ISLAND OF JAVA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 156, 30 June 1914, Page 10

ISLAND OF JAVA.

..;* - "■-■'"■', '~■■■:, ♦.'■ ■'.■■'■"'''■'■ •■■■ -.; "■' I'm ' INTERESTING COUNTRY. -IMPRESSIONS OF A VISITOR;, r Stes attractions and peculiarities of Java ; wer? dealt with briefly by Dr.- A. Brewis, of ; in the course'.of an inter-, -■'view .wit!* a fillip representative yesterday. Tht ■Brewio.has jsst-returned from a visit to Java and Australia, and is at present staying in Auckland. "Java is : a most marvellous country,", Dr, ißrowis. "Like many "other people, I tad.looked upon it as a portion'' of the uncivilised world, but my trip has made me realise that it is a highly-pro- ; ductive Island with an intelligent population of about 30,000,000 people.. Java is \ii tiled by the Dutch, and, although the v officials, are kind -the natives, they are • exceedingly firm. Nominally the people .. are ruled by their ' chiefs, but not an order is given without the- consent of the ; Patch authorities. , "/. The Office of.Sultan.

"There are .native regents, a so-called sultan and a susam, or high priest. The saltan,.! might mention, is in receipt of £16,000 per year. Yes, £16,000, and it's cot a penny too .much, for ho has about six hundred wives to keep and is the father of some oncljundred and sixty-four 1 children, of whom about one hundred ( have died. The princes, by the way, are . apt to die rather suddenly in Java, and the last victim was the Crown Prince. How they decide who is the Crown Prince I don't quite know. "The sultan's position is really rather farcical. 'He lives in what might well be called an 'inner city,' which is said to contain some 16,000 adherents, many of them relatives of the sultan. When I saw him he was surrounded by his native bodyguard of old men, armed with ancient guns of the 1864 type, and he also has a bodyguard of women, all of whom are elderly .individuals who seem to win .their way to' '"the position through their lack of good looks. For every halfdozen or 60 ' natives of the bodyguard there is a .Dutch soldier who, although nominally a member of the Sultan's guard of honour, is really there as a spy. All laws and orders are decided by the Dutch authorities, and the Sultan is not even allowed to leave his own grounds without tho permission of the authorities., Still, he's much better off in that puSition with his £16,000 per year than if tEe'Dutch were not in charge. A Beautiful Bland. "The island is very beautiful. One night I was sitting in the hotel drawingroom, in the midst of a big party, and ventured the opinion that Java was the most beautiful land in the world. But then an Englishwoman who has visited practically every country in the world broke in to remark that thcro was one country more beautiful, and that country was New Zealand. _ I,agree with her, but nevertheless Java is a most attractive vpot. There are no less than 70 more or lees active volcanoes, and almost anything, from an English rose to tho rarest tropical plant, can be grown in the different altitude* " From a commercial point of view Java is highly developed, for rice, coffee, cocoa, india-rubber, sugar-cane tea, and all kinds ; of fruity, aw v grown. Java would be an ' ideal place'for' the labour agitator/ for : the work, for about.Bd per day, .and, I iffd |iven 'to understand, can live on even<s;A,o?By," , ■ f*wj;'' - -■ '- ■