NETHERLANDS, THE. 



557 



the length of wires 7,539 kilometres, the num- 

 ber of paid messages 369,165. 



The natives in the coffee districts of Java are 

 obliged to plant a certain number of coffee- 

 plants and to sell the produce to the Govern- 

 ment at the price of fourteen guilders per pecul 

 of 133 pounds. The quantity delivered to the 

 Government under this arrangement is from 

 800,000 to 1,000,000 peculs a year. Sumatra pro- 

 duces from 100,000, to 150,000 peculs of coffee, 

 inferior in quality to the Java growths, which 

 finds its principal market in the United States. 

 Macassar exports about 120,000 peculs a year of 

 excellent coffee from the Celebes and the east- 

 ern islands of the archipelago. The Govern- 

 ment crop from Java is sold at auction in Am- 

 sterdam and Rotterdam, except 100,000 peculs 

 which are sold in four lots in Java. The pri- 

 vate cultivators sell their crop in Samarang and 

 Soerabaya. The tobacco-culture is carried on 

 chiefly in Java and Sumatra. In 1880 6,395,- 

 000 kilogrammes were exported, in 1881 13,- 

 538,000, in 1882 16,633,000, and in 1883 over 

 17,000,000. The Sumatra tobacco, used for 

 cigar-wrappers, brings four times the price of 

 the Java product. Cocoanut-oil has been ex- 

 ported of late in large quantities. The tin on 

 the Island of Banca is snipped on Government 

 account to Holland ; that of Billiton is exploited 

 by a mining company and sold at auction in 

 Batavia. The center of the pepper-trade is 

 Padang in Sumatra. The tea -culture is in 

 private hands; notwithstanding the pressure 

 of taxation, Java tea is cheaper than the Chi- 

 nese product. The cultivation of cinchona- 

 bark has extended since it passed from Gov- 

 ernment control into the hands of individuals. 

 Several companies have laid out large planta- 

 tions. Sugar was exported in 1882 to the 

 amount of over 4,000,000 peculs, chiefly to 

 London. The principal imports are cotton 

 cloths, petroleum, beer, wine, liquors, butter, 

 flour, iron in various forms, glass and crockery, 

 paper, etc. The imports of cotton fabrics in 

 1882 were in value 28,208,000 guilders, coming 

 mainly from Holland and England. Petroleum 

 is brought from the United States in sailing- 

 vessels, which take as return-freight sugar to 

 England through the Suez Canal. The chests 

 in which petroleum is brought are filled with 

 cocoanut-oil for export. The import trade is 

 in the hands of a few large Dutch houses which 

 sell to the numerous Chinese traders on the 

 islands. In consequence of a petition to the 

 Government in 1881 of the merchants of Ba- 

 tavia, who complained of fraudulent bankrupt- 

 cies, the Chinese dealers have begun to keep 

 their books in the Malayan instead of in the 

 Chinese language. 



The army of the Netherlandish East Indies 

 is recruited by voluntary enlistment of Euro- 

 peans and natives. The effective strength on 

 Jan. 1, 1883, was 1,352 officers and 29,030 sol- 

 diers. Of the rank and file 13,578 were Euro- 

 peans, 111 Africans, and 15,341 natives. The 

 civic guards and other named bodies outside of 



the regular army counted 3,870 Europeans and 

 5,431 natives. 



The appointment in January, 1884, of Otto 

 Van Rees as Governor-General of the East In- 

 dies, signified the adoption by the Heemskerk 

 ministry of the colonial policy advocated by the 

 Liberals. The policy to be followed was defined 

 by the Minister of the Interior in the general 

 discussion of the budget of 1884 as the main- 

 tenance of the system of coffee cultivation on 

 Government account, and the accordance to 

 the natives of the option to have their lands 

 now possessed in common converted into indi- 

 vidual property or retained under the tribal 

 tenure. 



The War in Acheen. When Gen. Van Swieten 

 captured the seat of the Sultan of Acheen, Jan. 

 24, 1874, it was believed that the enemy was 

 subjected, and that Acheen, like the rest of 

 Sumatra, would soon be transformed into a 

 Netherlandish possession. After the expendi- 

 ture of hundreds of millions and the loss of 

 thousands of lives in the intermittent war, the 

 remainder of the Acheenese are as far from 

 submitting as ever, and seem to prefer annihi- 

 lation to the loss of independence. The Dutch 

 Government entered into the war as a precau- 

 tionary measure to prevent the intervention of 

 any foreign power in the Malaysian Archipel- 

 ago. The Acheenese had treated with indignity 

 the flags of other nations as well as that of 

 Holland. England, by the agreement of Nov. 

 2, 1871, withdrew the guarantee of independ- 

 ence to the Prince of Acheen which she re- 

 quired Holland to agree to in 1824. Negotia- 

 tions were opened to induce the Sultan to 

 acknowledge the sovereignty of Holland. 

 Evading these, he applied for assistance to 

 Italy and the United States. Fearing Ameri- 

 can intervention, the Dutch threatened war if 

 he longer refused their terms, and sent the un- 

 fortunate expedition of 1873, followed in No- 

 vember of the same year by the second expe- 

 dition under Gen. Van Swieten. The Dutch 

 commander, after the capture of Kraton, the 

 residence of the sultans, and the death of the 

 young ruler of Acheen, proclaimed the annexa- 

 tion of the country, whereas the original de- 

 mand was only for the suzerainty. He ex- 

 pected, by remaining in Kraton, to establish 

 gradually a trade with the natives and win 

 their friendship, and hence did not push his 

 military advantage, from which course he was 

 deterred, moreover, by the ravages of the chol- 

 era in his army. Leaving a detachment of 

 3,000, who were ordered to remain on the de- 

 fensive, he withdrew the rest of the troops 

 from Acheen. Gen. Pel, the commandant, 

 was soon compelled by the enemy to extend 

 his lines and undertake punitive expeditions 

 against offending chiefs. He increased his 

 force gradually to 8,000 men and gained im- 

 portant successes, when he died in 1876 and 

 was succeeded by Gen. Wiggers. The Dutch 

 and the Acheenese both ceased active opera- 

 tions for a time, but in 1878 the enemy, under 



