NETHERLANDS INDIA
The export of the principal articles in 1900 amounted to:
Rice (bras)
Do. (paddy)...
Coffee
Sugar
Tea
Pepper, white Pepper, black Tobacco.. Nutmegs Gambier
Kapok
Copra
Sago
Indigo
-
...
...
*
621
38,105,332 kilo
3,884,642 43,117,682 736,606,245
**
} value fl. 4,004,765
11
11
11
"
24,698,143 73,660,624
7,634,043
**
"
696,197
""
11
"
10,740,803
"
>>
54,011,925
4,198,724 348,098 4,296,321 32,084,446
...
2,475,575 4,638,059 4,013,283 93,733,682
""
"
2,475,575
"
**
>>
1,159,515
11
11
"
"
1,003,321 10,310,705
•
12,054,810
17
"
723,288
1,004,009
11
"1
**
2,432,306
5,294,087
"
*
>>
4,235,270
"
2,645,338
Chinchona
Gom damar
Gom kopal
...
5,290,677 5,015,338
34
1,504,601
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 1897 was 14,847 and 142,850 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 (opium, salt), tin mines, forests, railways, míning, and agricultural concessions, the culti- vation 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 Batavia, Bantam, Rambang, Soerakarta and Djokjakarta), 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 remunera- tion which is fixed by Government.
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 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).
After a trial in Madoera (since September 1st 1894), Lombok and in four residencies of Java, in 1898 the Government resolved upon taking the management of the monopoly into its own hands and to sell the drug on the system of a "régie" to the population without the intermediation of farmers. Till now the "régie" is introduced in the said islands, Madoera and Lombok and in the residences Soerabaya, Pasoeroean, Besoeki, Kediri, Madioen, Rembang and Semarang (Japara), the other residencies in Java are to follow as soon as circumstances will permit. In the mentioned residencies the sale of opium otherwise than by régie is prohibited. The Resident grants to certain persons a permit to open certain houses where the opium can be smoked. It is forbidden to keep a stock of
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