Stories from Deli

Pratt, 1895

It was in the year 1862 that an Arab drew the attention of a commercial house in Batavia to the district of Deli, on the east coast of Sumatra, a country where pepper and tobacco were being produced, and where a good market could be found for European goods. This led to a commercial expedition to Deli in March, 1863, which expedition was joined by Mr. Nienhuys, a tobacco planter in java, with the special object of inspecting the soil in Deli and seeing whether it was suitable for tobacco cultivation.

Received with open arms by the then Sultan of Deli, Mahmood Perkasa Alam, the commercial agents entered into commercial and agricultural agreements, but these agreements for various reasons came to nothing, and the only result of the expedition was that Mr. Nienhuys obtained a firm footing in Deli.

Being provided with the necessary funds by a firm in Rotterdam, Mr. Nienhuys sent his first 50 bales to Europe in 1865, and, in 1866, 189 bales, and this tobacco attracted the attention of experts to such an extent that Mr. P. W. Janssen, on the advice of a tobacco merchant (Mr. A. Clemen), and having full confidence in the report of Mr. Nienhuys, who had gone to Amsterdam, decided to assist him financially, especially as Mr. Nienhuys had taken with him very favorable offers of concessions from the Sultan of Deli. The first results of this new enterprise were very favorable; the first shipment of the 1868 crop was sold in that year for 2.25 florins per half kilogram (90 cents per 1.1 pounds), and this was an inducement to extend the undertaking.

The opinion is that there is at present no demand for more than 200,000 bales a year at the most, and when the production surpasses this quantity, another crisis will be experienced. As far as I have been able to gather from the means at my disposal, there are at present on the east coast of Sumatra twenty-six public companies and about twenty-five private planters engaged in tobacco cultivation. As to the mode of cultivation, the planting is done by Chinese coo lies, imported chiefly direct from China. When the number from China proves insufficient, Chinese are engaged in the Straits Settlements on contract. Each Chinese coolie gets a field of three-fourths of a bouw. He has to plant tobacco on that field, and he gets payment for his labor when the tobacco is ripe and delivered by him to his master. When he delivers his tobacco, the coolie is paid per 1,000 plants, according to quality, from $1 to $8. During the planting season, however, he receives an advance of $5 per month.

When the tobacco is in the fermenting sheds, the Chinese work in the sheds on contract until the planting season commences again. They are chiefly employed at sorting tobacco, and receive therefor three-fourths of a cent for each bundle of thirty-five to forty leaves. The payment of coolies on the estates is made on the 1st and 16th of the month, when they are paid what they have earned, or given advances.

Besides Chinese, other coolies are employed, namely 2 Japanese, who, in the beginning, get $6 a month and the women $3 per month. They are used for roadmaking, shed building, and jungle cutting or clearing work. These wages must be considered as a minimum; as soon as they learn their work, they enter into contracts for piecework, and a good workman can earn as much as $12 per month.

Klings are also found in Deli, but they are comparatively few, as the British Government does not allow the emigration of laborers to Nether lands India. Those Klings who manage to get over, work as cattle keepers and roadmakers, and earn from $6 to $9 per month.

For jungle cutting, $10 to $30 per 1,000 square fathoms are paid, according to the nature of the wood that has to be felled. This is done in gangs, and each man’s share comes to between $2 and $5. For cutting long grass (lalang), a man receives $5 as maximum for 10,000 square fathoms. Plowing is paid for by the month. With a plow and two pairs of buffa loes, one-third of a field, or one-fourth of a bouw, can be plowed per day. A Japanese or Kling gets for this $8 per month, and for looking after the buffaloes, $2. A boy for driving the buffaloes and keeping off the mosquitoes receives $3 to $4.

From Consular report, E. Spencer Pratt, 1895