Abstract
From the contents of the previous chapter, the relation between East Indian society and East Indian state organisation in the Dutch East Indies must be sufficiently clear. This relation is a consequence of the social and economic structure of indigenous society and of the organisation and functioning in groups of the various racial sections of the population which will one day form East Indian society. As long as in Indonesian life real social co-operation is weak even in the villages, and only very small burdens can be entrusted to a local patriotism that covers a somewhat larger territory, as long also as inside East Indian society the great indigenous, Western and other non-indigenous groups of the population, though loosely linked, are not yet far enough advanced to welcome a more intimate contact, so long a powerful and commanding state organisation will be indispensable. Otherwise, these various elements, out of touch with each other and fragmentary, which could so easily fall back into conflict and hostile exclusiveness, will never be swayed by the idea and the will to unity.
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References
Van Vollenhoven (“Kol. Tijdschr” March 1929, p. 118) would prefer, on this and on other grounds, to break with the old classification.
Cf. H. Westra: Ned. Indisch Provinciaal Recht, 1929, p. 57 sqq. Also Kleintjes, II, p. 135; Van Vollenhoven in the “Verslagen en mededeelingen der Koninklijke Academie van Wetenschappen, afdeeling letterkunde”, 4th series, XI, p. 221.
S. Ritsema van Eck: Koloniaal-Staatkundige Studies, 1912–1918; (1919).
Kleintjes: Staatsinstellingen van Ned.-Indië, II, p. 2; Encyclopaedia, Art. “De-centralisatie”, p. 574.
Stbl. 1905, 181, Art. 51, see however Van Vollenhoven “Kol. Tijdschr.” 1928, No. 3, p. 264 sqq.
The revenue of the local councils consists mainly of an amount put apart out of the general revenue, the proceeds of local taxation, special levies, and profits from enterprises of their own, while loans can also be contracted.
Stbl. 1905, 204; 1906, 120-126; 148-151; 1907, 133-138; 1908, 171-178; 1909, 180, 181; 1914, 297, 310; 1918, 308, 350-355; 1919, 64, 65; 1920, 57, 458; 1921, 158, 368, 758;1922,430, 454;1923,158; 1925, 674.
See the work composed by Kleintjes Wetten en Verordeningen betreffende de Staats-inrichting van N. I., 1927, where the legislation in question has been collected in a way which facilitates consultation. See also the official publication Decentralisatiewetgeving of 1915, the Government Chronicle and Directory for 1931 (p. 100* sqq.) and the annual reports of the office for Decentralisation.
P. F. Woesthoff: De Indische Decentralisatie-Wetgeving, 1915, p. 10.
Kleintjes, op. cit., II, p. 8 says in approximately the same sense that this regulation can be explained by the wish to limit decentralisation at the outset to a few matters in order gradually to expand it. “It is not possible to make the law so general that the Councils are given the regulation and the administration of internal matters of the territory for which they are established as long as local matters can be only partially entrusted to them. The difference in point of view adopted by the Dutch constitution towards provinces and communes in Holland and the East Indian Government Act concerning local Councils in the Indies is striking. The Dutch constitution was concerned with historical organisms that had already existed for many years and had their own sphere of life. The East Indian Government Act on the other hand with local communities that had still to be called into existence, the principal objects of whose local activity had already been settled by the central authorities.” The latter remark touches the kernel of the difficulties of the whole political question throughout the colonial world. If a little more attention had been given to this matter after the recent establishment of Provinces and Regencies, it would have been better, and much criticism on the part of the protagonists of complete and immediate autonomy would have been withheld.
See Encyclopaedia, art. “Decentralisatie”, p. 574.
See the instruction for the Adviser for Decentralisation (Bijbl. 10751, 11481).
Cf. Encyclopaedia “Decentralisatie” and Schrieke, Ontstaan en Groei der Stads-en Landgemeenten in N. I.., 1918.
S. Ritsema van Eck: Koloniaal-Staatkundige Studies 1912–1918 (1919), and a summary in the Report of the Commission for the Revision of the Political Organisation of the D.E.I., 1920, p. 429-458.
Debates of the Second Chamber (The Hague) 1921–22, p. 51.
Debates of the Second Chamber (The Hague) 1919, p. 1164.
Art. 6, sub B., Stbl. 1905, 137 declared “that in every council the number of members who are also servants of the State and who sit owing to a nomination or to their function must exceed the number of other members, but if possible by not more than 1.” Art. 1, sub III, Stbl. 1908, 459 withdrew this requirement for municipal councils while the above mentioned Art. 6 was entirely suppressed by Stbl. 1918, 605.
Decentralisation decree, art. 1, requiring that the councils should be composed of Europeans, Indonesians, and eventually foreign Orientals, was in conflict with this. Such a composition has been legally possible only since Stbl. 1918, 592. Cf. Kleintjes, Vol. II, p. 11, note 2, but Dr. Haga (p. 215) does not call such a composition justifiable in case these councils are also entrusted with matters which concern European and Chinese interests.
Van Vollenhoven: De Lagere Rechtsgemeenschappen, etc. p. 257.
Woesthoff, p. 248.
Van Vollenhoven would for instance have preferred for Java, and for Java only, where the development of the population and the personality of the Regent would have offered a chance of success, an experiment with mixed Regency councils upon a basis of the decentralisation legislation of 1903.
The decentralisation legislation had called into being some sixty autonomous communities with local councils. More than half were municipal councils, about 15 regional councils in Java and about 12 councils for sub-divisions or parts of them in the other isles. After the administrative re-organisation in Java the regional councils were abolished, while the large communes in the provinces became autonomous communities upon the basis of art. 121 I.S., i.e., they were absorbed in the provincial connection. Being town-communes they fall under the regulations of the town-communal ordinance (Stbl. 1926, 365) for which at present considerable modifications are being prepared. See also in Schrieke, De Indische Politiek, 1929, the chapter on “De Stadsge-meente.”
Haga, pointing to the example of the council of Ambon, mentioned above, remarks that in practice this difficulty need not have counted. The decision to put on one side a very small sum for administrative expenses for some part of territory would everywhere have been perfectly feasible, and would have been sufficient to make it possible to entrust the inhabitants with certain political rights and with a share in local government.
The ordinary administration was given to the chairman and for certain special local duties to one of the members of the Council or to commissions which had always to be presided over by a member of the Council (Woesthoff, p. 131-161). In other words there was not a fixed body of burgomaster and aldermen, or of deputies as in the Dutch provinces. At present, however, the communities created by the Administrative Reform have such colleges while a number of town-communes have had their own burgomasters for many years, after which aldermen may also be appointed (Stbl. 1922, 327).
Vincent A. Smith, Indian Constitutional Reform viewed in the Light of History, 1919.
Instructions for West Java Stbl. 1925, 508; Middle and East Java 1928, 192; Surakarta and Djokjakarta 1928, 223; The Moluccas 1925, 594.
For the provincial council this has been arranged in such a way that in case of refusal the Deputies act and if they also refuse the Governor (I. S. art. 119, par 6).
Pronk, op. cit. p. 100 sqq., 115 sqq.
Kleintjes II, p. 15-26; 82-126 (for the local circumscription); 127-151 (for the Province); 153-167 (for the autonomous Regency); 168-185 (for the town-commune).
Volksraad, 1st Extraordinary Session 1923, subject 2, document 3.
The Commission of Revision (p. 121-139) gave extensive consideration to electoral problems. It wanted direct elections in principle and deemed elections at two or three removes desirable only for illiterates. The idea was to allow 100 illiterate electors to elect one principal elector who would, as such, be the equal of the direct elector. Cf. also the Report of the Electoral Commission of 1922, p. 96-108, and J. W. Meijer Ranneft “Kol. Stud.” Feb. 1923.
F. H. Visman. “Kol. Stud.” Oct. 1929, p. 144.
For the application of this power up to 1920, Gondokoesoemo: Vernietiging van Dorpsbesluiten in Indië, 1922. For the present situation see Stbl. 1925, 378, art. 6, sub IV.
See Overzicht van overgedragen bevoegdheden in hervormd gebied (Landsdrukkerij, Weltevreden, 1928). The last three pages concern the matters transferred to the Regencies. This review page 1-21 enumerates the powers of the Governors which used to be exercised by the Government, the heads of departments, and the regional administrative heads. A third list concerns the powers and activities transferred to the Province.
See the Law of Feb. 10, 1910, concerning the regulation of Dutch citizenship of the population of the D. E. I. (Stbl. 1910, 296; 1927, 418; 1929, 294) and Kleintjes I, p. 82 sqq.
I. S. art. 55 par. 2 sqq. (Council of the People), Stbl. 1925, 397 and 1927, 528 (Provincial councils); Stbl. 1925, 662 (local councils); Stbl. 1924, 79 and 1927, 529 (Regency councils); and Stbl. 1925, 673 and 1926, 365 (town commune councils).
Volksraad, 1st Extraordinary Session 1923, II, 3.
J. Oppenheim, Proeve van Een Staatsregeling voor N. I., art. 127.
Debates of the States General, 1st Chamber, 1921–2, p. 367.
Debates of the 2nd Chamber, 1920–1, p. 52.
See for instance the voluminous annual reports for 1928 and 1929 of the province of West Java presented by the deputies in 1929 and 1930.
For the financial dispositions see Provincial Ordinance, Art. 80 sqq., and a discussion on the matter in Westra op. cit. p. 107 sqq.
A detailed discussion of the finances of local circumscriptions, autonomous Regencies, Urban communes, and Provinces, by Kleintjes, op. cit., II, p. 347-366, 405-410.
Regency Councils and Urban Communal Councils. Members of the latter must all be appointed by election.
H. A. van Karnebeek, Recent Modifications in the Constitution of Netherlands India in “United Empire”, Dec. 1927, p. 667–679.
The Provincial Council and the Regency Council can, however, declare one or more members of their Board of Deputies or of Delegates to have lost their appointment.
Other methods have to be applied. Plans are still being discussed by the central authorities at the Hague and the Government of the Indies and cannot yet be discussed in this work. It is probable that an administrative Government of Sumatra, which later on will become the province of Sumatra, and in which provisionally Atjeh will occupy an exceptional position, will be created. The Governor will probably be given an Advisory Council,the present Residencies will be preserved as administrative divisions which will continue to be styled Residencies, but owing to the size of these divisions the Resident will probably not be head of the local administration as he is in Java. Smaller sub-divisions will be required which may again be divided into smaller parts. This system agrees with the actual administrative organisation which it is in general intended to modify as little as possible although it is calculated to adapt itself to the things that are still shaping. The divisions or residencies could at the same time form the sphere for autonomous activity to be exercised by mixed councils. In the sub-divisions Indonesian councils could also be established upon the decentralisation basis of 1903 and perhaps intended to form a perspective in the political construction that is starting from below. There are plans to form a better organisation as a link between the European administration and the Indonesian Adat communities whose character and functions have to remain intact, and for this purpose recourse may be had to the organisation of an Indonesian administration for districts and sub-districts which will eventually give place to an autonomous life in which even the lower European administrative officials will eventually become superfluous. The autonomy of the Indonesian States and their internal administration are left intact, but there will be an endeavour to establish local federations and to increase their powers by giving them awider scope for co-operation. See also leading articles in Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Cou-rant of April 8, 16, and 23, 1930.
Kleintjes, II, p. 169 sqq., and Schrieke, De Indische Politiek, 1929, p. 74 sqq.
F. A. E. Laceulle, op. cit.
See the repeatedly quoted theses of Adam, Haga, and Gondokoesoemo.
In the self-governing states of Java an extensive task has been started and energetically continued with the intention of bringing the Indonesian commune once more into existence within these states. In 1912 an agrarian re-organisation began which also aimed at restoring the destroyed dessa connection. Since 1917 various ordinances have been issued by the Javanese Rulers for these communes.
In this and in other cases the administrative reform has given to the Regency Council and to the Board of Delegates an important power of interference with the dessa. The intimate relation between the Controllers and the population has as a result been to a large extent lost and the Dutch administration especially has become estranged from village life. The Government is considering methods for restoring this contact, which is indeed very necessary
Stbl. 1929, 357, replaced it by rules for all the provinces of Java and Madura, with the exception of the territory of the urban communes.
See also the explanation in Bijbl. 6810 and 7798; for models of the records of evidence see Bijbl. 6804.
See also Bijbl. 5558 (for the regulation of official lands); Bijbl. 5083, 6252, 7507, 8496 and 9308 (for the division and the amalgamation of Dessas in Java and, Madura apart from the Javanese States).
Appendices to the debates of the Volksraad, Second Ordinary Session, 1919, IV.
J. W. Meijer Ranneft, “Kol. Stud.” Feb. 1919.
Van Vollenhoven: Miskenningen van het Adatrecht, 1920, p. 1-19; Haga, “Kol. Stud.” June 1928, p. 348 sqq.
See report of the Commission for the West Coast of Sumatra, 1928, I, p. 219 and III, p. 29 sqq. Also Adam and Haga, op. cit.
The Governor-General was free to consult the Volksraad about anything on which he wished to receive its advice. In a certain number of cases indicated by law, such as the budget, he was obliged to ask for this advice.
J. Biemond: De Grondslag der Volksvertegenwoordiging, individualistisch of organisch?, 1922, p. 246 sqq.
A curious consequence of the amendment was that the relation between the number of elected and appointed Indonesian members was changed to the proportion of 20 to 5,so that little room was left for correcting the elections by appointment. This fact contrasted remarkably with the proportions in the Dutch group where 15 members were elected and 15 appointed. Apparently therefore the Indonesian electors were better suited for their task. The new Volksraad (May 1931) has 20 elected and 10 appointed Indonesian members, 15 elected and 10 appointed Dutch members, and 3 elected and 2 appointed members of foreign Asiatic origin (4 Chinese and one Arab).
Stbl. 1926, 453, and Stbl. 1926, 277 for regulations concerning the Volksraad.
Art. 60 of the Dutch Fundamental Law says “The King has the power of supreme administration of the D. E. I., Surinam, and Curaçao. In so far as definite powers have not been reserved to the King by the Fundamental Law or by law, the general administration is exercised in the name of the King in the D. E. I. by the Governor-General and in Surinam and in Curaçao by the Governors, in a way to be settled by law. The King annually directs an extensive report to be made to the States General on the administration and the general condition of the D. E. I., Surinam and Curaçao.” Art. 61 says “The political organisation of the D. E. I., Surinam and Curaçao is settled by law; other subjects also are settled by law as soon as there is a need for such regulation. Apart from exceptions to be determined by law the advice of the representative body of the territories concerned will be asked in a way to be settled by law. Without affecting what is laid down in the first part of this article the regulation of internal matters of the D. E. I., Surinam and Curaçao is left to the organs that are established there in a way to be determined by law unless the power to regulate special subjects or in special circumstances has been reserved for the King by law.” Art. 62 says The ordinances made by the organs referred to in the second section of the previous article may be annulled by law on the ground that they are in conflict with the fundamental law, with law or with the general interest. Such ordinances may be suspended by the King in a way to be determined by law.
I. A. Nederburgh. De Nieuwe Staatsinrichting van N. I., 1927, a fascinating work written with exceptional clearness.
Van Vollenhoven “Kol. Tijdschr.” 1929, No. I, p. 15: “In all probability it is intended to say that the Governor-General exercises his authority for all his governmental work including his share in jurisdiction and in legislation in the name of the King and in accordance with the instructions of the King, but this intention has as a result of the faulty wording of the law been expressed only in regard to that important part of his function which is called administration.”
A. Berriedale Keith: The Sovereignty of the British Dominions 1929, especially Chapters IX, X, and XI; A. Gordon Dewey: The Dominions and Diplomacy, 1929.
A. Neytzell de Wilde, “Kol. Tijdschr.” Nov. 1929, p. 514. Cf. also F. J. A. Huart: Grondwetsherziening 1917 en 1922; Carpentier Alting: Grondslagen der Rechtsbedeeling in N. I.; W. H. van Heisdingen: De Volksraad en de Indische staatsregeling, 1926.
J. A. Eigeman, “Kol. Tijdschr.” Nov. 1929; Indië en het Koninkrijk, 1928. J. H. A. Logemann, “Kol. Stud.” Feb. 1929; B. C. de Savornin Lohman in “Themis”, 1930, no. 1.
A. J. Lievegoed: Indische Joumalistiek, a speech made at the meeting of the Dutch circle of journalists on Oct. 17, 1926, p. 7. As far as we know this and another article by the same author in the Jubilee number of Jan. 1929, of the “Ind. Gids”, is the only available survey giving a more or less complete history of the press in the D. E. I. See also a pamphlet of M. Tabrani, Ons Wapen, de Nationaal Indonesische Pers en hare Or-ganisatie, 1929, containing some useful hints about Indonesian journalism, but not very careful about historical proof.
Art. 160 (par. 1 and 2) says “The rules about admission and establishment in the D. E. I., are being laid down in so far as necessary bij royal decree and otherwise by ordinance (see Stbl. 1916, 47; 1917, 693, 694). Denizens of the D. E. I. are those who in accordance with the provisions of this ordinance are established in the D. E. I. (see also Kleintjes, I, p. 73 and 82, for the rules regarding Dutch nationality).
Stbl. 1923, 452; 1925, 67.
Kleintjes, I, p. 150-155.
A good survey can be found in the articles on this subject in “Mededeelingen der Regeering over enkele onderwerpen van algemeen belang (May 1928 and 1929). See also J. T. Petrus Blumberger: De Communistische beweging in N. I., which has been translated into French: Le Communisme aux Indes Neerlandaises, 1929.
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De Angelino, A.D.A.K. (1931). Political Construction. In: Colonial Policy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-8904-0_5
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