506
NETHERLANDS INDIA
The export in 1897 of the principal articles amounted to
19,523,075 kilogrammes
Rice....
Do.
Coffee
Sugar
Tea
***
Pepper, white Pepper, black
Tobacco... Nutmegs Gambier...
...
...
Kapok.
Copra
..
Sago
Indigo..
Gom dammar
•
Chinchona
Gom kopal
bras paddy
2,073,255 65,234,840 518,308,532
value 2,055,970 guilders
"
""
""
49,809,419 51,830,853
"
19
...
3,981,039 1,122,026
39
33
2,189,571
...
12,973,316
""
336,607 1,945,997
"9
"1
37,574,528 1,771,124 7,248,435
""
"
"
19
37,443,073 2,479,573 1,812,108
"J
...
2,409,659
""
•
23,715,196
""
""
602,415 2,608,671
""
""
3,984,679
17
**
1,091,383
">
3,350,427
13
239,081 2,657,205 1,005,128
"5
"
"
3,696,070
""
99
591,371
""
6,257,588
>>
"
>>
2,503,035
Diamonds are found in Borneo, gold in Borneo, Sumatra, Celebes, and Timor, plati- num in Borneo, silver in small quantities in Borneo and Sumatra, copper in Timor and Borneo, iron in Celebes, Sumatra, and Borneo, tin of excellent quality and in large quantities in Banka, Billiton, and the Carimon islands and of inferior quality in some other islands, lead in Sumatra and Borneo, zinc in small quantities in Sumatra, coal in Borneo and Sumatra (production in 1896 was 15,750 and 126,284 tons), in Java and in Batjan, jodium and naptha in Java, saltpetre in Java, marble in Java and espe- cially in Sumatra. Salt is produced in Madoera of excellent quality, and also in the other islands, by evaporation of the sea water. Kerosine oil is found in abundance in Java and Sumatra, and gives enormous profits.
The possession of the soil by the natives is strongly protected by law. As a gene- ral rule the ground cannot be sold to foreigners, not even to Dutchmen, nor to their descendants who are born in India. The Government is authorized to dispose of un- cultivated grounds and grant parts of them for a certain period to foreigners (erfpacht). On the 31st December, 1895, the stock of cattle in Java and Madoera consisted of 2,643,223 buffaloes, 2,572,231 other horned cattle, and 485,567 horses (ponies).
REVENUE, FINANCES.
The revenue of the colony is derived from different taxes, viz., export and import duties, excise, ground tax, licences, poll tax, succession duties and stamp duties, the rent of farms (opium, gambling-houses, pawn-brokers' shops, etc., etc.), monopolies (salt), tin mines, forests, railways, mining, and agricultural concessions, the cultivation of coffee, and sundry petty articles. In former years the cultivation of coffee was the principal source of revenue, but of late years there has been a constant decrease. In the residencies in Java (except Soerakarta and Djogjokarta), where the ground is suitable for the cultivation of coffee, a certain number of natives are obliged to plant every year a number of coffee trees, to take care of the plantations, to dry the fruit, and to deliver it into the Government godowns. They are therefore free of ground tax and receive a remuneration which is fixed by Government. The coffee that is culti- vated by the population without control of the Government in Java, Madoera, and some parts of Sumatra must also be delivered at a fixed rate at the Government godowns.
In nearly all the residencies of Java and Madoera, in Sumatra (except Acheen and dependencies), in Banka, Billiton, and Borneo, private persons are not allowed to make nor to import salt. Fine table salt, salt for medicinal use, and salt that is wanted for packing preserves, can be imported on payment of a duty. The large bulk of the salt that is wanted for the Government monopoly is made in Madoera, where the people are obliged to deliver the salt into the Government godowns at the fixed rate of ten guilders per kojan (1,853 kilogrammes).
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37
Concerning opium the Government intends to take the management of the monopoly into its own hands and to sell the drug on the system of a regie to the population without the intermediation of farmers. Since 1st September, 1894, the "regie' has, as a trial, been introduced in Madoera, Lombok, and in four residencies of Java. In these residencies the sale of opium otherwise than by "regie is prohibited. The Resident grants to certain persons a permit to open certain houses where the opium can be sold and smoked. It is forbidden to keep a stock of opium not derived from the "re:ie" and the monopoly of the Government is strongly protected by penalties. The
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