New-York tribune., 1899-02-14
A NATIVE HIERARCHY.

Vided into districts. which are administered
by a Wedono. This chief Of the district is. Ike
the regent. q native Of good family and he Is.
like him. saaried 10y the Government; nut he
is elected by the native community subject to
the approval Of the resident He Is charged
with the police of the district ana executes
the orders Of the regent he prcsdes at the
district court; every month he accompanies
the controller IL his tour or INSPECTION ana the
latter indicates what improvements should he
made The Wedono is assisted by the chiefs
who have the title mantres, and whom he
selects from the young men Of the best fami-
lies even from the sons OF the regent. The
mantrie lives in the house Of the wedonO. who
, can send him at any hour Of the day or night
to the place he designates to execute the orders
Of the controller The young mantrie performs
all the tasks. requiring a journey, he con
stanty travels over the country on horseback.
and that is why on the day OF his appointment
he receives pony and a kris. The Govern
ment thus saves the cost Of those innumera-
ble poems or messengers. which elsewhere sur
round European or native officers
one Of the most skful means by which the
Dutch know how to temper their rule is the
employment Of the native language i'm all the
natives. In the greater part 0f the colonies
founded 10y great nations IN our OWE well
as in ancient times the cOnQuerOr has been seen
to impose his OWL language on the conquered.
The Dutch. people patient and perseve:ing.
find the best policy in learning the language Of
the people they govern. and they practise this
system not only IN Java. hut In the whole
tent Of their colonial empire. In Java the prob
lem Is complicated ny the presence ~ folr
| WR4c0
and which speak each their own lmgu1ge.
Malay. Soudanese. Javanesa and Madouric~.
I saw Al Diokiokata a resident who spoke no
other European language than Dutch but
who knew thoroughly the four native languages.
one of which, the Javanese. has three dialects
according the rank OF the person addressed.
one can iude" ~ the complication
THE JAvANEsE EMPEROR"
In order 10 give to the natives the illusion Of
autonomy, the Dutch do not content themselves
with leaving their regents. their wedoros, their
] village chiefs. they even leave them their en-
/ peror. The territory of the vorstenlanGen
prlnce's landsl this central province which
/ occupies the fifteenth part OF Java, forms little
! empire the Last remains of the klngdOn, Of
Mataram. This territory is divided between two
/ princes. the soesOehoenan and the sultan. the
former lives at Solo or Sourakarta, and the lat
| ter al Djoktokarta. These two capitals are stlil
| the centres Of Javanese life and there ore can
best get an idea Of what Java must nave been
| ir the past
The present emperor and sultan are the Ge-
scenGarts Of these twO princes. The emperor
! has the title # sOesoehoenan. which means
his highnoss' be also has the titles Of Glove
/ Of the world Commander of the army ser
| want Of the merriful." master Of culture" ana
regulator Of religion" He is regarded as the
elder brother Of the sultan. rhis is a rather
! typical example OF the skilful management Of
| the Dutch.
In compensation FOR the concessions Of au-
thority and territory the emperor and the sultan
receive large peCuniarY indemnities which en-
able them. ike their ancestors. to maintain the
! ceremonial Of an Oriental court. to surround
! themselves with thousands of servants. and TO
| keep up their dignity in the eyes Of the people
/ This suff ces 20 make them perfectly satisfied
/ with their present condition. and they regard
as marks OF honor the titles and decorations
which the Queen Of Holland confers upon them.
/ The ndemnities. which are taken annually from
| the Indian budget amount TO about | 300 600
forms $500 OOO). Of which the emperor receives
about two thirds and the sultan onc-third The
/ emperor, who represents the old house OF Mata-
ram. and whose person is considered sacred.
suil has a great prestige in the eyes of the
/ JavaneSe people. and this prestige extends even
| beyond the limits of his kingdom. While leav-
ing these princes only the semblance Of au-
thOrity the Dutch policy. which understands
the Oriental taste Of parade leaves them the
old organization Of the complicated ceremonial
Of their courts. il lets them show themselves
70 their people in all the pOmp and splcndor
employed by their ancestors; II has maintained
the rank. the titles, the symbols and the salaries
OF the officers.
To conceal the authority Of the Government
by means of native Intermediates, 10
make the people gentle but proud believe that
they still obeying their natural chiefs IS, as
II appears. the psychological side Of the entirely
peculiar system Of colonization which the Dutch
have introduced into Java and the ike Of which
ono would search for in vain in all the other
European colonzatons
THE Law OF PROPERTY UNDIsTURBED
The economic side Of their colonial system
proCee ds from the same idea, and is less
peculiar nor less curious While they have left
10 the natives their princes and their regents.
while they have kept up the Institutions under
which the natives have lived for centuries. they
have no, modified in any respect the land and
agricultural system. they have perpetuated the
law If property as ii ha, been established from
time immemoral in Java.
For a long tim, Holland opposed to the
establishment Of railroads in Java Mr De
auyoir who visited the island at the begin
nng II tho building OF the roads, vas greatly
surprised al the vigorous opposition made by the
greater part Il the Europeans Men Of i'm
n haf lac
usrl - for Java on account OF the shape Of
The island it being very long and narrowed
bt tho mountains In the centre. they thought
the system f roads inaugurated by Dandaels
sufficient But this opposition founded on
their Hrst and dominating idea Of the fear OF
free labor They Explained. in fact that with
| a regulation which forbade the inhabitants Of
one village from going to another without per
/ mission railroads seemed % be a dangerous in
nDva;ion 10 the partisans = the economical ideas
/ of another age. So Holland retarded much
as possible the Introduction Of railroads into
its colony. but It has been obliged to adopt them
on account of the poverty Of lis means Of trans
port Il poverty which made the price OF rice
vary considerably at short distances. and which
fl tho most fertile island of the world allowed
. / the Inhabitants OF one district TO die ~ famine
Will those ~ neighborng district lived In
abundance.
+ TIC inauguration " the railroad which from
. that time united the eastern and western prov
iuceS IS an economical fact Of incalculabl i'm
. rtancc This event which occurred Novem
Der l. 1874 marks the beginning Of a new
era for the queen of the Indian isles In the
transitiA period which Java is now goini
through'U no longer enriches the mother coun
try 10 the injury Of natives. for such is no
the eud which a healthy colonial system SHOULD
pursue 4 colony ought not 10 MI the treasury
~ The mother country, II ought 70 enrich th'
nation II is without doubt for this idea. tha
while Java no longer contributes 10 the treas
urv The chimercal income II former days an'
even causes annual deficit n more thar
S4pNO4D ihe renOuncing ~ the pearl Of tn
Indies ~ proposed in vain in Holland II would
rather sacrifice its last soldier And yet the
Dutch these modern Phpncians do not pre-
cerN pass for a dreamy or Chmerical people
they even have the reputation of being the mos
he lnelhndioal and Tho mos