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the white man will be a doubtful benefit to the labourer, 
since it will open the way to greater commercial activity, 
which will lead to the gradual alienation of the land to 
capitalists, give an unnatural stimulus to the population, 
and inevitably introduce the evils of feverish competition, 
pauperism, and crime, from which the country has 
hitherto been comparatively free. European rulers, im¬ 
bued with ideas of freedom of labour and of commerce, 
will not understand that a child-like people can only be 
raised to independence and national manhood by means 
of a paternal government. It may safely be predicted 
that if the Dutch Government freely throw open Java to 
the world, the result will be that many capitalists will 
make fortunes, but the native inhabitants will not be 
benefited. But the system must be judged by its results. 
The island may have been “ bled to the extent of nearly 5 0 
millions of pounds for the benefit of the mother-country/’ 
as has been alleged, but this bleeding has been done without 
any oppression of the natives, who are well fed, decently 
clothed, and as happy and contented as any people are 
likely to be under the rule of an alien race. One of the 
best tests of the general well-being of a community is 
that of the growth of the population; for where this is 
steadily increasing, where there is no pauperism, where 
serious crime is rare, and where famine and rebellion on 
any important scale are almost unknown, the Government 
cannot be otherwise than suitable to the people governed. 
This is the case with Java. In 1850 the population was 
about 9-|- millions, in 1890 it had increased to 23 
millions, and notwithstanding that a large portion of its 
surface is covered with virgin forest and lofty mountains, 
it supports a population of greater density than Great 
Britain. With such facts as these before us, it must be 
conceded that however theoretically wrong the “ culture- 
