Evening star., 1901-11-02

| Is 7A@1
The Sultan of Solo.
amined, the witnesses coming in and sit
| ting on their heels about him.
AS far 1 could see the Dutch judge
did his best to get at the truth. He
| looked up to more as a father than a Judge
and this is the relation that the govern
ment tries to maintain with the people,
| The cases were petty ones. No ine Of
! more than $40 was imposed during my stay
| in the court room, and some of the fines
| were but a few cents. One man had been
| out without a lantern. A jealous woman
| was arrested for assault upon her
| lover and very pretty girl was sent to
/ prison for petty larceny. 1 watched the
| clerks paying the witnesses. They received
cents for each mile they had travelled in
| coming to the court, and were paid in cop
| pers.
A Rich Nabob.
| The Sultan of Solo has large revenue.
Everything in the country nominally be-
longs to him. He owns all the lands and
| rents out large part of them to for
eign planters. He receives 12j,000 guldens
month from the Dutch government and
a great deal from his own people. He
can levy taxes with the approval of the
Dutch resident and he keeps up q little
army of his own. He has troop of thirty
cavalry of Dutch soldiers, which always
forms his escort, and which would in case
of trouble with the Dutch promptly cap
ture him and take him prisoner, for they
are really the servants of the Dutch.
The sultan has vast treasures in gold
and jewels. His women are gorgeous in
silver and gold and the princes and
princesess wear diamonds galore. He has
his own geological garden and his stables
contain the finest of horses.
The Lands of the Native States.
| The states of Djokja and Solo are in the
richest part of Java and they practically
belong to their sutans. The Sultan of
Djokja gets 10000 guIden a month in money
rents. He leases his lands out to foreigners
on twenty-year leases. The same is done
with the Sultan of Solo. In these leases
the sultans engage that the natives of the
vicinity shall work for the planters one day
a week without pay. This is on condition
| that the rice lands consisting of half the
rented estates shall belong to them. Ac-
| cording to custom half the land shall be
planted in sugar and half in rice and native
| food crops. These crops are alternated
| every year, so that there Is rotation of
| crops, which is best for both planter and
| native. The contractor knows that he is
| to get but half the land at one time and
| the rent is arranged accordingly. The peo-
pie work the lands as villages and COM
munities. dividing the crops. While cult
| waiting the rice they have their own head
| men, but on the sugar plantations they are
governed by the planters oyerseer, and he
uses them practically as he pleases. Each
| planter has his own watchman furnished
! free by the sultan. In case of fault he can
only punish through the sultan, or rather
| the resident. large part of the labor is
free at least one day in seven. This is due
to the sultan as a tax, and he transfers it
to the planters. The hours of work are from
6 to =, with two hours off at noon.
An Expensive Guest.
These planters live in great state and
when the sultan visits them they spend
| large sums in his entertainment. I recently
visited sugar factory, the lands about
| which were leased of his majesty. The fac
| tor expected to have the sultan go over his
plantation, and he was anxious to make
good impression upon him. He had rut up
| a pavilion at the railroad station as sort
of rest house for the sultan. and had
erected triumphal arches along the line of
march. / was told that his majesty's enter
tainment would cost at least a thousand
dollars, and that there would be parties,
receptions and other gay doings. While I
was on the estate one of the sultan's Off
cials came out to look into the arrange
ments for the imperial entertainment. AS
the official stepped from the railroad car
one of his servants held a great umbrella
over him to shield him from the sun. An
other followed carrying his sword, another
| with his spear, while the fourth came along
bearing his cane. The official was in his
! bare feet and the contrast between his gor-
| geous retinue and his own slovenly appear
| arce was striking.
| The People Are Poor.
| 1t is a striking commentary on the ex-
eellence of the Dutch rule in Java that the
natives of the two states ruled by sultans
| are much poorer than those of the states
| governed almost entirely by the Dutch. The
| most of the people here dress In blue cot
/ ton They are so poor they cannot wear
| the beautiful printed goods they make. al
| though their manufactures are sold in the
4 other states
| Indeed, the women of the lower classes
are very beasts of burden. 1 see them
everywhere walking along under heavy
| loads. They carry fruits and vegetables
| to market on their backs and on poles over
| their shoulders. They work in the fields
and they the porters of the markets.
| The women do the most of the selling in
| the markets. They peddle about all kinds
/ of wares and have meat shops. dry goods
| stores, basket stores and vegetable booths.
The druggists are females, the jewellers are
females and in fact the most of the busi-
ness seems to be done by women. Just
| outside the palace city in Djok jakarta there
are a score or more booths where women
are selling 3ewelry and powder and paint
| to the women and others who go in and
| out of the palace. They sell also costly
/ sarongs and other articles. tried to buy
4 few specimens curios, but found that
! the women were entirely too shrewd as
! traders for my limited purse.
In the Solo Markets.
! The women are equally shrewd here at
Solo. There are thousands of them doing
| business in the markets. These consist of
| vast sheds divided up into booths and of
open courts covered with great umbrellas
made of palm leaves with long handles
driven down into the ground. Every market
| woman carries her umbrella to the SPOT she
has rented and plants it. She then spreads
i straw mats about 1t, and arranges her
wares upon them, leaving space enough
4 for herself to squat among them cross-
/ legged. The umbrella shades her, and 1t Is
made so that 1t can be inclined to face the