Directory_and_Chronicle_1906 — Page 1396

NETHERLANDS INDIA

1201

Republic, as the Netherlands were then called, but during the war with England that 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, Commandant 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 six Directors of the Departments: of the Home Government; Finance; Justice; Education, Public Worship and Industry; Agriculture; and Public Works. The Department of Agriculture, established 1st January, 1905, is a combination of the gardens (botanical and experimental) laboratories, musea, etc., known until that date as "'s Lands Plantentuin" with the Bureau of Forestry, the Veterinary Service and the Government 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, Wedono, 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, 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 landraad, rapat, proatin, regentschapsgerecht, districtsgerecht.

CLIMATE

The climate in general is very damp, but in the interior of the large islands it is more dry. Under the equator and at the sea level the temperature reaches upwards of 35° Celsius.

At a distance from the equator the temperature is not

so high and on some mountains it falls to freezing point. In the plains and on the lower mountains the monsoons 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 are 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 storms and calms prevail; these periods are considered to be dangerous to health. The 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.

PRODUCTS

The islands of the Indian Archipelago have generally a very fertile soil and are rich in useful products. Java and Madoera, excepted Soerakarta, Djokjakarta and Besuki, produced 74,114,275 piculs of rice, 14,921,000 piculs of sugar, and 297,730 piculs of coffee in 1903. Indian corn is not produced in great quantities and not exported. Coffee is cultivated, especially in Java, and Sumatra; sugar and tea in Java; pepper is planted for local use and for export, especially in the Lampong districts (a part of Sumatra). Cacao is only cultivated on a small scale in the Moluccos and the north of Celebes for export, not for local consumption. Tobacco is planted in Java and Sumatra, nutmeg especially in the Moluccos, cinnamon in Java and Sumatra, gambier in Sumatra and Riouw. Tripang and mother-of-pear! shells also form articles of export; birds' nests are sent to China.

39