The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-05-17
ACHEEN'S LONG WAR.
The Dutch Have Been Fighting
90 Years i'm Sumatra-
STILL NO SIGN OF THE END.
Ten Thousand Lives and 500. 0oo, 600
Lost-Achinese Fought the Porsu-
xue-e I3s Years.


when .h@ ntrte Queen wlhssntra sue
ceeae. 70 the throne OF the Sethereh0ss
not quite SIX years ago. she inherited isonn
her late father. King William H. aions
wfrh other zpps- ;suanees OF the croNh, =
var that had oeen going on seventeen
years n - stll kept up In a leisureiy
Dutch fashion. and so far as reports go
that reach this side OF the gioce BIDS fair
70 70 on tin the little queen leaves X %
her heir and successor.
II Is the war ir Aeneen. The people o,
Holland call IL rebellion What the
Achluase call IL does not appear X . N
the East Indies very mach what the var
now waging In Cuba Is 10 the West in1ieS'
stir. there are differences
Aeheen has no press agents
Therefore the mails are not c1rdened
with stories Of brutal bQtcheries hy the
Dutch troops one day. neither on the nexr
are there cabie3 circumstan;iai accounts
Of Horrible outrayes' by the native insar-
gents. That is the result OF living IN the
tsnxies Of Sumatra- so far away from the
telegraph For though il be remote the
enterprfsing American war correspondent
would surely risk berf-beri and boa con-
srrfctors had he facilities for sendinS
news. In the absence Of such stimulus TO
brilliant actions. the hostile armies keep
pexyfng away al each other from behind
convenient bushes Occasionally The na-
a dozen or so. but the worst enemies the
Europeans meet is the climate and the ma
tive diseases. The Dutch control the
coasts and pay the costs The Achtnese
possess the interior, and their commerce
Is ruined but they keep up the war for
freedom They are really acting In
very un-Oriental style. as il they were not
OF mixed Malay and Hindoo blood. but
we're brothers 70 Americans. or. let u
say the Cuban race.
Have Records AZ Fighters.
A glance backward. however. shows
that with their policy OF fighting II out II
IL takes a century both combarants are
only living up to the blue china--their his
torical traditions. The Dutchman boasts
OF nothing more glorious In the history
OF his country than the Eighty
Years War which his ancestors fought to
victory against the Spaniards, who were.
when IL began. the most powerful nation
IN the world. The Achinese kept up an al
most uninterrupted war with the Portu-
guese for 49, years. When Portuguese
traders first came to them in 1903 and at
tempted to make settlements they resist
ed. and continued 20 resist their aggres-
sions til 1911. when the Portuguese gave
II up in disgust. But at that time Acneen
was much more powerful and important
than IL Is now. and was ruled by able and
enterprising suitans. They managed to
keep all the European commercial agrees
sors at bay TIL the beginning of the sew
enteenth century. when the English and
Dutch both got slight trading footholds.
But they acknowledged allegiance to none.
City Built on stills
The country OF Acheen is the northern
province OF Samatra, inhabited by Malays
Of lighter color and somewhat more en-
terprising nature than most tribes of that
race. and ethnologists say the type shows
considerable admixture of Hindoo and
Aryan blood II contains 1000 square
miles. and the population was estimated a
few years ago at 450.01. The capital. also
called Acheen. Is a picturesque city built
on river of the same name about
league from the sea, and contains about
1850 houses and perhaps 2sooo Inhabitants.
The houses are built of bamboo. most of
them standing on piles. The sultan has q
fortified palace here. The place was a city
of Importance when Marco Polo visited
the island in i292, and up to the latter part
Of the last century the sultan was a ruler
Of no small Importance, had many tribu-
tsry sultans and rsiahs and lived in state
In his palace, having herd OF 800 ele-
plants.
The people are strict Mohammedans and
have several mosques, but it is intimated
by mariners who visit those parts that
they do not froxn on piracy as heightened
religious people should That Is alleged
as one reason for the present war. But
another good and sufficient reason perhaps
Is that there are said to be rich beds of
coal IN the interior. Besides coal, there
are copper. gold and tin on the island.
Pepper and spices grow there abundan,ly
and coral Is exported.
British Protection Withdrawn.
For Do years the British. even with their
aggressive East India Company as neigh
hors of the Achirese. managed to live on
pretty good terms with them. This would
seem TO be pretty good evidence of their
good character during that time. When
In is24 the British. ey treaty restored TO
the Dutch few OF their eastern colonies
that had been seized during the NapoIe-
onic wars. the odd provision was inserted
IN the treaty by which the Dutch agreed
not TO make war against Achesn- The trea-
~ was amended In November 1871. and
whether the Achinese had not behaved
themselves In the half century 10 sui.
British trading vessels or for some other
reason ~ state. the protecting clause was
ahrogate1
II did not take the Dutch long 10 20.
ready 70 use their privilege. In 1872 the
neighhoring Dutch colony Of BATAVIA de-
clared var on Acheen- The pretext Is not
explained. and 1t is said that even in Hol-
land the propriety and necessity Of the
war vas greatly doubted Bot the mother
country supported the daughter colony
Tor the sake Of getting more territory.
Dutch Capture the Capitol.
In April. 1878. Gen. KohIer landed a larr.
force o. Dutch troops and attacked thA
sultans palace. He ~as defeated with
considerable loss. Hostilities were kept