River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1879-12-18

island Every Chinese must give secu-
rity that he will not become a public
charge, and must show that he possess
es certain amount of money for the
| transaction of business, and, further
more, he must indicate the kind or
kinds OF business in which he will en-
gage. There are many Chinese in
/ Java, but, by reason of the restrictions,
| they are Of better sort than we find
| generally in California or Australia.
| The government of Java is admins
tered on the principle that every man
must be industrious and will be paid
| by the government for ms industry.
The country il divided into districts,
and each district is under the control
of Dutch official, but be does not
deal directly with the natives. The
actual contact with the natives is
through their own chiefs, who are sus-
| tanned In authority and protected from
quarrelsome neighbors so long as they
conduct themselves properly. They
have liberal allowance for their per-
sonal expenses, so that they can MAIN
tain the state that BELTS their rank and
to which they were accustomed before
the conquest Of the island. Every few
years census is taken in each district,
SO the government knows to q man,
woman and child, the number of pro-
ductive hands in the control of each
and every chief. And each district
must produce proportionate amount
of coffee, or rice, or tea, according to
its capabilities, after taking account OF
the mishaps in the way Of drought or
excessive rain, or other causes belong
ing to the category of force majeur.
If the crop is short for no explainable
reasons, the chief Is called to account,
and he Is pretty sure to avoid such a
contingency by seeing that his subjects
are kept at work. The government
buys tile product of the districts at a
fair price, and it is needless to say that
the price generally leaves good mar
gin for profit. Many persons have
wondered whence the brand of coffee
known as cold Government Java" de-
rived its name. think they will un-
derstand it after reading this paragraph,
and they will also understand whence
the Dutch Government obtains its
handsome revenue.
1t is an infexible rule of the authori-
ties that the Dutch officials and en-
ployes of every grade shall learn the
language of the people, and on the 9th
er hand, the natives are discouraged SIS
much as possible from learning Dutch.
Advancement in the civil and military
service of the island is largely depend
emf upon fluency in the Malay tongue,
and if young man is unable to master
it at the end of a few years, he is pack
ed off home again, and told to stay
there. 1t is easy to see that this policy
tends to give better control over the
natives by making the Off Gals familiar
with their wants, and enabling them to
communicate without the necessity for
an interpreter. 1t also puts serious
restriction upon conspiracies, and on
certain historical occasions 1t has nip
ped in the bud some flowers of rebel
lion which might have biossomed into
open revolt The Dutch have gone to
Java to stay; they have constructed
railways, built harbors, and given the
boon of good wagon roads to the length
and breadth OF the island. What the
French have done in Algeria the Dutch
have done in Java; and it is impossible
for fair-minded American to study
the two systems of colonization with
out seeing much in them to admire.