The Later Period of the V.O.C.

Abstract

Quality of V.O.C. servants: From the very beginning corruption had existed among the officials of the V.O.C. The reason for this was that they were very badly paid and the reason why they accepted service in the V.O.C. for these low salaries was that they mostly belonged to the outcasts of the Netherlands. But especially this kind of people from the very start expected to find opportunities to improve their income in less regular ways. Already Coen had said that decent people had no necessity to go to the Indies. But he also added that the V.O.C. was served according to her wages. Already in 1620, the Indies were the common refuge for reprobates, bankrupts and thieves (45, I, p. 322). The sailors and soldiers in Coen’s time resembled pirates and bandits (45, I, p. 418).