NATIVES OWN IT

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 8, 9 July 1935, Page 7

NATIVES OWN IT

THE LAND OF JAVA |

A BROAD DUTCH VIEW

Facts about the Netherland East Indies', comprising in the main the islands of Java, Borneo, and Sumatra, were related to the members of the New Zealand Club at its luncheon yesterday afternoon by Professor J. N. Van Der Ley, K.N.L., W.E.4, who is chief of the Government power and electrical service these, and has been there for 25 years. After stressing the necessity and advantage of a closer co-operation between New Zealand and the Netherlands East Indies, which already had a distant association by reason of the early visits to jthese shores of Abel Tasman and Van Diemen, Professor Van Der Ley said that Java was only one of a group bf islands, and a rather small one, about the size of the North Island of New Zealand. Borneo and Sumatra were bigger but were not developed a» jnuch as was Java, whose history was known for 2000 years back. The Hindus came to Java before r ,the time *bf Christ, and their stay of many centuries had left its mark. Up to about 1400 the people were all Hindus or Buddhists, but then the Mohammedans came and now every native was of that religion. They were very good Mohammedans, but the whole of the culture and daily life of the nationwas founded on the Hindu influence. In about 1500 the Dutch arrived, and until the1 beginning of 1800 their form of Government was by a company. To this day the natives still referred to the Government as "the company." There were 42,000,000 natives, three million Chinese and others, and between 250,000 and 300,000 whites and half-castes in the country, continued the professor. Half-castes were regarded as Europeans, which was a good thing, as they remained always there .as the backbone of .the country; and were very loyal to the Government. SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT. A Governor-General appointed by the Queen was at the head of the Government, and the country had had a Parliament since 1919. The budget was decided upon by the Holland Parliament, the East Indies Parliament acting in an advisory capacity, thus removing the dangers of sudden decisions and political interference. Parliament did its business in a very pleasant fashion, said the speaker, and he added that "the language you hear there compares very well with the language you hear in other Parliaments of the world." There was a Council, and the executive part of the Government was spread over eight departments. Dutchmen were at the head of the administrative system, with natives filling the lower positions, while there were a few native rulers who were really native princes with four or five million people under their charge. The ownership of land was entirely with the natives, as no white man could possess "any more than a few acres on which to build a house. The view was taken that the country belonged to the native population, and large tracts formerly owned- by the Dutch had been bought back from their owners by the Government and returned to the natives. The natives' standard of living was low because they needed no more clothes than were necessary and were, modest with their meals. A man could live on a halfpenny a day. Rice was the main produce of Java, said Professor Van Der Ley, and for its growth an elaborate system of irrigation was necessary. Before the depression there were about 200 sugar factories operating, but now they had been reduced to 60. The outlook for them was not bright, as sugar could now be made anywhere from beet. Things were very much better, with those engaged in rubber production, and in the tea and coffee trades. LANGUAGES AND EDUCATION. There were a .number of different languages, varying from most complicated ones to the fairly simple Malay, in which a vocabulary of 200 words was sufficient. The education system for the white children was the same as it was in Holland, for unlike Englishmen in foreign countries, who for the most part sent their children Home to be educated, the Dutchmen had' their families educated in Java. When they went home on furlough the children were able to make the change to schools in Holland without difficulty. In Java the natives had their, own schools. The European standard of living also compared very well with that of Holland, said the Professor, but the climate was trying because the air _was saturated with water. In the coastal regions the temperature was about 95 by day and about 80 by night, but where the professor lived in the mounV tains it was about 84 and 70 respectively. There was no winter as we knew it, the only difference in the seasons being that half the year was dry and half was wet. The mornings were always fine, but in the wet season it rained for hours in the afternoons, there being an average fall of 40 or 50 inches a month. There were a number of active volcanoes in Java, whose thermal regions were similar to New Zealand's except that there were no geysers. The; vegetation was rich and the professor was astonished to find in some parts of the North Island vegetation almost exactly the same as that found in the mountains of Java. Tigers, snakes, and crocodiles frequented the jungles of Java, but because 97 per cent, of, the sodl was under cultivation only the higher regions were still in jungle. Crocodiles, however, were dangerous in the rivers, where much bathing was done. The natives showed great cleverness in handiwork, such as carving wood and shaping brass, added the professor.

Mr. A. Leigh Hunt presided over the luncheon, and he presented the guest of honour with a silver kiwi on a greenstone base.