ASIATIC HOLLAND.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7238, 26 October 1901, Page 2

ASIATIC HOLLAND.

THE BRITISH COLONIAL. EMPIRE. / DTJTOH LORDS AND THEIR JAVANESS SUBJECTS. Frank G. Carpenter, the Anurican travelling correspondent, writing to the New Orleans "Times-Democrat," from Buitenzorg, Java, gives the following entertaining description of the Dutch methods of government in, the Dutch Indies: — I spent an hour here this morning with. General W. Rooseboom, the ruler of the Dutch Indies. He has been, a soldier of high distinction in the Dutch Army, and it is only a year or so ago that he was sent here to be Governor-General of the vast posbcsaiotts which Holland own* in this part of the world. The words GovernorGtneral give but a small idea of the extent of his power. He is in reality a king, and be has more power over !bis subjects than any ruler of Europe. He rules more than 34,000,000 people, scattered over a territory more than three times as great as Germany or France, and greater than any country in Europe, except Russia. He has. thousands of officials under him j his standing army is more than, half asJ large as cur own, and: he has for years I been carrying on a war with some of the J tribes of Sumatra as ssrious as bur wax with fhe Filipinos. A CHAT WITH THE GOVERNORGENERAL. The Governor-General lives in. great state h«re in Java. He is allowed. 60,000d0l * year for entertaining, and his annual salary is larger than that of our President. Hia palace is as big as the White House, and it is situated in a great .park, a part of which contains the botanical gardens, said to be by far the finest in th» whole world. It was in the palace that I met his Excellency. The audience was Held in the morning, but notwithstanding this, '% hadi to go in .full dress and in es muck.' state as though to visit a king. ■ I was'-'iftHi •*$ the palace d'ow by a©W£$TS 'a-nd^tyffieial^ in uniform, and his Excellency's secretaries passed me {torn one to another until I was at last ushered into the audience-room of the Governor. His Excellency addressed ma in English, and we chatted together for some time about the Dutch Colonial Empire and how matters are handled, in Java,. Tie 'question of the Philippines came up, ana he intimated that "we had a big job on our hands, but suggested' that we> might learn something from Holland's experience hi handling the people. . He approved of the Dutch methods of treating the natives, and he says it is the only one by wihichi they can be made contented and happy. Upon leaving he gave me notes to .sonnet of bis officials, and- since then has had, Jpr* warded me a general letter to the n^aent Governors of the Various pre.vinces,\|&f3: th« officers cf the military and: others jin all payts of the islands, directing thenV to'axd me in my investigations in every possible way. THE CIVIL SERVICE OF JAVA. "Tie civil service of the Dutch East Indies is the most remarkablo of the world. There is no colony where tihe officials are so well educated! ami of suck a high standing i» every respect. The system is based upcm the native government, the- native nobles and chiefs ruEng the people by their own laws, with the Dutch as advisers behind them. The native rulers are merely the tools in the hands of the Dutch; they are the strings which, the latter pull to influence the people. In Java there axe twenty-two provinces or residences. Each of these has its native Governor, assisted by a Dutch resident, who is known as Ihii elder brother. The elder brother lives in fine state. He has a magncficent 'house and a fund, for ■entertaining, and his salary is 6000diol a year. The native chief is also paid a salary and an allowance. .Under these resident®, tihere are assistant residents, con-, troleuis and clerks, all of whom have tihedr ■native suboa'djnaties or younger brothers. The (native rulers are of . the nobility, and tie officials all' come from the best families. The common- people, therefore," feel that they are ruled' by the Javanese nobles, and the majority of them do not know that the foreigners are. in actual control. Somewhat the sanie system prevails in t*he Dutch East Indies outside Java, although some of the island*} inhabited by savages, have fco- be held with a firmer rein. ... THE DUTCH AND THE NATIVES. The native officials are also well educated. There are schools for fluent in> all parts of i ; he country, and the ihigher class natives often, speak Dutch, French and En,* glish as wej'l as the Javanese languages. They am 'treated just- like the Europeans, and the native chief's wife has the same standing as the wife of the resident Governor. The resident and chief sit together at State dinners, and' they are treated aße«itals. ■Jlho salaries paid to the native 'C&efs'.vaiy according to tne province asd the^tat&-re-quired. Some native <Meia have, houses built for th«m at a oosfc of from 30,00Qd0l to 40,C00d0l apiece, and they receive salaries of 400dol a month. . . ♦ I am told that the Dutch believe thai they can easily control the natives if they can control the chiefs, bub at the same time they are careful to let the chiefs know thaifc they themselves are the rulers. They make it a principle to be honest witli tihe natives and' to protect them in tieir rights. There are courts everywhere held by the Dutch officials, and ira quarrels between natives and European* the natives are given the benefit of the doubt. I am told that it will be much safer for me to strike a Euf^en'n '|iere. than a native, for tfce native : will be sure to land mo in prison.'. A.* 1 STRICT ACCOUNTS AND TAXES. | At the same time the Government ;s very strict in keeping its accounts. Taxes are" (honestly levied and; musk be !ione?lly paid. Every village and every licuee in the whole island is numbered, and. every pieca of ground pays its lax. Every horso mud every cert pays a lax. The Government has its .'tax inspectors, who see that everything" is properly collected. It has its accountants who go through the offices of the provinces examining the books, the cash and the manner of doing business. There- is a law for everything, and the bookkeeping is enormous. There are irrigation officials, road-making officials, civil engineers and all the machinery of a vast Government. THE DUTCH AS SUPERIOR BEINGS. The Dutch endeavour to impress upon the natives that they belong to a higher order of creation than "the Javanese. They insist) that all the Dutch officials shall be treated with the same respect shown the noblest of the Javanese chiefs. This I is very evident in out-of-the-way districts.I have travelled for miles through the country wh*re every man, woman and child I met would squa* down on the ground and fold his hands in an attitude of prayev until I passed. I have met Javanese on horseback, myself riding at { tlie same time, and the Javanese as soon as he suw me would jump down from hie horse in order that lie might not be on tho same level as myself when I passed by. I have had women with great bundles on -their backs lift them down and seat themselves on their heels, putting their hands together, in my honour, and I believe 'that, the rank of superior and inferior is nowhere greater than here. According to the old customs of Java, which is till prevail, those cf lower rank must nob sit abova those of higher rank. There are several native sultans in central Ju>va, and when the resident governors were first chosen -to nils with them there was quite a discussion as to whether the •ultan should not be a li<ttle higher than his elder broiher. The Dutch insisted on a-bsoluie equality, but it is said that for a rime the sultan had silver dollars nailed to tho legs of his chair in order that he

' might be a trifle ihigher up t&an- the Dutch resident when the two eat together. SERVANTS AND MASTERS. I have a native servant, a swell Javanese, who speaks broken Englidh and who acts for me both as boy and as interpreter. He whitens my shoes and my helmet, and sleeps in front of my door at night. He never smokes a cigarette wh«n I ami present^ and he never comes before me without sus turban. It is etiquette here for the -servant to keep his bead covered, and it would; be quite as impolite for Simo, .my boy, to come in without His turban as it would be 1 for your hired man to keep ihis hat on, Wiben he enters your parlour; ' Alnatiye should not smoke in the. presence of. a EmSopean, and; if he is smoking on the street he should take the cigarette out of. his mouth and hold! it> behind him whila Europeans, pass. The Dutpb official never requests fc« servants "to do things, Ire "comsjsKbds them. The inferior i« expected to IMS uugh; Javanese in speaking to Jws superior, and the superior speaks low Javanese ia speaking -to him. A Javanese should pot t^eak in Dutch, to a European without'th* Euroßfcftn ;- especially requests »».. : '"/ '. | Such treatment «eeros xyfc^ous to | Americans, among wibom iH are equal. j The Dutch say that it is a* ineces^ty' in j tibia part of the world, and that ft ia i only by means of upholding the , old cps^nas that thsy can maintain the lespexst ot .the people. One of the .»<&£«s «f Hkp pko*ers, a Dutch baron, who i*rt ciha^e oi *. property wortib severjijl millions, awt ...•*»«» employe bumiwdis 6i .Botives, t*H« v m« l^iftt the peepl* -do ntft loo fc 0^ «ieli actions as id^S»*ng- Ti »7 4° ifc •• * Jna *' ter of politeawss and respect to their • superiors. The- customs have: prevajgd for. generations, and the employer ; who does not. insist upon thm^wiJl **&.&** oaste wth his people. Tb«y . wiU ,Mk him an ign<ww* boor «»d he can do wtih. imgwith tSieni. ■ In *he native States the servility -of 3j» cwnrnow people to- their native gmwinora is go great that one would faffdiy belwva it if he did nob «acperje»cer »■!> himeell ; 1 Jtare seen- ponces Usmg iihe feet optiufo • fajijtie&i 7 and crawling along t» tijepk oo %W : ond at <h» tone I war* ti*(Hi' sand' orficiaJe squatting down or th^y ifieia dn ihonour of one native ohief. "-' '..- EVERY CLERK. A SCHOLAB. ;' I have gyoken c£ the education of .\th« Dutch officials, bub I; almost despair, of making you understand .hjow w^L educated they are. Every -clerk here a«- a coMege graduate. The Dutch have a t»i- ' verigty at Delft-, in Holland, for the 'education of their colonial officials. Ejery deck has to be a graduate of,' ithe .fwfio schools and also of &jm iHiivenity, wlsere ih^ takes a. special course to fit bynseif foe tit?! .HfSppisgi, G&cvicQ. - He must be. Bible to sp^Jc'F^ench, Germao and EnglMi and at Jteast; :) iwo;ciof the native languages of njaya, x^ of-, which must be *he Malay. ii|^aa|!to^f«r langtiages spoken in Java, buß'tJiß^ASalay da in common use ewaywhere.. Tibe (higier officials and- tbos© who act as judges of any of tne cowpt« must be able to speak three language*, - and must also be graduates in Dutch l&tr, as w«ll as thoroughly posted on the native laws, customs and religions of Java. The character of the clerks is carefully looked after, and) as a rule oniy gentlemen aw olnxseax. ..." THE SERVICE IN JAVA. .■■■." • "Aftet- graduation the would-be Gonrern» •ment clisdk is ipeipifc out bere on. trial- H* must pass an examination for ajspiraait controleur, and, if sucoessful, is asagned as an assjstanic to a cont-roleur or minor official of one of the provinces. He now receives about 80dpi a month and! a house, but he is as yet only on ppofeatcob, and he mus(i serve several years before he can be examined for the position of oontrdleur of the second class. If he pagses this examination he receives 120dol a monta .and later on gets to be controleur of tn« first class, with a better !frousg andfijigjher salary. If Ihe proves his efficiency' here he possibly becomes an assistant resident and then a sresidient, witih a palace an 4 6000dx>l a year. • •• • ' The duties of the offidala are by mo means light. The aspirant confcrolein* goes about with native officials to superintend the roads, to collect the census, examine the rice fields and' other crops and! 'to do all sorts of- ether dlerical work. Hie positioa is that of a clerk or private secretary,- and he is a sort of clerk of all wotk. -The controleurs are the police officials. They rule through the natives, but are responsible for the good, conduct of the diistriot. The assistant residents eit with the native chiefs and priests and act as judges, and the residents are little kings who govern their provinces, telling the native Governors what to do and "'feorw to do it. ■•- PENSIONS FOR OFFICIALS. The Dutch treat their cojonial cierka very well. At the end of every fen yeaxa ea<;h- clerk gets two years' vacation, with •hajf pay or 'one year with full pay, *and ■at- tb« r svmo 'tJiOie » trip to Europe with bis family on passage money paid by the Government. He has his Government, doctors, and if they say hs is not well he ia allowed sick leave and a trip to Europe, and at the close of twenty >fiy« years' service he. is retired, on a pension and sent home at Government expense. The sion, however, is , only one-third Ihis salary, and on this account many clerks prefer to stay. The officials are not- allowed to engage in business' in Java while, in offioe, although many settle there after, retiring. COUIyD HE#P US IN TSLE PHILIPPINKS.. :•■ ..-.: ........ The result is that there are to-day hundreds of retired Dutch officials who, have had to do with all sorts -of tie. colonial wotk of. xhis counti7 who mighty be. emJJAiyea^ylour Government to aid us ia handling the Phjlippines. They hflive. been connected with the irrigation . department, the departments of roads and, of civjl engingering, as well as with forestry ..and all sorts of plantations, and their experience would undoubtedly be of g^eajfc, value lons. It is questionable whether Uncle Sam t should not establish a college for educating his colonial clerks, or lay out a course of study which might be carried on in other colleges to fit clerks for our foreign service. Every American official in the Philippines should understand the principal languages used in the islands, the customs of the people aiwi their laws, and at the same time be well educated in other respects. We should have a corps of civil engineers and; practical agriculturists to carry on tibe work, and Government supervision should be. applied to all great undertakings. We own threefourths of the lands, and nearly, all the great forests, and we require the best talent 1 and best advice to" manage them, properly. HOW THE DUTCH £OT JAVA. The story of Java and how the Dutch have made it the most beautiful colony of the world is full of interest. They landed here just about a hundred years after Columbus discovered America and built a fort at. Batavia in 1610. The first settlements were made by the Dutch- East Indja Company, somewhat like the JfritiskliySitt Company that first controlled India, . Xk* Dutch East India Company handled the colony for about 200 years, and handled it badly. It was its policy. to sjjueeao the natives for all t«hey -were worth. It made the trade in spices', opium and pepper monopolies belonging to the company, and the natives were Kept out of dealing dn-these articles. Trade with otter nations was nob encouraged, and the result was tha* at the close of its rule, in, 1798, the company was 45,000,000d0l in debt. ' Then the Dutch Government took poe- : session of the islands and sent on its own officials, and among them one Marshall Daendels, as Governor. Daendels studied the system of land tenure which prevailed among the natives, and originated the culture system, which was afterward completed by General Van den." Bosch. Prior to this the lands of each Kingdom off

. State belonged absolutely to the local princes, and were occupied only by their consent. The King or Prince allotted the lands' to the people, and each holder paid him a portion of his crops, about onethirtieth being set aside for the. priests. In addition to this the people gave a day ox a day and a half every week to their rulers. Daendels took this labour and applied it to the building of roads. He set the natives to work all over the island, and as a result constructed in a tropical country what i 3 by far the best system of roads in the World. You can nde all over Java to-day in a rubber-tyred yehicle and not injure the machine. The roads are shaded with enormous trees, and in places you go for miles and miles through gigantic arbours. The roads axe perfectly drained. They have bridges of stone and culverts ; and their walls are so cut by drainage gutters that they dry off ■within a few iwuvs after tire heaviest of tropical rains. THE CULTURE SYSTEM. . By the culture . system .the Dutch Go.vernment furnished Europeans with money for factories on easy payments, and aided them in establishing large businesses all over, the . island. They arranged it so that they could have a large amount of this free native labour, and. to a certain , " extent ' gave them forced labour . for running their work. Each European who could give, the proper security and relerences could, get 45,000dbl on twelve years' time without interest. He had no payment whatever to make until the third year/ and after this was to pay one-tenth of the principal every year until all was paid. With the money he was required to put up buildings and furnish machinery, the plans or the same to be approved by the Government, and he was supplied with free native labour for two yeare. At the same time the Government applied the native land system to furnish the raw materials needed for the factories. The people were required to plant one-fifth «f their land in the crop needed, and received a certain remission of taxes in lieu of the same. Some wages were paid, and on the whole the system was one which improved the condition of "the people. It \ certainly improved the . revenues.- ,of the colony, tor alter the cuiji^e. 'sysfjeni - f was founded they steadily rose from £2,000,000 until they reached the annual amount of almost £10,000,000. The colony soon paid of! its debts to Holland. Its imports were tripled, and the annual exports jumped from 10,000,000d0l to 40,000,000. Crime diminished to such an . extent that the Courts sat only one month in th& year, asid within. twenty.five years the population of Java, was changed from . one of 6000 paupers to one of 11,000,000 rich peasants, wflo paid a Government revenue of 45,000,000a0l a year. This system continued in force until 1871, or for almost- fifty years, during which; time it •paid Holland a surplus of 280,000,000d01. Since then I am told that the' cbuntry - has failed to pay its expenses, 'and that this is its condition to-day. The system of forced labour has been alnxost' stopped, . and mvaC of the businesses 'are' in the hands of private parties. Taxes are. generally paid in money rather than labuor, «s formerly, and for the last five years the annual deficit has been from 3,0U0,000d0l to 6 f ooo,ooodolbr.more. . t _, . At the same time the population has steadily increased. Ifc was 17,000,000 in 1872, and now in 1901 it is more than 25,000,000. This increase shows that the country cannot but be prosperous, and, as I have said, the peasants everywhere seem to be well-to-do in comparison with people of the. same, kind in India, Siam, China and the Philippine Islands. 1