76 



COFFEE. 



one of considerable difficulty, but it is a difficulty of a widely different 

 character ; on this estate, consisting of about 1600 acres, of which 

 nearly 1000 acres are under coffee, there are thirteen villages or 

 campongs, each with its own headman and plot of land attached to it. 

 Between 2000 and 3000 Javanese occupy these villages, of whom 800 

 are able-bodied men emj)loyed chiefly on the estate, their task (the 

 weeding of thirty to thirty-five or forty trees) being allotted to each 

 man day by day, and the payment for the work (5cZ.) is made every 

 evening. When there is a demand for extra labour, the headmen 

 induce stragglers from other villages to undertake task work, and 

 they are paid in the same way as the ordinary labourers. In this 

 manner the number employed varies from 500 to 1500, according to 

 the demand which the Government is making at the time on their 

 service imder the compulsory labour system. This diversion of 

 valuable labour during crop time is sometimes a cause of great loss 

 and annoyance to planters, and certainly has a tendency to make 

 them very discontented with the present system of enforced labour. 

 The Javanese, as labourers, seem in no way difficult to manage, but 

 are very respectful and obedient, in this respect forming a marked 

 contrast to the half-caste Malays and Sundanese in the western part 

 of the island. Of course, like all peasants of the tropics, they will 

 do bad work, if they are permitted ; but a European administrator 

 and two or three half-caste overseers are amply sufficient for the 

 working of this large estate, which in Ceylon would require three, 

 if not four, Europeans, besides conductors, &c., for its proper manage- 

 ment. 



" In conclusion, I may state that at present it is of no use for an 

 Englishman to come to Java as a coffee planter, even though he has 

 capital. By law, he cannot lease a piece of land, but must have 

 a Dutch partner whom he can trust perfectly, for a bond between the 

 two, where land is in question, is of no validity in a court of law, 

 and everything must be trusted to the man whose name is put forward 

 as the owner. The chances of buying a piece of private land are too 

 remote and uncertain to tempt anyone, except a resident in the island, 

 to think of such an investment. The labour is frequently not to be 

 obtained when everything else seems favourable ; arid lastly, the 

 Government is not inclined to thrust the instruments of success into 

 the hands of the foreigner, if they can by any possibility use them 

 themselves. But, supposing all these difficulties have been overcome, 

 the English planter will find that, however valuable his estate may 

 be, he cannot raise a cent by mortgaging it, because it is still Govern- 

 ment property and incapable of being mortgaged ; and finally, when 

 all Government obstructiveness and attempts at exclusion have been 

 overcome, if that is possible, he will find that there is something in 

 the nature of the coffee enterprise in Java, whether it be the forcing 

 nature of the climate, or the excessive richness of the soil, or the 

 system of cultivation, I cannot tell, but still something which prevents 

 men amassing fortunes and returning home, as most Englishmen are 

 anxious to do, after a few years in the East." 



The coffee crop of Java being taken at 1,500,000 cwts., we are 

 able to obtain an approximate idea of the area under coffee culti- 



