Holland's Method of Governing in the Orient
m
T IS odd that no senate or con
gress investigation committee
lias perceived tho necessity of
taking n trip through Java, tho
Pearl of the Orient, and Its sister
Island, Sumatra, or at least through such
parts of the latter island as are in condl
tion to be visited without fatal conse
quences. I.i these possessions of Holland many of
the problems that face the I'nile I States in
'he Philippines have been under process if
methodical and cosy, if not brilliant, sol.i
lion for almost a century.
For a century the Dutchman's burden in
Achin has nmused itself ly flouting his au
thority nt.d also cutting his bead olT, when
ever possible, nnd smoking it to be pre
served. Every few months the patient op
timistic Hollander nnnounrcs to an Indif
ferent world that tho last fight has been
fought, and that within a day or two there
after the I Mitch troops w ill enter victori
ously into the capital of the Achlner.e. Rut
somehow one never hears of that final vic
torious arrival, nnd the suspicion Is nl
ways In the air that what percentage of the
Hutch troops does at last enter tho Achin
ese capital does so in the form of sou
venirs of tho occasion.
The Achlneso Fits in simple ease and
with cheerful readiness to do murder In
his country of Aehin. which lies In the
northern end of Sumatra. When the Hutch
send troops out from Hatavia they face
about the same proposition as If they had
to send troops through wild and moun
tainous country from New York to Chicago,
for that Is about the length of Sumatra.
Reyond the fact that the Achinese are
exceedingly Industrious In their national
profession of killing persons who Invade
them, little la known about them. They
do not encourage visits, and Achin is pre
eminently a bourne from which no traveler
ret urns.
Consequent ly the most accurate and re
liable statistics that even the statistle
mad iMitchtnnn can produce about this
t ret her of our own Tagalugs Is that more
than in, 000 stout Hutch soldiers have de
parted this life and about one hundred
million stout Hutch dollars have done the
same, in efforts to make the Achinese n
good iMitchman. And the net result Is that
the Achinese is Identically as free, mur
derous and native as he was before the
first Dutchman landed on Sumatra.
South of Achin are several millions of
kindly savages who are the result of an
Ingenious mixture of the blood of Malays
from the Malay peninsula, head-hunting
Hyaks of Ilorneo and gentle Hindoos. ThH
mixture, which Is known ns Battak. Is
highly successful in its own way. Seme of
the tribes have the fad of cannibalism;
hi hers have chosen the Dutchman's "squar"
face," and under the soothing Influences
of his gin and his money they labor in the
pepper and tobacco plantations and nre
model citizens according to their dim
lights.
As in the Philippines, the dattos, or
native chiefs, have been, and nre, the mist
serioiiM of the many factors In the tangled
problem of colonial empire.
The Dutchman has treated the datto with
placid and truly Hutch ponderosity, sitting
upon him In state, with constant assur
ances that he Is sitting somewhere else
entirely.
So It Is that the Javanese is happy In the
convlctlan that his holy dattos or kings
still rule him. The "emperor" of Sura
karta still holds his gorgeous Imperial
court in beautiful Surakarta, whose land
scape looks as If It were chiseled out of
lapis lazuli and emerald. The twenty-one
other kings and princes and dattos have
their grand palaces and their dancers and
their ministers. Their people and their
officials still crawl toward I hem on hand.
and knees.
So careful Is the placid Dutchman not to
hurt the feelings of his burden that the
Hutch resident who is stationed in each of
these twenty-two provinces of Java Is noi
even known ns governor, although be is
the great boss, with almost all powers of
n king. Instead, his title is that of older
brother to the king or ilalto.
The Javanese prim e is a holy peis m,
indeed, to his subjects. They appr.uch him
only w ith awed veiicral ii n, and his w ish
Is sacred.
Almost all of tin- twenty-two native rul
eis are immensely rich. Indeed, If It can
be said that any human being can have
without stint whatever he desires, be It
what it may, it may be said if these Jav
anese great nesses. vvlnse divine authority
Is recognized by the majority i f the fili.n.Hi,
(100 people who dwell in the Hutch East
Indies.
There is only one exception to the list if
what they may have. That one exception
Is freedom. The Javanese ruler Is a pre
cious bird in a golden cage. To do him
honor, a squadron of square-shouldered
Hutch cavalry never fails to escort him
when he goes out.
To make sure that he shall not incur
Illness or fatigue by going out too often,
the elder brother has so arranged It In
each residency that his royal highness
shall never venture from his golden palace
until that good elder brother shall have
considered the wisdom of It. Neither may
his royal '.Ighness be annoyed by Improper
persons. The elder brother takes care of
that, too, by scanning the mimes of intend
ing visitors before permitting them to call.
To do still further honor to the Javanese
primes, the affectionate Hutchman has
built very pretty forts, so situated that
every Javanese palace Is commanded nently
nnd completely.
Once the Javanese princes started to
move their palaces, or kratous. which Is
the native name of the big groups of build
ings that nre necessary to the majesty of
tho brilliant life. The primes declared
that it was a religious law lhat the kruton
must not remain on the same site for more
than a century, and the century was about
up.
Whatever the iMitchinnn may have
thought about the religious part of the ex
planation, he did not wink nil eyelid, but
agreed cheerfully. Only, he remarked, of
course hi- would feel It incumbent on him
to honor the prince's by moving the Hutch
forts also, so that they should still protett
the kratons In their new site. And, of
course, said the Dutchman, tho expense
would, no doubt, be borne by the princes.
The princes have not changed the loca
tion of their kratons.
The Hutchman is not always In absolute
control of the situation, however. There
Is u Javanese Hlsinarck. He Is so clever
that the Dutch have given him the name.
His right name Is more difficult to re
member. It Is ltaden Vllpntl Sosrodlnln
grat. He Is tin- husband of the sister of
the soesoi hoenan. the "emperor" of Sura
karta. and occupies a position In that
grand court that is similar to the post of
premier or Imperial chancellor In Kuropean
courts.
The importance of his office can be re
alized more clearly when It Is understood
that the rule of the native chiefs Is direct
They govern the people under native laws
and the Dutch hide behind them, so that,
nlihuigh they pull the strings of govern
ment, the Europeans, as well ns the na
tives, are Judged and ruled by the princes.
As it is the policy of the Dutch, In addi
tion to this, to conciliate the native popu
lation by making It feel that Its Interests
are protected particularly, the tendency is
always to give the native the best of It In
disputes between natives and while men.
Coimoquoiil ly, the character of the Impe
rial chancellor at Surakarta Is of vast Im
portance. All leases, contracts nnd other
transactions connected with plantations
come before him. He must stand between
the princes and the Dutch government, and
that Is no sinecure, for the Javanese prince
Is an autocratic and haughty person, who
Is spoiling for a scrap with his elder
brother, an. I also the great father at
ltatnvla.
Gleams of Mirth Which Brighten Solemn Court Proceedings
T FOKT SCOTT. Kan., the other
day a Jury in tin district court
i. i returned a venli t (hiding a cor
teiu accused peisiii guilty of lar-
, lllf fl I 1 t I 11, .11 1IUI Ul til
prepared In the technical form desired and
the judge sent the jury bark to make the
necessary corrections. The jury was gone
for half an hour, and when it returned It
brought in a verdict acquitting the prisoner.
Hut a verdict even more a'ntisin; was per
pet'.Urd by a jury at Pittsburg last Mon
day. The case was a criminal one, and
nfter a few minutes' consultation the jury
filed into the box from Its room. "Have
you agreed upon a verdict?" asked the
judge. "We have," responded the foreman,
passing it over. "The clerk will read,"
said the judge. And the clerk read, "We,
your jury, agree to disagree."
"The funniest experience that I hae ever
had In all my years of practice at the bar
occurred dining n murder trial," said a
lawyer quoted by the Philadelphia Ledger.
"An Irishman was to be tried for murder,
and from what I had learned about the
case I felt that my client would be con
victed, if not for first degree murder, then
surely for second degree murcYr. I was
so uneasy about the matter that I went
to an Irish friend of mine and deliberately
planned to prevent conviction In either de
gree. This friend of mine was a juryman
and his chances of getting on the jury In
the murder case were very good, so I urged
him to stick until the last for a verdict of
manslaughter. He said he would, and I
knew that he would keep his promise.
"The panel was exhausted, nnd my friend
Pat was one of the twelve men In whose
htinds rested the fate of my client. I was
positive that he would not hang. The trial
was an Interesting one, and the Jury re
tired after listening to the judge's charge.
Seven hours passed before they returned.
"The poll of the jury showed that the
prisoner was guilty of manslaughter, and
after the Jurymen were discharged I walked
up to Pat and said:
" 'Pat, you saved the day. It was a
great piece of work for you. How did you
manage to bring the other eleven to your
way of thinking?"
" 'Oh, I had the divil's own time of doln'
It. This is on the quiet. When we first
began to ballot, eleven of thlm fellows
was for acquittal, but I stuck to my job
until I brought them around to manslaugh
ter.' "
Bert Norton! of Macon, Mo., won a law
suit In the federal court at Hannibal a
few days ago In a way luminal among law
yersby silence. Mr-4. Martha H. Phlpps
of Mncon sued the Atchison, Topcka &
Santa Fe Railway company for llfi.tioii. She
claimed that u spark from one of its cn-
rdnce caused the burning of her deceased
husband's business properly at Ethel. The
testimony showed that the Sauta Fe train
stopped at Kthel four minutes tho night
of tho fire, but also that tho fire was well
under way before the train pulled out,
nnd the road's attorney argued that It was
ridiculous to maintain that a fire could be
started by a spark and get well under way
In such a short time. Mr. Norlonl devoted
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CHINESE SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS OF FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHL'RCII, OMAHA Flashlight Photo by a Staff Artist.
pract ically his out ire argument to this point.
lie suld, says tho Macon Republican,
"if a young fellow was sitting on a sofa,
'playing hands' with his girl, time trav
eled like an express train, but if you
dumped a lot of engine .-parks on tho pine
roof of n dry bulltilng In Bummer time
four minutes were ample to settle tho fute
of tho structure In spite of all efforts to
save it. There were some Incredulous
BiuileB at this. The uitornoy took out hU
watch and handed It to Juryman L. 8. Har
lan, a banker of Clifton Hill, Randolph
county, and requested him to signal when
four minutes had pasuid. Tho jurymen
leaned over and looked down at the watch.
Then they got tired and settled back In
their seats. Mr. Harlan lowered his band
and rcHlcd It on his knees. Tho ultorney
shifted his feet a few times, and ual down
in a chair. Judge Adams looked at the
clock and then out of tho window.
"A deputy marshal put his head In at
the door to see what was the matter and
waited tho result of the curious sccue.
Nearly every man In the room that had a
watch was Btudylng Its face. The speaker
was sacrificing four minutes of his allot
ted time, but ho felt that It was well In.
vested. At lust Juror Hurlau announced the
four minutes had expired und handed the
watch back to Mr. Nortonl. Only four
minutes, und yet to every man lu tho room
It hud seemed, under i he suppressed ten
sion, to have been twice us long- The
court remarked after the case hud been de
cided that It appeared fully lifteeii min
utes. Tho wearisome suspense was un ef
fective object lesson to tho Jury und was
a startling exposition of what might trans,
pirc lu that time. Tho jury found that
the defendant's engine hud ample time lu
lour minutes to Ore tho restuurant build
lug, and they brought in a verdict for tho
pluintlff for $14,11)8.28 the exact sum her
proof showed her loss to be."
The case had been pending In the courts
ten year.
Players of Nebraska Whist League Who Took Part in the State Tournament at Omaha-Flashlight Photo by a Staff Artist
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