Chapter III (3)

The lands which he superintends and apportions range from six or seven to double that number of _jungs_, or from forty or fifty to an hundred acres English, and these are divided among the inhabitants of his village, generally varying from about two acres to half an acre each. That this minute division of land takes place, may be shewn from the surveys made under the British government in the eastern provinces, which nearly resemble those under the dominion of the native princes, and consequently may be taken as indicating the general state of the island. The inhabitants in the agricultural districts of the residency of _Surabáya_ amount in all to 129,938: these compose 33,141 families, of which 32,618 belong to the class of cultivators, and 523 belonging to other professions pay only a ground rent for their houses. The area of the province contains about twelve hundred square miles, or 34,955 _jungs_, about 20,000 only of which are cultivated, so as to become of any consequence in the division of lands among the villages, the number of which amount to 2,770. By a calculation founded on these data, it would appear, that each village averages about twelve families, that a family falls considerably short of the average of four, and that a little more than seven _jungs_ are allotted to a village. In _Kedú_ the population amounts to 197,310, the number of villages to 3879, and the quantity of cultivated land to 19,052 _jungs_; so that in this province there are about five _jungs_ attached to a village; and a village is inhabited by fifty-one souls, or about twelve or thirteen families. In _Grésik_, the number of villages amount to 1396, the quantity of cultivated land to 17,018 _jungs_, and the population to 115,442 souls. In _Probalíng'o_ and _Besúki_, the numbers are--of inhabitants, 104,359; of villages, 827; of cultivated land, 13,432 _jungs_. In these two last the proportions vary, the number of _jungs_ to a village in the former being more than twelve, and of inhabitants more than eighty, or about twenty families; and in the latter, the proportion is more than one hundred and twenty souls to a village possessed of more than sixteen _jungs_ of land. It would be superfluous to state any more examples. In different parts of the island, there are variations within certain limits; but the quantity of land occupied by one cultivator seldom exceeds a _báhu_, (or the quarter of a _jung_), although the quantity occupied by a village, as will be seen by the above instances, varies from five to sixteen, according to the extent of the population.

The land allotted to each separate cultivator is managed by himself exclusively; and the practice of labouring in common, which is usual among the inhabitants of the same village on continental India, is here unknown. Every one, generally speaking, has his own field, his own plough, his own buffaloes or oxen; prepares his farm with his own hand, or the assistance of his family at seed-time, and reaps it by the same means at harvest. By the recent surveys, when every thing concerning the wealth and the resources of the country became the subject of inquiry, and means were employed to obtain the most accurate information, it was ascertained, that the number of buffaloes on that part of the island to which these surveys extended, was nearly in the proportion of one to a family, or a pair to two families; and that, including the yokes of oxen, which are to those of buffaloes as one to three, this proportion would be very much exceeded. In some provinces, more exclusively devoted to grain cultivation, the number of ploughs, and of course oxen or buffaloes, nearly amounts to one to a family. In other cases, where they fall much short of this proportion, a considerable part of the inhabitants must be engaged in labours unconnected with agriculture, or the cultivators must be engaged in rearing produce, where the assistance of those animals is not required. Thus in _Japára_ and _Jawána_, where the number of inhabitants is 103,290, or about twenty-six thousand families, the number of ploughs amount to 20,730, and of buffaloes to 43,511; while in the Batavian Regencies, where the coffee culture employs a considerable part of the inhabitants, the number of families is about sixty thousand, and of ploughs only 17,366. The lands on Java are so minutely divided among the inhabitants of the villages, that each receives just as much as can maintain his family and employ his individual industry.

"A time there was, ere England's griefs began,
When ev'ry rood of ground maintain'd its man;
For him light labour spread her wholesome store,
Just gave what life requir'd, and gave no more:
His best companions, innocence and health;
And his best riches, ignorance of wealth."

But situated as the Javan peasantry are, there is but little inducement to invest capital in agriculture, and much labour must be unprofitably wasted: as property is insecure, there can be no desire of accumulation; as food is easily procured, there can be no necessity for vigorous labour. There exists, as a consequence of this state of nature and of the laws, few examples of great affluence or abject distress among the peasantry; no rich men, and no common beggars. Under the native governments and the Regents of the Dutch Company, there were no written leases or engagements binding for a term of years; nor could such contracts well be expected to be formed with an officer, who held his own place by so unstable a tenure as the will of a despot. The cultivator bargained with the _Búkul_ or _Petíng'gi_ for a season or for two crops, had his land measured off by the latter, and paid a stipulated portion of the produce either in money or in kind. When the crop had arrived at maturity, the cultivator, if his engagement was for so much of the produce in kind, cut down his own share, and left that of the landlord on the ground.

The proportion of the crop paid as rent varied with the kind of land, or produce, and the labour employed by the cultivator. In the _sáwah_ lands, the share demanded by the landlord rarely exceeded one-half, and might fall as low as one-fourth, according as the quality of the soil was good or bad, or the labour employed in irrigating or otherwise preparing it was greater or less. In _tégal_ lands, the rent paid varied from one-third to one-fifth of the produce; a diminution to be attributed to the uncertainty of the crop, and the necessity of employing more labour to realize an equal produce than on the other species of cultivation. In cases where there was a second crop of less value than the principal rice or maize crop, no additional demand was made upon the additional grain reaped by the farmer.

If such rates had been equitably fixed, after a deliberate estimate of the proportion between the labour of the cultivator and his produce, and if from the best kind of _sáwah_ no more than the half had been required, with a scale of rents diminishing as labour increased or the soil deteriorated, the peasant could have had no reason to complain of the exactions of government A _jung_ of the best _sáwah_ lands will produce between forty and fifty _ámats_ of _pári_, each _ámat_ weighing about one thousand pounds. Suppose a cultivator occupied a quarter of a _jung_ of such land, he would reap ten _ámats_, or ten thousand pounds of _pári_, and allowing a half for the government deduction, would still retain five thousand pounds, which is equal to about eight quarters of wheat. The best _sáwah_ lands return about forty-fold; _sáwah_ lands of the second quality yield from thirty to forty _ámats_ the _jung_; and they are considered of inferior quality when they yield less than thirty. From these last, two-fifths or one-third was required as the landlord's share. _Tégal_ lands were assessed at one-third, one fourth, or one-fifth of their produce, according to their quality, and their produce in value is about a fourth of _sáwah_ lands of the same relative degree in the scale. In Bengal, according to Mr. Colebrooke's excellent account of its husbandry, "the landlord's proportion of the crop was one-half, two-fifths, and a third, according to the difference of circumstances." The value in money of a crop of rice grown on a _jung_ of the best land under the wet cultivation, may amount to one hundred and sixty Spanish dollars; and on a _báhu_ (the space occupied by an individual cultivator), forty dollars. I formerly stated the price of the implements of husbandry, the price of buffaloes or oxen, the expence of building a house, and providing it with the necessary furniture. The whole farming stock of a villager may be purchased for about fifteen or sixteen dollars, or for little more than a third part of the produce of his land in one year. The price of labour, the price of cattle and of grain, as well as the fertility of the soil, varies in different parts of the island; but, in general, it may be laid down as an indisputable proposition, that from the natural bounty of the soil, the peasantry might derive all the means of subsistence and comfort, without any great exertion of ingenuity, or any severity of toil, if their government made no greater demand than the shares stated above.

But besides the rent which the cultivator paid for his land, he was liable to many more grievous burdens. The great objection to a tax levied on land, and consisting in a certain share of its produce, arises from the effect that it has in obstructing improvements; but there were other imposts and contributions exacted from the peasantry, which were positively and immediately oppressive. A ground-rent for houses, called _pachúmplang_, was prevalent over many parts of the island, amounting in the provinces subject to the native princes, to one-sixth or seventh of a dollar for each dwelling or cottage. The cultivator, in some parts of the country, instead of paying this tax, was obliged to pay for his fruit trees. In some districts there was a capitation tax; arbitrary fines were levied in others, and contributions on the birth or marriage of the children of the superior, regent, or the prince. There were several charges made on the villages, that had a more immediate reference to their own advantage, but which nevertheless were felt as burdens; such as contributions for the repair of roads, of bridges, for the making or repair of water-courses, dams, and other works necessary for irrigation. Demands on the inhabitants for charitable and religious objects or institutions are universal, though not very oppressive. Every village has its priest, who depends upon the contributions of the peasantry for his support, receiving so much rice or _pári_ as his salary. The taxes on the internal trade of the country extended to every article of manufacture, produce, or consumption, and being invariably farmed out to Chinese, who employed every mode of extortion that their ingenuity could invent, or the passive disposition of the people would allow them to practice, constituted an inexhaustible source of oppression: to these we may add the feudal services and forced deliveries required under the Dutch government.

The following observations extracted from two reports, the one on _Bantam_, at the western side of the island, and the other on _Pasúruan_, almost at its other extremity, were unhappily by no means inapplicable to the greatest part of the intermediate space, and contain by no means an exaggerated representation. "The holders of _púsaka_ lands in _Bantam_ were very seldom the occupants; they generally remained about court, and on the approach of the _pári_ harvest deputed agents to collect their share of the crop. But what proportion their share would bear to the whole produce does not appear to be well defined: it is by one stated at a fifth, and by some (which I suspect to be nearest the truth) at as much as the cultivator could afford to pay, the agents of the proprietors being the judges of the quantity. The proprietors of the _púsakas_ have also a claim to the services of the cultivators: a certain number of them are always in attendance at the houses of their chiefs, and on journies are employed in carrying their persons and baggage. The lands not _púsaka_ used to pay the same proportion of produce to the Sultan as the others did to the proprietors; but the cultivators of the royal dominions laboured under greater disadvantages than the others. Every chief or favourite about court had authority to employ them in the most menial offices; and chiefs possessing _púsakas_, often spared their own people and employed the others. The Sultan always had a right to enforce the culture of any article which he thought proper to direct; and, in such cases, a price was paid upon the produce, which was generally very inadequate to the expences."

"It may be very desirable," says Mr. Jourdan, in his report on the completion of the settlement of _Pasúruan_, "that I should mention a few of the oppressions from which it is the object of the present system to relieve the people. I cannot but consider the greatest of these, the extent of the personal service demanded, not only by the _Tumúng'gung_ and his family, but the _Mántris_ and all the petty chiefs, who had trains of followers that received no stipendiary recompence. These added to the individuals employed in the coffee plantations (to which they appear peculiarly averse), in beating out the rice for the contingent, in cutting grass for and attending the _jáyang sekárs_, post carriage and letter-carriers, may be calculated to have employed one-fifth of the male population of the working men. Another great source of exaction was the large unwieldy establishment of _jáyang sekárs_, and police officers: the former were liberally paid, the latter had no regular emoluments. Both these classes, however, quartered themselves freely in whatever part of the country their functions demanded their attendance. This was equally the case with any of the Regent's family or petty chiefs who travelled for pleasure or on duty. Whatever was required for themselves and their followers, was taken from the poor inhabitants, who have now been so long accustomed to such practices, that they never dare to complain or to remonstrate. The European authority did not escape the taint of corruption. Monopolies, unpaid services, licences, forced or at least expected presents, were but too common even in the best times, and must have contributed to estrange the affections and respect of the natives from that power which should have afforded them protection. From this faint sketch it will be deduced, that while the men of rank were living in pampered luxury, the poor provincials were suffering penury and distress."

The Dutch Company, actuated solely by the spirit of gain, and viewing their Javan subjects with less regard or consideration than a West-India planter formerly viewed the gang upon his estate, because the latter had paid the purchase money of human property which the other had not, employed all the pre-existing machinery of despotism, to squeeze from the people their utmost mite of contribution, the last dregs of their labour, and thus aggravated the evils of a capricious and semi-barbarous government, by working it with all the practised ingenuity of politicians, and all the monopolizing selfishness of traders.

Can it therefore be a subject of surprize, that the arts of agriculture and the improvement of society, have made no greater advances in Java? Need it excite wonder, that the implements of husbandry are simple; that the cultivation is unskilful and inartificial; that the state of the roads, where European convenience is not consulted, is bad; that the natural advantages of the country are neglected; that so little enterprize is displayed or capital employed; that the peasant's cottage is mean, and that so little wealth and knowledge are among the agricultural population; when it is considered, that the occupant of land enjoys no security for reaping the fruits of his industry; when his possession is liable to be taken away from him every season, or to suffer such an enhancement of rent as will drive him from it; when such a small quantity of land only is allowed him as will yield him bare subsistence, and every ear of grain that can be spared from the supply of his immediate wants, is extorted from him in the shape of tribute; when his personal services are required unpaid for, in the train of luxury or in the culture of articles of monopoly; and when, in addition to all these discouragements, he is subject to other heavy imposts and impolitic restraints? No man will exert himself, when acting for another, with so much zeal as when stimulated by his own immediate interest; and under a system of government, where every thing but the bare means of subsistence is liable to be seized, nothing but the means of subsistence will be sought to be attained. The Dutch accuse the Javans of indolent habits and fraudulent dispositions; but surely the oppressor has no right to be surprized, that the oppressed appear reluctant in his service, that they meet his exactions with evasion, and answer his call to labour with sluggish indifference.

The mode of dividing land into minute portions is decidedly favourable to population, and nothing but those checks to the progress of agriculture, to which I have referred, could have limited the population of Java to numbers so disproportioned to its fertility, or confined the labours of the peasantry to so small a space of what would reward their industry with abundance. The cultivated ground on the Island has already been estimated at an eighth part of the whole area. In _Probolíng'o_ and _Besúki_, the total number of _jungs_ of land amount to 775,483, the total of land capable of superior cultivation 174,675 _jungs_, while the space actually cultivated amounts only to 13,432 _jungs_. In _Rembáng_, the land belonging to villages is about 40,000 _jungs_, and not the half of that quantity is under cultivation. In _Pasúruan_, the same appearances are exhibited. From this last district the Resident's report on the settlement states, as a reason for his assessing the same rent on all the land, "that the cultivated part bearing so small a proportion to the uncultivated, the inhabitants have been enabled to select the most fruitful spots exclusively: hence arises the little variety I have discovered in the produce." _Chéribon_, Bantam, the _Priang'en_ regencies, the eastern corner of the Island, the provinces under the native governments, and in short the greatest and most fertile districts, furnish striking illustrations of this disproportion between the bounty of nature and the inefficient exertions of man to render her gifts available, to extend population, and to promote human happiness; or rather they supply an example of unwise institutions and despotic government, counteracting the natural progress of both.

When the British arms prevailed in 1811, the attention of government was immediately turned to the state and interests of its new subjects. It saw at once the natural advantages of the Island and the causes which obstructed its prosperity, and it determined to effect those changes which, having succeeded in Western India, and being sanctioned by justice and expediency, were likely to improve those advantages and to remove those obstructions. In consequence of the instructions of Lord Minto, the Governor-General, who was present at the conquest, and took a great interest in the settlement of the Island, no time was lost to institute inquiries and to collect information on the state of the peasantry, and the other points, the knowledge of which was necessary, before any attempt to legislate could be wisely or rationally made. The following principles, laid down by his Lordship, were those on which the local government acted.

"Contingents of rice, and indeed of other productions, have been hitherto required of the cultivators by government at an arbitrary rate: this also is a vicious system, to be abandoned as soon as possible. The system of contingents did not arise from the mere solicitude for the supply of the people, but was a measure alone of finance and control, to enable government to derive a revenue from a high price imposed on the consumer, and to keep the whole body of the people dependent on its pleasure for subsistence. I recommend a radical reform in this branch to the serious and early attention of government. The principle of encouraging industry in the cultivation and improvements of lands, by creating an interest in the effort and fruits of that industry, can be expected in Java only by a fundamental change of the whole system of landed property and tenure. A wide field, but a somewhat distant one, is open to this great and interesting improvement; the discussion of the subject, however, must necessarily be delayed till the investigation it requires is more complete. I shall transmit such thoughts as I have entertained, and such hopes as I have indulged in this grand object of amelioration; but I am to request the aid of all the information, and all the lights, that this Island can afford. On this branch, nothing must be done that is not mature, because the exchange is too extensive to be suddenly or ignorantly attempted. But fixed and immutable principles of the human character and of human association, assure me of ultimate, and I hope not remote success, in views that are consonant with every motive of action that operate on man, and are justified by the practice and experience of every flourishing country of the world."

In compliance with these instructions, the object of which was embraced with zeal by the local government, to whom his lordship entrusted the administration of the Island, a commission was appointed, under the able direction of Colonel Mackenzie, to prosecute statistic inquiries; the results of which, as corrected and extended by subsequent surveys, will frequently appear in the tables and statistic accounts of this work. The nature of the landed tenure, and the demand made upon agriculture, in all the shapes of rent and taxes, were ascertained; the extortions practised by the Dutch officers, the native princes, the regents, and the Chinese, were disclosed; the rights of all classes, by law or usage, investigated; the state of the population, the quantity and value of cultivated land, of forests, of plantations of cotton and coffee, the quantity of live stock, and other resources of the country subject to colonial administration, inquired into and made known. The result of these inquiries, with regard to landed tenure, I have given above; and, as it will be seen, it was such as opposed the rights of no intermediate class between the local government and the beneficial changes it contemplated in behalf of the great body of the people. After attaining the requisite information, the course which expediency, justice, and political wisdom pointed out was not doubtful, and coincided (as in most cases it will be found to do) with the track which enlightened benevolence, and a zealous desire to promote the happiness of the people would dictate.

The peasant was subject to gross oppression and undefined exaction: our object was to remove his oppressor, and to limit demand to a fixed and reasonable rate of contribution. He was liable to restraints on the freedom of inland trade, to personal services and forced contingents: our object was to commute them all for a fixed and well-known contribution. The exertions of his industry were reluctant and languid, because he had little or no interest in its fruits: our object was to encourage that industry, by connecting its exertions with the promotion of his own individual welfare and prosperity. Capital could not be immediately created, nor agricultural skill acquired; but by giving the cultivator a security, that whatever he accumulated would be for his own benefit, and whatever improvement he made, he or his family might enjoy it, a motive was held out to him to exert himself in the road to attain both. Leases, or contracts for fixed rents for terms of years, in the commencement, and eventually in perpetuity, seemed to be the only mode of satisfying the cultivator, that he would not be liable, as formerly, to yearly undefined demands; while freedom from all taxes but an assessment on his crop, or rather a fixed sum in commutation thereof, would leave him at full liberty to devote the whole of his attention and labour to render his land as productive as possible.

In conformity with these views, an entire revolution was effected in the mode of levying the revenue, and assessing the taxes upon agriculture. The foundation of the amended system was, 1st. The entire abolition of forced deliveries at inadequate rates, and of all feudal services, with the establishment of a perfect freedom in cultivation and trade: 2d. The assumption, on the part of government, of the immediate superintendence of the lands, with the collection of the resources and rents thereof: 3d. The renting out of the lands so assumed to the actual occupants, in large or small estates, according to local circumstances, on leases for a moderate term. In the course of the following years (1814 and 1815) these measures were carried into execution in most of the districts under our government, with a view to the eventual establishment of a perpetual settlement, on the principle of the _ryotwar_, or as it has been termed on Java, the _tiáng-álit_ system.

The principles of land rental and detailed settlement were few and simple[48]. After mature inquiry, no obstacle appeared to exist, either in law or usage, to the interference of government, in regulating the condition of the peasantry; and it was resolved, therefore, that it should take into its own hands the management of that share of the land produce which was allowed to be its due, and protect the cultivator in the enjoyment and free disposal of the remainder. The undue power of the chiefs was to be removed, and so far as they had a claim for support, founded either on former services or deprivation of expected employment, they were to be remunerated in another way. The lands, after being surveyed and estimated, were to be parcelled out among the inhabitants of the villages, in the proportions established by custom or recommended by expediency. Contracts were to be entered into with each individual cultivator, who was to become the tenant of government, and leases specifying the extent and situation of their land, with the conditions of their tenure, were to be granted for one or more years, with a view to permanency, if at the end of the stipulated term, the arrangement should be found to combine the interest of the public revenue with the welfare and increasing prosperity of the occupant. If that was not the case, room was thus left for a new adjustment, for a reduction of rate, or for any change in the system which might adapt it more to the interests and wishes of the people, without prejudice to the rights of government.

This experiment hazarded nothing, and held out every prospect of success; it committed no injustice, and compromised no claim. The peasantry could not suffer, because an assessment less in amount, and levied in a less oppressive manner than formerly (all rents, taxes, and services included), was required of them: the chiefs could not complain, because they were allowed the fair emoluments of office, and only restrained from oppressions which did not so much benefit themselves as injure their inferiors. Most of the latter were not only allowed an equivalent for their former income, but employed in services allied to their former duties,--the collection of the revenue, and the superintendence of the police. As the cultivator had acquired rights which the chief could not violate, as the former held in his possession a lease with the conditions on which he cultivated his farm, no infringement of which could be attempted on the part of the latter with impunity, no evil could result from employing the chiefs in collecting the revenue of districts, while, from their practical knowledge of the habits and individual concerns of the peasantry, of the nature of the seasons and the crops, they were the fittest persons for the office. For these services it seemed most expedient to pay them, either by allowing them a certain percentage on their collections, or by allotting them portions of land rent free. The village constitution (which will be more particularly noticed in treating of the institutions of the country) was preserved inviolate; and the chiefs or head men of the villages, in many instances elected by the free will of the villagers, were invariably continued in office as the immediate collectors of the rents, and with sufficient authority to preserve the police, and adjust the petty disputes that might arise within them; the government scrupulously avoiding all unnecessary interference in the customs, usages, and details of these societies.

In looking at the condition of the peasantry, and in estimating the fertility of the soil, the wants of the people, and the proportion of produce and industry that they formerly were accustomed to pay for supporting the establishments of government, it was thought reasonable to commute all former burdens into a land rent on a fixed principle; all _sáwah_ lands being estimated by the _pári_, or unhusked rice, they could produce, and all _tégal_ lands by their produce in maize. The following (as stated in the eighty-third article of the Revenue Instructions) was considered as the fairest scale for fixing the government share, and directed to be referred to, as much as possible, as the general standard:

For _Sáwah_ Lands.

1st sort One-half of the estimated produce.
2d do. Two-fifths ditto.
3d do. One-third ditto.

For _Tégal_ Lands.

1st sort Two-fifths of the estimated produce.
2d do. One-third ditto.
3d do. One-fourth ditto.

"Government," it is said in the eighty-fifth section, "think it necessary to declare explicitly, that they will be satisfied when the land revenue shall be productive to them in these proportions, determining at no future period to raise the scale; so that the inhabitants, being thus exactly acquainted with what will form the utmost demand on them, and resting in full confidence that government will not exact any thing further, may in that security enjoy their possessions in undisturbed happiness, and apply their utmost industry to the improvement of their lands; assured that, while they conduct themselves well, that land will never be taken from them, and that the more productive they can render it, the more beneficial it will be for themselves."

The government share might either be received in money or in kind from the _sáwah_ lands; but the _tégal_ produce, though estimated in maize, was always, if possible, to be commuted into money at the lowest price in the market; and as cultivators generally held portions of both, this rule, it was conceived, could not be considered generally as a hardship.

In the first settlement, leases were only granted for a year, or at the utmost three years, and were given to intermediate renters; but in the more detailed settlement of 1814, after sufficient information had been collected on the state of the country, government determined to act directly with the individual cultivator, and to lay the foundation of a permanent system. By this latter period, the experiments have been tried to a certain extent, and had succeeded beyond the most sanguine expectation. Difficulties met us in the way, but they were by no means insurmountable; there were at first imperfections in the system, but they did not affect its principle, and were easily removed. By the zeal, the ability, and industry of the various officers entrusted with the execution of the duty, whatever was practicable in furtherance of the object in which they felt deeply interested, was accomplished. In the course of the years 1814 and 1815, the new system was introduced into _Bantam_, _Chéribon_, and the eastern districts, over a population of a million and a half of cultivators, not only without disturbance and opposition, but to the satisfaction of all classes of the natives, and to the manifest increase of the public revenue derivable from land. In several journies which I undertook into the different provinces, for the purposes of examining in person the effect of the progressive system of reform which I had the happiness to introduce, and of lending the sanction of official authority to such modifications of it as local circumstances might render advisable, I was a pleased spectator of its beneficial tendency, and of the security and satisfaction it universally diffused. The cultivator, protected against all vexatious exactions, and no longer at the beck of a tyrannical chief who made unlimited demands upon his personal services, was beginning to feel additional stimulants to his industry, to acquire a superior relish for property, and to acknowledge that government and power were not always the enemies of the lower ranks of society, or as they modestly call themselves, _the little people (tiang-halit)_. The British administration of Java, with all its agents, having watched the progress of the amended system at first with vigilant anxiety, at last saw it nearly completed with success, and rejoiced in its beneficial operation on the prosperity, improvement, and happiness of the people. During the two years that we retained possession of the island, after the greatest part of its arrangements were carried into effect, we had daily proofs of the amelioration they were producing. The cultivation was extending, the influence of the chiefs appeared to be progressively weakening, and the number of crimes, both from the superior industry of the people now become interested in the result of their labours, and from the contented tranquillity produced by an increase of the means of subsistence, as well as from the amended system of police (mentioned in another part of this work), was gradually diminishing. Without troubling the reader with further details, I may mention that, in the beginning of December 1815, a few months before I left the island, not satisfied with my own observation or the vague report of others, I circulated specific queries to the different residents, on the comparative state of cultivation in the different provinces, before the introduction of the detailed settlement, and at the latest date to which an answer could be returned, and on the comparative number of crimes at the same two periods, and the return was as gratifying to humanity and benevolence as it was corroborative of the opinions previously formed. I shall quote a few extracts from these reports. The Resident at _Chéribon_ "cannot, from certain data, tell what progress has been made in extending the cultivation of that province, but thinks it has been considerable;" and adds, "I have no doubt but that a few years of the amended system of government would render the district of _Chéribon_, so notorious for crimes, one of the most flourishing and valuable in any part of the island." The Resident of _Tégal_ is nearly in similar circumstances with regard to authentic documents, but gives a very favourable opinion, both with regard to the increase of industry and the reduction of crimes. The return from _Kedú_ is more definite: it states a positive increase of _tégal_ land to the amount of thirty-six _jungs_, but a much greater increase of produce from improved culture. The revenue afforded a sufficient proof of the latter fact. The same favourable account is given of the state of police and the diminution of crime. No data are given in the report from _Pakaláng'an_ to ascertain the additional quantity of rice lands brought into cultivation; but an opinion is expressed, that it has increased; and an assurance is afforded, that the culture of indigo and tobacco has sensibly extended. As an evidence that the means of subsistence are raised in greater abundance than formerly, their price has very considerably diminished.

A commission which was appointed to inquire into the state of the revenue, report from _Japára_ the great facility there was in collecting the revenue under the amended system, and certify its beneficial effects in extending cultivation, securing tranquillity, promoting industry, and diminishing crimes. The same commission conclude their report of _Grésik_ with similar assurances of the happy results of the revenue, and judicial arrangements for the prosperity of that province. The Resident of _Rembáng_ gives an increase of cultivation of fifty-two _jungs_ of _sáwah_ and about thirteen of _tégal_ land, and accounts for the smallness of this increase from the comparative sterility of the soil, and the precarious supply of water. Indigo had not increased, but tobacco had to a great degree. The vigilance of the police, and the ameliorating effects of the revenue settlement, are seen, it is said, in the improved state of morals. In _Surabáya_ it is stated, that during the time the amended system had been in action, there had been an increase of three hundred and twenty government _jungs_, making upwards of two thousand English acres. In the residency of _Pasúruan_ there is an increase of cultivation to the amount of three hundred and six _jungs_: this, however, does not comprehend the whole advantage that the new system produced in that province, for industry had been so much promoted by it, as to obtain two crops within the year, on many of the lands where the cultivator was formerly content with one. It is needless to enter into any further particulars, to shew the advantages of the regulations adopted with regard to the settlement of the landed revenue.

By a steady adherence to a system which, even in its origin, was productive of such fruits, by continuing to the peasant the protection of laws made for his benefit, by allowing full scope to his industry, and encouraging his natural propensity to accumulate, agriculture on Java would soon acquire a different character: it would soon become active and enterprising; there would soon be created a difference in farms and in the circumstances of individuals; capital would be fixed and augmented in the hands of the skilful and the industrious among the cultivators; the idle and the indifferent would relinquish their possessions in their favour; roads, intercourse, and markets would be increased, the organization of society would be changed, and an improved race would shew themselves, in some measure, worthy of the most fertile region of the globe. What Egypt and Sicily were in different ages to the south of Europe, Java might become to the south of Asia and the Indian Archipelago. From the exertion with which the British government endeavoured to lay the foundation of such improvements, at first amid the embarrassments of a recent conquest, and latterly with the prospect of only an intermediate possession; from the attachment it cherished for a people whose gratitude it deserved and acquired, and from the interest that every friend of humanity must feel in the anticipation of seeing this highly favoured island, the metropolis, the granary, and the centre of civilization to the vast regions between the coast of China and the Bay of Bengal, it might have been expected, that those who were instrumental in introducing the late arrangements, should watch with peculiar anxiety the first movements of the power to which the colony was transferred, and should look into the regulations for its Indian empire for the support, or the death-blow, of the most animating hopes. It must therefore be with peculiar satisfaction that we see, with regard to the freedom of cultivation, the Dutch government sanctions what we had done, and gives our regulations permanency by embodying them in its colonial policy. In articles seventy-eight and seventy-nine of the fundamental laws for the civil, judicial, and mercantile administration of India[49], we find the following enactments. "The free cultivation of all articles of produce which may be raised in the possessions of the state in India, is granted to the inhabitants of these possessions; with the exception of cloves, nutmegs, and opium, and without prejudice to the regulations which might be adopted concerning the contingents and forced deliveries, which on a resumption of these possessions out of the hands of the English, will be found to be continued in force. All the fruits of cultivation raised within the possessions of the states beyond the forced deliveries, and every kind of produce not comprehended under the exceptions mentioned above, are to be the lawful property of the cultivator. The free unrestrained disposal thereof belongs to him of right, as soon as the land rent assessed thereon, either in kind or money, shall be paid. It is the duty of the Indian administration to maintain him in these rights." Let him be maintained in those rights, and the Dutch government will realize a revenue far beyond the amount of their former assessments, without, as formerly, disgracing the Europeans in the eyes of the Asiatic, by their weakness, corruption, and injustice.

FOOTNOTES:

[46] See Treaties of the Dutch with the Native Princes.

[47] This article has never been a contingent or forced delivery with the Dutch; and its extensive cultivation in the district of Kedu gives a proof of what the natives will do if not interfered with by European monopoly. The _Kedú_ is, in consequence of this cultivation, by far the richest province in the island, giving an annual revenue to the government, in money, of half a million of rupees. This important district was never subjected to the Dutch government: it was transferred to the British in 1812, and immediately fell under the Revenue System.

[48] These principles were contemplated as just and practicable by a Dutch authority (Van Hogendorp) who resided on Java, and criticized freely the measures of administration, as will appear from the following extracts from a work, which only came into my possession subsequently to the introduction of the new system by the British government. "Property of the soil must be introduced by granting all the cultivated lands to those who have hitherto cultivated them, or, in other words, to the common Javans. All the rice fields belonging to each _désa_ should be distributed among its inhabitants, and the gardens or spots of ground in which their cottages stand, should also, in future, be their personal property. Correct registers hereof should be kept, and certificates given to the different owners. Who can produce a better and nearer right to the personal possession of the land, than he who has cultivated and made it productive? And is there a country in the world where the natives are happy, free, and well settled, without having a property in the soil? Our own country, and all the kingdoms of Europe, afford the most direct proofs of this: they flourish in proportion as property is more or less secure and equally divided among the inhabitants of each. All Europe groaned under the feudal system of government: all Europe has freed itself from it; but by various means and in different degrees. Why, therefore, can similar changes not be brought about on Java? Every thing urges us to make them, and the results must be important and most advantageous to us. Java is alone able to relieve our commonwealth from all its difficulties.

"In order to collect a land-tax properly, a general and correct survey should, in the first instance, be effected in all the districts belonging to us, according to an established land measure, to be introduced generally throughout Java; for this is, at present, very irregular. All the lands should then be divided into three classes, first, second, and third class, according to the proportionate fertility of the soil, and according to the same proportion the land-tax should be established. I am very ready to admit, that this will naturally be difficult and troublesome; but what system of government is exempt from these inconveniences? and particularly in this country, where it is necessary to effect a radical change and reform, in order to produce any beneficial results? But with diligence, zeal, and deliberation, all difficulties may be overcome; and even should the survey not be exactly correct in the first instance, it might be improved from year to year. The word _jung_ is now used by the Javans for a certain measure of land; but this differs so much in different districts, that it is impossible to ascertain how many square roods of land a _jung_ ought to contain. The name might be retained, however, after having found by experience how many square roods, in general or on an average, are contained in a _jung_, the proportion might be once for all established, introduced throughout the island, and fixed as the regular land measure of the country. It would be difficult, and as yet unnecessary, to calculate how many _jungs_ of land our territories on Java contain, and how much might be collected as a land-tax from each _jung_, in order to ascertain what this tax would amount to. I think it should be taken as a principle, that the land-tax can and ought to produce as much as the head-money, (namely, a rix-dollar per head): the land-tax would then yield an annual and certain income of at least two millions and a half of rix-dollars. Every spot of cultivated ground being measured and settled to which class it belongs, every owner will correctly know, how much he must pay for land-tax annually, and be completely at liberty to plant his land with whatever he may prefer, and may conceive most conducive to his advantage. I am of opinion, that during the first years it would be difficult, on account of the scarcity of specie, or rather its absence from circulation, to collect the land-tax; but, in the same way as with the head-money, it would be expedient, in the first years, to be somewhat indulgent in the collection, or else to receive produce in lieu of money, which might be done in this tax better than the capitation. But after five years of good administration, I am certain that the land-tax would be fully and without difficulty collected."

[49] Dated 1815.