NETHERLANDS-INDIA
1383
was soon afterwards declared the Dutch again lost all their possessions. After the fall of Napoleon, in 1816, the greater part of the colonies were restored to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and by the London treaty of 17th March, 1824, Malacca and the establishments on the continent of India were exchanged for Benkoelen.
Netherlands-India is now governed in the name of the Queen of the Netherlands by a Governor-General, who is obliged to ask in some cases the advice of the Council of India, consisting of a Vice-President, four members, and a secretary. He is Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, and is seconded by a Lieutenant General, Commander in Chief of the Army and Chief of the War Department and a Vice- Admiral or Rear-Admiral, Commandant of the Navy and Chief of the Marine Depart- ment, and further by the seven Directors of the Departments of the Home Government; Finance; Justice; Education and Public Worship; Agriculture, Industry and Commerce; Government Monoplies and Industrial Enterprises; and Public Works. The Department of Agriculture, established on 1st January, 1905, is a combination of the gardens (botanical and experimental), laboratories, musea, etc., known until that date as
Lands, Plantentuin," with the Bureau of Forestry, the Veterinary Service and the Govern- ment Coffee and Cinchona plantations.
Netherlands-India is divided into provinces, under the administration of Governors or Residents and their Assistant Residents, and "Controleurs". The direct government of the population is entrusted to natives with the titles of Regent, Wedone, and Assistant-Wedono in Java and other titles in the other islands. In appointing the native officials it is considered a rule that the people in the different islands, residencies or districts must be governed if possible by their own chieftains. In Soerakarta and Djogjakarta (in Java) and in a great many residencies of other islands the native princes have still to a certain degree the rule of the country in their hands, but in fact their power is only nominal and they are dependent on the Government of Netherlands-India.
The Supreme Court is located at Batavia, and Courts of Justice are established at Batavia, Samarang, Soerabaia, Padang, Medan, and Macasser; there are also Residential Courts in all the Residencies, except at Macasser. The Courts of Justice for the natives are in the capitals of residencies and districts; they have different names, as andraad, rapat, proatin, regentschapsgerecht, districtsgerecht.
CLIMATE
The climate in general is very damp and the maximum temperature reaches upward of 35° Celsius, but on some of the mountains it falls below freezing point. Some of the high mountains of New Guinea are covered with eternal snow. At Batavia the mean daily temperature is 26° Celsius. In the plains and on the lower mountains the mon- soons have a great influence on the climate. To the south of the equator from April to October the south-east monsoon and from October to April the north-west monsoon is blowing, while to the north of the equator the west monsoon blows from April to October and the east monsoon from October to April. The changes of the monsoons are marked by periods of three to four weeks, during which the wind blows from different directions and thunderstorms and calms prevail. The day heat is greatest during the south-east monsoon and is only occasionally tempered by thunderstorms, but the nights are then pretty cool. The west monsoon is accompanied by heavy rains continuing for days and sometimes for weeks, swelling the rivers so that the low countries are often inundated. The influence of the monsoons is, in many cases, modified by high mountains and other local conditions, so that, for instance, it rains nearly every day at Buitenzorg and in some parts of Borneo and in the highlands of Sumatra. The winds are rather weak.
PRODUCTS
The islands of the Indian Archipelago have generally a very fertile soil and are rich in useful products. The most important products of Java are: Rice, sugar, coffee, tea, tobacco, cinchona bark, cocoa, copra, ground nuts, indigo, kapok, tapioca produce teak timber; of Sumatra: tobacco, coffee, pepper, caoutchouc, guins of Borneo and Celebes: copra, caoutchouc, gums, rattans, maize, coffee, hides.
The export of the principal articles in 1914 amounted to:- Arachides, cleaned
in husk
11
Arrack...
...
Bark, Bakau and Tengar mangrove Benzine and gasolene
7,654,708 kilo 9,974,019
915,372 litre 12,851,663 kilo 315,429,737 litre
value Fl. 1,454,394
1,196,884
283,612
27
嘴兽
**
""
192,776
72,548,839