Chinese Economic Activity in Netherlands India: Selected Translations from the Dutch 9789814379410

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Chinese Economic Activity in Netherlands India

The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) was established as an autonomous organization in 1968. It is a regional research centre for scholars and other specialists concerned with modem Southeast Asia, particularly the many-faceted problems of stability and security, economic development, and political and social change. The Institute is governed by a twenty-two-member Board of Trustees comprising nominees from the Singapore Government, the National University of Singapore, the various Chambers of Commerce, and professional and civic organizations. A ten-man Executive Committee oversees day-to-day operations; it is chaired by the Director, the Institute's chief academic and administrative officer. TheASEAN Economic Research Unit is an integral part of the Institute, coming under the overall supervision of the Director who is also the Chairman of its Management Committee. The Unit was formed in 1979 in response to the need to deepen understanding of economic change and political developments in ASEAN. The day-to-day operations of the Unit are the responsibility of the Co-ordinator. A Regional Advisory Committee, consisting of a senior economist from each of theASEAN countries, guides the work of the Unit. The Project on the Economic History of Southeast Asia was established in 1988 by the Research School of Pacific Studies of the Australian National University, Canberra. It premised on the conviction that the varied contemporary economic performance of Southeast Asia cannot be understood without reference to the past, and that a concentration on this neglected area will provide an important input into Southeast Asian Studies on the one hand, and a better understanding of the development process on the other. This paper in the Data Paper Series: Sources for the Economic History of Southeast Asia is published in conjunction with the ASEAN Economic Research Unit of ISEAS. To provide the data necessary for broader economic work, the series will make available in English, and in contemporary metric measures, statistical data, contemporary description, and pioneering scholarship currently inaccessible to most analysts because of the diversity of languages, measures and locations in which they are found. The project welcomes translations of sources and long statistical time series.

DATA PAPER SERIES

Sources for the Economic History of Southeast Asia No.2

Chinese Econon1ic Activity in Netherlands India Selected Translations from the Dutch Edited by

M.R. Fernando Australian National University

David Bulbeck Australian National University

SOl JTHEAST ASIA PROJEl:T RP.sean:h School of Pacific Studies

F:r:ONOMil: HISTCJ]{Y OF

l\w,lr;didll N;Jiiullull:lli\ursil\ C:an!Jurra

A SEAN ECCJNOMil: RESEARCH UNIT Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Singapore

Published by Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Heng Mui Keng Terrace Pasir Panjang Singapore 0511 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. © 1992 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies The responsibility for facts and opinions expressed in this publication rests exclu~ively with the authors and their interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views or the policy of the Institute or its supporters. Cataloguing in Publication Data Chinese economic activity in Netherlands India: Selected translations from the Dutch I translated by M.R. Fernando; edited by David Bulbeck. (Data paper series. Sources for the economic history of Southeast Asia; no. 2) 1. Chinese-Indonesia-Economic conditions. 2. Chinese-Indonesia-History-Sources. 3. Indonesia-History-1478-1789-Sources. 4. Indonesia-History-1798-1942-Sources. I. Fernando, M.R. II. Bulbeck, David. III. Series. DS511 A81D no. 2

1992

ISBN 981-3016-21-3 Printed in Singapore by Prime Packaging Industries Pte Ltd.

s1s91-213094

CONTENTS

List of Tables

vii

List of Illustrations

viii xi

Preface

1.

Introduction MR. Fernando

1

2.

The Changing Economic Position of the Chinese in Netherlands India Phoa Liong Gie

5

3.

Chinese Control over Rural Trade in Java in the Mid-Nineteenth Century Anonyrrwus contributors

19

4.

Effects of the Revenue Farming System L. Vita/is

26

5.

The Power of Money-Lenders in Java F. Fokkens

43

6.

A Plea for Tighter Controls on Chinese Revenue Farming and Immigration F. Fokkens

58

7.

Statistical Section M.R. Fernando and David Bulbeck

76

v

vi

8.

The Chinese Business Community in Netherlands India Edited by 1 L. Vleming jnr

90

Kongsi and Companies (Chapter 7)

92

The Credit System (Chapter 10)

121

'Hwe' Chinese Credit Circles (lulu-lulu) (Chapter 11)

146

Speculation and the Futures Trade (Chapter 12)

150

The Chinese Business Community Today in the Various Parts of Netherlands India (Chapter 14)

167

Glossary

261

References

267

Index

270

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1

State Revenues from the Market Tax Farm, 1824-1850

80

Table 2

State Revenues from the Pawnshop Farm, 1825-1900

81

Table 3

State Revenues from the Livestock Slaughter Farm, 1826-1897

82

Table 4

State Revenues from the Toll-Bridge and Lift-Lock Farms, 1824-1900

83

Table 5

State Revenues from the Opium Farm in Java and Madura, 1821-1900

84

State Revenues from the Opium Farm in the Outer Islands, 1860-1900

85

Occupational Structure of Foreign Asians in Java and Madura in 1875

86

Occupational Structure of Foreign Asians in Java and Madura in 1905

87

Table 9

Occupational Structure of Foreign Asians in the Outer Islands in 1875

88

Table 10

Occupational Structure of Foreign Asians in the Outer Islands in 1905

89

Table 6 Table 7 Table 8

14.2

Survey of Chinese Businesses in Batavia

168

14.8

The Population of Java and Madura in November 1920

200

14.14

Summary of the Population of the Outer Islands and the Total Population of Netherlands India, Quoted from the Census Data of November 1920

252

Industrial Enterprises in Netherlands India

254

14.15

Vll

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Map 1 Map2 Plate 1

Plate 2

Cover.

Java and Madura: Residencies and Main Commercial Centres Mentioned in the Text

vii

The Outer Islands: Residencies and Main Commercial Centres Mentioned in the Text

viii

A Chinese Pedlar with his Coolie. Coloured lithograph by J.J.X. Pfyffer zu Neneck, c.1830. Reproduced with permission from Bea Brommer, Reizend door Oost-Indie Printen en Verhalen uit de I 9 Eeuw ( 1979. ), p. 23

15

The Market at Buitenzorg. Anonymous coloured lithograph, before 1851. Reproduced with permission from Bea Brommer, Reizend door Oost-Indie Printen en Verhalen uit de 19 Eeuw (1979), p. 28

27

Recently-arrived Chinese "coolie" depicted by Lemercier in the mid-nineteenth century. Reproduced with kind permission of Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam.

viii

Thousand

~,anger~ng Cf-~' '"""',_, ', ',~,,,-

546.2

685.2

721.2

879.6

197.4

583.2

902.4

594.0

20.5 30.5 45.0

105.6 144.0 105.6 !15 .2 608.4 271.2 283.2 192.2 170.4 384.0 565.2 214.8 228.0 432.0 169.2

108.0 171.6 155.9 114.6 528.4 103.2 204.1 204.0 198.1 324.0 672.2 320.4 474.2 566.9 154.1

78.0

152.6

70.8 120.0 75.8 145.2 320.4 144.2 240.2 252.1 258.0 444.0 540.0 802.9 600.0 384.7 160.9 50.5 42.8 101.2

165.2 436.1 342.6 231.0 1,212.0 189.6 444.1 312.0 495.7 564.4 960.0 828.0 1,596.0 949.2 445.2 170.4 91.2 125.4

120.6 288.2 228.0 151.4 1,381.3 134.5 252.0 301.8 651.5 240.0 540.0 660.0 1,440.0 1,080.0 420.1 177.8 126.2 126.1

135.6 240.0 205.4 180.0 I ,500.0 144.0 336.5 480.1 624.1 336.2 I, 128.1 660.4 1,764.6

12.0 27.0

74.0 159.6 48.0 74.4 553.2 84.0 120.0 289.9 303.6 272.4 444.0 556.4 456.0 730.1 1!4.0 31.2 21.6 61.5

1,269.0

4,650.2

5,354.7

4,987.9

5,300.1

10,243.3

9,040.7

8,614.6

200.0 79.0 85.0 49.0 198.0 198.0 120.6 7.0

~enm

SOURCES: figures for 1821, 1833, 1840 and 1850 are from E. de Waa1, Aanteekeningen over Koloniale Onderwerpen, val. 1, pp. 63, 71 (The Hague, 1865). The remaining figures are from Koloniaal Verslag for the respective years.

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TABLE 6

State Revenues from the Opium Farm in the Outer Islands, 1860-1900 (In '000 guilders) Residency

1860

1870

1880

1890

West Coast of Sumatra Bengku1en Palembang East Coast of Sumatra Aceh Riau Bangka Belitung Western Borneo South and East Borneo Celebes Man ado Amboina Ternate Timor Bali and Lombok

192.1 12.2 19.2

146.6 21.3 48.0

84.0 75.0 10.7 253.7

437.7 148.0 32.4 211.2

81.8 8.6 15.0 11.0 6.5

50.3 16.9 16.8 5.6 4.1

261.8 36.4 171.7 617.6 417.7 267.6 181.7 123.6 106.2 46.3 103.7 14.4 81.6 7.8 1.2

288.1 27.6 72.4 2,602.6 120.0 784.8 210.0 223.1 112.3 32.3 139.0 11.4 65.3 3.0 3.6 121.6

216.0 24.6 79.2 1,803.6 570.8 457.2 279.0 180.0 98.0 10.6 122.5 15.0 43.5 1.8 3.2 102.2

4,817.1

4,007.3

Outer Islands Total

769.8

1,138.9

2,439.3

1900

(/l

s;

:j

(/l

:j

n ;J> r (/l

(11

SOURCE:

All figures are from Koloniaal Verslag for the respective years.

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TABLE 7 Occupational Structure of Foreign Asians in Java and Madura in 1875

Residency

Services Agriculture and Fishing

Manufacturing Commerce and Mining

Transport

Ban ten Batavia Priangan Cirebon Pekalongan Banyumas Semarang Kedu Rem bang Yogyakarta Surakarta Madiun Kediri Surabaya Pasuruan Besuki Madura

8 182 1 40 40 13 61 20 62 6 9 8 11 52 18 32 48

330 5,882 8 93 49 5 394 49 66 0 50 4 17 184 137 40 436

206 3,500 115 359 138 40 686 35 281 26 75 67 238 577 119 217 50

141 5,698 241 2,908 1,762 718 1,388 1,501 2,381 473 1,320 506 974 3,145 775 750 1,469

5 94 0 21 20 0 0 0 23 0 0 3 0 78 6 14 271

Total Chinese Total Others Total Foreign Asians

495 116 611

7,118 626 7,744

6,531 198 6,729

22,334 3,8161 26,150

209 326 2 535

1.1

14.2

12.3

--

Percentage of Total

47.9

1.0

n

Other

Total

59 6,293 23 799 577 139 1,743 206 1,251 34 278 156 187 491 410 89 79

749 21,649 388 4,220 2,586 915 4,272 1,811 4,064 539 1,732 744 1,427 4,527 1,465 1,142 2,353

1.4 39.7 0.7 7.7 4.7 1.7 7.8 3.3 7.4 1.0 3.2 1.4 2.6 8.3 2.7 2.1 4.3

11,665 1,149 12,814

48,352 6,201 54,583

88.6 11.4

Percentage of Total

23.5

---

1 The figure cited in the source is 4,816, which must be a typographical error.

2 The peculiar excess of non-Chinese over Chinese foreign Asians in transport is could be due to the situation in Madura. The volume edited by Vleming notes

the existence of a numerous group of fishermen of Taiwanese extraction but Japanese nationality in Madura (seep. 183 of this translation).

SOURCE: Koloniaal Verslag 1877, Appendix A. The breakdown by residency of foreign Asians into Chinese and Others is not given. Tegal has been grouped with Pekalongan, Japara with Rembang, Banyuwangi with Besuki, and Bagelen with Kedu, to correspond with the 1905 residency boundaries.

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