Nebraska advertiser., 1868-12-24
dutch Rule An the East indies.

1t is a misfortune for the Dutch that
their language tempts so few people 70
learn ft-ft is a misfortune FOR them
and the rest of Europe. It makes
them distinctly foreign and strange 70
most of us, and their sib i6fime,
whether social or political, q mystery.
We know there is a King Ii Holland,
we heard Of his accession. and, when
he dies, we shall doubtless hear Of bis
death; but the interval Of facts and
occurrances between these events
holds little that we have note Of
Thus it has come TO pass that q book
recently published in Holland, which
should have made o lasting impress
sion on the heart and mind OF Europe
has Just simply caused Europe a mo-
mentary shudder, and win, probably,
give it no further pain. We aflude to
the novel, the history, the dramatic
indictment-call it what yOu Will--Of
MAX Haveiaarp Max HavelaaF,
or the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch
Trading Company" 1T is not a tax
ing title. but the book treats inciden.
tally, or perhaps in chief, of the heavy
oppression and cruelty which some
thirty millions of natives In the Dutch
East Indies are forced 20 endure. In .
plain English these people, and e.
pecially most of them that live in Java
are robbed and cheated in every way
by their own hereditary chiefs, who in
return for their tacit sanction Of tho
Dutch governors, use their influence
with the pOpulations to keep them
Obedient 20 the rule of Holland. HOl-
land herself thus Indirectly shares In
the plumber, and by the time each
TObber has bought OF the other inpu-
nifty in robbing, with the produce Of
the robbed there IS little left for t1e
wretched Jayanese husbandu1an, who
finds himself always at starvation
point. He works for the most part
without wages; he has no hold on his
own property; his liberty and even
his life are at the disposal of OtheHs.
And all this happens in defiance Of
the Dutch laws, which in theory guar
antee him the rights Of a free man,
but in practice do not give him those
of a slave, because the Dutch authOFi-
ties are too selfish and too cOwardly to
put them into execution against the
native chiefs. I'D df ff1aI
In the year 1856 DOuwes Decker
wasOne of the Assistant Residents Of
Java. He was a man Of quick temper.
of keen intelligence, and a feeling
heart. Panied and disgusted BY what
he saw going on around him, be
brOugh the extOrtiOnOf the chiefs and
the misery Of the natives, under the
notice Of the Goven0r- General. He
was snubbed for his pains, and ne Is-
signed his appointment, returHeds 20
Holland, and wrote q romantic nara
tive Of his experiences, to which he
gave the name he had assumed as ths
hero Of the story MAX Havelaar.p
The book made 3 great and DeFnsa-
1ent effect in Holland, for the author
is a man of genius, and some Of his in
cidental chapters are distinct prose
poems IN themselves. In particular
may be mentioned as the geEn OF the
work. the account OF Saidjah, which
gives the story Of the poor man bro't
with his family to misery and utter
ruin by the loss OF one buffalo be keDt
for plOughing, and its successors each
Of which in turn was cOOlly lifted
/ from him by his rapaciOus chief. This
kind Of robbery was the most COM
mon and against those guilty Of Il
Dekker turned the main fire Of his In
dignant elOquence. lie has now pub
/ lished in Holland sort Of appendix,
or skey," 10 his book, in the form Of
aletteF to the Dutch electors. in which,
descending from geneTalities to partic-
ulars, he gives a list Of poor persons
he knows to have been robbed Of buf-
faloes in one Of the districts he gov
lDrned. This list he makes the basis Of
amOst elaborate calculation, in which,
taking into consideration the extent,
population and wealth Of the Dutch
IHdiesg he shows that during the FIVE
years rIle Of one vieerOy alOne-the
yiceTOy who refused to listen to him
/ property to the value OF one thousand
I millions of guilders has been stolen
from the natiTep population He drags
this vicerOy to the bar OF public Opin-
ion; he asks 10 be sent into Parlia-
nent that he may show up the rotten
mess and iuiquity Of the whole system
Of Dutch East Indian government.
/ The government hardly knows what
to do with him; he cannot be contra
dicted, and he cannot be put dcWa, for
he s. master Of that terrible weapon
a public pen. IF he wields, ,it long en-
ough, he viii probably effect an entire
revolution in the colonial policy OF
Holland. It is q misfortune Ter him
that he hast0 conduct tha struggle "a
bit were behind q blanket, f0F the eve
of Europe does not often pierce the
obscurity that surrounds everything
Dutch. Decker s translator, the Baron
tAlphOnse NRhUys, has done his best
to remedy this, 80 far as we EnGlish
A are concerned; but the demand foT
Max HaveIasr" is not so great a. n
! would have been 81 the general aope.
ttts had been Whetted by some sprevi.
dishes.