an income from the islands. Her advantages are at present
indirect ones and consist, first of profits earned by her citizens
in trade with the islands; second, of rents collected by her
citizens from plantations; and third, of salaries drawn by her
citizens for civil or military service in the islands.
Formerly land was sold to foreigners, but for a great many years it
has been the policy of the government to sell no land whatever to
either Europeans or Asiatics, but to lease it for seventy-five years
or less. I was surprised to find that the natives own considerably
more than twice as much as foreigners hold under lease or deed, and
that land, the product of which must be sold to the government at a
fixed price, has been reduced to 300,000 acres.
One of the beneficent reforms about to be inaugurated is the
establishment of government pawnshops, which will loan money to
the people at a low rate of interest, and thus rescue them from
the extortion which has been practiced upon them. The government
has already established savings banks in which the deposits are
constantly increasing.
There is a growing demand in Java for a greater recognition of the
people in government, and this demand is being yielded to in the
cities. The colonial authorities have encouraged the soldiers to
marry native women, these marriages terminating when the soldiers
return to Europe. As a result, there is a half caste element which
has been given better educational advantages than are accorded to
the natives. This element considers itself as native, although
counted in the census as European, and is already organizing with a
view of securing more civil liberty.
Whatever may be said of Dutch colonialism in the past, a new era is
dawning, and the present rulers recognize that their administration
must be measured by the improvement in the people rather than by the
profits drained from the land by Europeans.