The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-09-20
administrators carried out their plans

!
Marshal Daendels. for instance. built
| the great highway that runs across
| Java from end to end In two years with
forced labor, entaillng much loss OF life.
Governor van den Bosch later treated
! the island like private farm. exacting
enormous and unjust returns from the
laborers. However deplorable hhese ac-
lions may have been the outcome seems
| to be that the Javanese are industrious
and contented farmers, that the island
| has excellent means of communication.
while In the neighborlng Sumatra,
J where humanitarian methods have been
employed. the country is far from safe
and the people unwilling to work and
/ not one-tenth as numerous as in Java,
one-quarter its size.
| In the main the Dutch have not In
| terfered with native institutions or be-
| liefs, so long as these were not opposed
to their interests. They have made no
| attempt to Christianize the Islands and
| have regarded missionary efforts with
| some suspicion. The religion Is chiefy
a modified form of Islamsm. introduced
| by the Arab traders, mingled in many
cases with some remnants Of Hinduism.
Tho collection OF dues is made through
| the hcadman in the communities: In
| many instances the native potentates
are retained and are allowed to have
the appearance OF governing. subject to
| the direction of q Dutch official. If
ratah becomes obstreperous he is re-
| moved and more amenable member or
his family Is put IN his place, or else
| the Dutch step In directly. Sometimes
force is necessary and little war Is
the result. The Dutch act as arbiters
In native disputes and the natives have
been strongly impressed by their fair
ness. Mr.. Brown seems to think that
the courts err in rather favoring the
natives against the white man.
The people who live in the archipel-
ago. are n very mixed race and the
mixture varies with each island. The
chief elements are Malay and Poly
nesian, the latter being stronger In the
eastern portion. In the west especially
there is an infusion of Hindu, in the
smaller Islands OF Negrfto, and in all
a touch OF Chinese. The Chinese and
in smaller numbers the Arabs are the
traders in the islands. The Arabs must
have been coming TO them from the
days OF the Caliphate. the days when
Haroun al Raschld wandered about Bag
dad and the Arab empire spread into
Spain. Their dhows even in the last
century drifted to Zanzibar and .he
African coast. and they sailed across
the Indian Ocean too. They have car
ried Mohammedanism wherever they
have gone. The Chnaman is ubiquitous
wherever work is needed and money is
to be made. Both authors take the
Japanese into consideration, but only as
political possibility. for the number
: OF them settled in the Dutch possessions
Is inconsiderable. The confusion of
tongues is even greater than that of
race Each island has its own and
each district it's peculiar dialect. and the
, Aslatc philoloEists have even more
knotty problems to solve than the
ethuographers. Malay. however. can
bc understood almost everywhere and
literary Malay is also Of assistance The
! Dutch for n long time forbade the ma
tives TO learn their language. Mr.. Brown
thinks out OF mercy, but now Dutch Is
taught in the schools OF Java. 1t is
not likely TO become common in the
East Indies.
The European population even in Java
Is comparatively small. the colonists and
administrators retiring as rule to
Holland when they have made their
fortunes. 1t is inevitable that there
Z
Dutch have no prejudice against these f:
they treat them as Europeans and not
rs the Eurasians are in India, and many
Of them have attained distinction. In
the eastern islands there are traces OF
Portuguese blood. Mr.. Brown tells a
strange tale Of a lost Dutch colony on
tho little island OF kissa east OF Portu-
gucse Timor. Eight Dutch soldiers were
stationed there with their wives in 1865
and forgotten. Their descendants were
found late in the nineteenth century
, they were fair haired and blue eyed
they had retained their Protestant re-
, ligion, but had forgotten their Language
, and only spoke that of the aborlgines
, They had kept their family names Some
were half breeds and these with the
, pure whites numbered 900.
For Java. its products, it's geography
? and administration, its volcanoes and
: architectural wonders, NJ. Cabaton's
, book is invaluable Apart from the sta.
, tistical portions, he gives interesting
= accounts of the characteristics and GUS
. toms of the people, their amusement;
! and beliefs. The account OF Sumatra
/ is much briefer, but II includes the story
$ of the krakatoa eruption. That of the
other islands is little more than a Stats.
| teal abstract; there Is no evidence thai
: the author has visited them or regard.
o them as important. For them. Borneo
A Celebes and the Spice islands we mus
!, turn to Mr.. Browns book and pick ou
= what We can from among his man,
h curious hobbies. There are dozer
{ or so of these, which have petrifiet
= either in his mind or under his pen
l. so that whenever he rides one he USE
{ the same stereotyped form. He regards
I the Polynesians as Caucasians for on,
i thing and is inclined to believe tina
Q they emigrated west across the Pacifi
= from Central America, He looks OF
O the sago palm as a curse because wher
o 1t grows the natives need not work an,
d in consequence their race dies out. H.
Il did, however. touch at many points ant
Il in these articles. contributed to New
! Zealand newspapers, mentions matter
o OF interest that may not be known gen
e orally. In Balik Papan, on the coas
o of Borneo, "A new oil town, he foun
o them piping oil into steamers at tn
n wharves new industry and oil is plen
II tiful In Sumatra too. He pictures tn
n dcsolation of the Spice islands, OWNS
! 10 the fact that spices are no longe
g. used, giving az a reason for his assump
~ ton the absurd theory that they wer