Java

Abstract

Java, the most important of the colonial possessions of the Netherlands, is governed in an absolute manner, under a system established by General Van den Bosch, in 1832, and known as the ‘culture system.’ It is based in principle on the forced labour of the natives, which is directed to produce not only a sufficiency of food for themselves, but the largest possible quantity of colonial produce best suited for the European market. To carry out the ‘culture system,’ there exists a complicate bureaucratic administration, the functions of which descend into the minutest details of public and private life. The whole of Java—including the neighbouring island of Madura—is divided into twenty-four provinces, or residencies, each governed by a Resident, who has under him an Assistant-Resident and a number of inspectors, called Contrôleurs. All these functionaries must be citizens of the Netherlands, and the higher class must have gone through an examination at the college of Delft, near Rotterdam. The Resident and his assistants exercise absolute control over the province in their charge; not, however, directly, but by means of a vast hierarchy of native officials, who receive either salaries or percentages on the amount of produce cultivated by the natives.