WAR THAT HAS LASTED OVER THIRTY YEARS.

Northland Age, Volume 3, Issue 20, 18 December 1906, Page 2

WAR THAT HAS LASTED OVER THIRTY YEARS.

It may not t>e goneraliy known (that the little kingdom ot Holland to still engaged in a war which was feegun M2 years ago. In IS7H Hoi- 1 [land declared war against tho .Sultan I of Achin. The steps leading up to their action are of considerable in- I Jtereet. For five years during the Na- ' poleonic wars, from 1811, a good portion of Insulinde caine under British ‘rule. In 381(5, because say some, England has not properly realized its , value, il has given back to the Netherlands, with a provision, however, I in respect to Sumatra, ratified by ! subsequent treaties and conventions, 1 open and secret, that the Dutch wore not to cross the borders of the independent territories in tho far north corner of tho island. But for this ex- I plicit provision, Achin, • no doubt, 1 would have fallen to tho Dutch hall a century earlier. It i 9 easier to steal a country than a mill, as Max I Havelaas said of this very matter, j On the other hand England’s care | for the independence of the Achinuse was not disinterested. The provision |

embodying it, however, was removed in the convention of 1871, and within a few months Holland and Achin

were at loggerheads, and have been ever since. Tho provocations to war alleged by the Dutch were the depredations of the Achin pirates. It is not for us to decide the pretext. When in 1872, matters came to a crisis between the Sultan and the Netherlands, oilers were made to the latter by English Government to mediate with a view to getting Achin to agree to the Dutch terms. It has been stated I recently that a peaceful settlement thus in sight was thwarted by the German Government, who represented i that such British interference m : ght (justify intervention on the part of other Powers, which Germany could not allow. By those who believe that pan-Germanism is an imminent danger to England this is added to the proof of its sinister designs. Be 'that as it may, the wisdom of the expedition of 1873 has been doubted by, many people In Holland itself ; but it was easy for them to be knowing after the event, for the conquest of Achin has been notoriously an unfortunate enterprise for the DUtch. Entered upon with a light heart, it was not followed up with vigour, and though the Sultanate fell in.. 1874, the country has never really been brought under subjection. Tho climate in Sumatra is most unhealthy for Europeans. Lying

under the equator, the fierce rays of a blistering sup are onlyunade more - distressing by tho frequent torrential rains. The interior of the country, especially invAphin, is a tropical district. Here the luxuriance of East Indian vegetation runs riot in a labyrinth of morasses and undergrowth. There are forts throughout the Achinese territory, and for the purpose of warfare the Achinese have divided their Sultanate into small States. Tho northern part' of Sumatra ia probably the worst in the world for a foreign army- to invade. It is full of pitfalls and there are tremendous river beds. Only the native knows the country, and it is small wonder the Dutch have been unsuccessful, and have made little headway in their

campaign. 4 Following a costly attack on the "town of Achin in April. 1873, the 1/utch troops made another attempt in June, tho same year, and after numerquj# sanguinary attacks, in which they lost heavily, they succeeded In capturing the Grand Mosque and the citadel. Subsequently they reduced the whole town. In December 1873, an expedition was sent out from Holland to complete the work of subjection. For five years a constant war was continued, at the end of which time the natives had retired from the coast towns. General Karel van der Hayden was In command, and by the sternest measure* he apparently had accomplished the impos-

sible. The coast was cleared of Achinese not a native appeared to disturb the j peacefullness of the towns now in j possession of the Dutch, consequently there was great joy in Holland. The ■ general was re-called, feted, and com- | polled to listen to the most complimentary speeches. Then, considering the time was ripe, a civil Governor was sent out to take over the government of Sumatra, and military rule was withdrawn. I COST HOLLAND £a0,0t0.600. 1 But the Dutch reckoned without their host. Tho Achineae wore only )preparing for another conflict. The Sultan was by no means subdued. Seeing stern military power abandoned, the artless Achinese mind inter-

preted the charge as a sign of weakness, and onfc fine day a large oarty of “conquered” Achinese ambushed and massacred a Dutch command 1 which had carelessly wandered into the interior. More troops were sent out from the Netherlands. Every week the Dutch Batavian steamship takes out from 50 to 60 recruits for the Achinese War, and they now have a paying in Holland that “an Achin soldier never, comes back.” While this is not striotly true, it is a fair commentary on f tb* stats of affairs. The Dutch colon'•1 records show that during the last *SO years from 10,000 to 12,000 soldiers and native allies have lost thoic livsa either in battle or from disease. XJp to the present the conflict has cost Holland about £20,000,000, GENERALS DEFEATED AND , HUMILIATED. Nearly every general sent auf to take command returns to Europe defeated and humiliated. Holland is compelled to keep in her East Indian possessions an army of about 40,000 men. Most of these are mercenaries, and but for the trouble in Achin half of the force would be ample for keeping order. The Achinese are good fighters, and being Moslems, are fearless in battle. Death under these circumstances they are told is but a translation from* this world into Paradise. Naturally they are fanatics, and carry on a guerilla warfare. Aside from these secret attacks, the Achinese fight fairly, and when they capture Dutch soldiers treat them humanly and ussend them back to their own camp tinder escort. A WAB OF EXTERMINATION. Still the war continues. The Achi-

they were thirty years ago. In' addition to the army constantly kept in the Dutch East Indies, the Netherlands Oovermnent maintains a special fleet of warships to patrol the Achin coasts. Piracy has, indeed, been relegated by the Achinese to the limbo of lost arts, but ' independence is still theirs. The war in Achin is no longer a war of conquest ; it is a war of extermination.

For 140 years the Portuguese struggled to overthrow the Sultan of Achin, but those were the days of splendour and power of the Sultanate. The Sultan carried the war into Malacca, and although he accompanied an armada of 500 ships, carrying 00,000 warriors, to the neighbouring state, the Dons were able to defeat the Moslem chieftain in Malacca. In his own strongholds in Achin they were not so successful, and retired after an intermittent warfare lasting close on a century. In the days of its magnificence the Court of Achin was one of the most opulent and splendid in the gorgeous East. For wealth, the Sultan had not only as much gold as a monarch could desire, but more than 900 elephants which were kept only for show on ceremonial occasions. The King oi Siam might have been proud to call the SuStan of Achfti cousin ; the greatest rajah of India could not marshal so many stately pachyderms bedecked with the rarest of costly fabrics and glittering with golden embroideries. Tho last of the Portuguese had departed 100 years before the advance party of the Dutch made its appearance.—“ Weekly Budget.. 1