1242
THE EAST COAST OF SUMATRA
property. Land contracts with Europeans, while made between the ruling prince and the concessionaire, are subject to the approval of the Resident. Mining contracts require the approval of the Governor-General of the Netherlands-Indies. In all the States the Dutch Government has bought the right to collect the customs duties and the ordinary revenues. Land revenue, collected by Government officials, is at the disposal of the native rulers and his chiefs. The principal State on the East-Coast of Sumatra, both from the rank of its ruler and historically, is Siak. The best known of the States however is Deli, where tobacco planting was first introduced, and by which name the whole of the East-Coast is sometimes designated. Deli, Langkat, Serdang, Assahan, and other tobacco-growing districts, are celebrated throughout the world for their fine silky tobacco leaf, which is specially fitted for the outside wrappers of cigars, being at once light in weight and elastic and strong in texture. The leading tobacco company is the Deli Maatschappij, which for 26 years has paid a dividend averaging 75 per cent. per annum. The minor agricultural products are Liberian coffee, cocoanuts and pepper. Jungle produce, formerly exported considerably, is getting scarcer, by reason of the jungle being felled for the purpose of planting tobacco. The production of paddy, though considerable, falls short of the demand by many thousand bags, which are mostly imported from the Straits Settlements. Of all the different states Asahan only is in a position to export a large quantity of paddy to the Straits Settlements. Kerosine oil is exported from Langkat to the Straits Settlements, British India, Hongkong, Siam and China. This article is of importance for that district, and is still more promising for the future. Almost all necessaries of life have to be imported, and a brisk trade between Java, the Straits Settlements and the East-Coast is the consequence
Medan (Deli), the residence of the highest civil and military officials, is a pleasant little town, laid out in a modern style, the streets fitted up with electric light. A splendid architectural Government House has been built for the Resident in the new quarter of Polonia. In the town two banking corporations-the Nederlandsche Handel Maatschappij and the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China-have their branches. There is a very good Hotel, two Clubs, a Race-club, numerous houses of business, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Malay, Bombay and Kling shops, etc. The port of Belawan Deli, on the Belawan River, is in communication with Medan by railway, the lines of which extend a long distance up country and the North giving also communication via Tandjoeng Poera. with Pangkalan Brandan, Other important ports are those of Pangkalan Brandan, Tandjong Balei, Bengkalis, Bagan Api Api and Siak.
The population of this Residency amounted in 1900 to 2,079 Europeans, 103,768 Chinese, 365 Arabs, 8,813 other Orientals, and 306,035 natives; total 421,090.
DIRECTORY
BANKS
THE CHARTERED BANK OF INDIA, AUSTRA
LIA AND CHINA
W. M. Thomson, sub-agent A. Brearly, sub-accountant
NEDERLANDSCHE HANDEL MAATSCHAPPIJ
F. van Dinter, sub-agent
Th. J. van Rossum, sub-accountant,
CLUBS
GYMNASTIEK VEREENIGING "MEDAN"
J. J. van Hell Wzn, president K. S. A. van Gemert, secretaris
WITTE SOCIETEIT
J. van Vollenhoven, president F. F. L. Platte, secretaris
COACH AND CARRIAGE BUILDER
D. RENS
DELI SPOORWEG MAATSCHAPPIJ Administrateur te Medan-W. H.
Schadee
J
DISPENSARY
RATHKAMP & Co.
REMINGTON TYPEWRITER, 327 Broadway, New York, U. S. A.
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