Stories from Deli

SUMATRA : THE EAST COAST

In an economic sense particularly, the island of Sumatra is making gratifying progress.
Already the areas producing coffee, rubber, and tea are very extensive, and expansion is taking place in connection with those and other products.

On the east coast and at Atjeh alone during the first six months of 1916 the production of plantation and wild rubber totalled 6,750,681 kilogrammes, made up of 6,282,101 kg of Hevea 273,111 kg. of plantation Ficus, and 15,466 kg. of wild Ficus. Of the Hevea, Great Britain took 2,409,387 kg., the United States 2,912,059 kg., Singapore 428,488 kg., Penang 24 1,017 kg., Netherlands 22,170 kg., and Java 268,983 kg.

The export of coffee during the same period from Sumatra amounted to 3,218,331 kg., of which the largest portion (2,252,200 kg.) was Robusta. Gambier is also largely exported, 783,642 kg. leaving the east coast in the first six months of 1916. Copra is widely grown along the coast, and during the period in question 783,624 kg. were sent abroad, while rattan was exported to the extent of 1,211,378 kg. Of Penang nuts 1,997,285 kg. went to the Straits Settlements alone.

Tea planting has come greatly into favour in recent years, and 538,486 kg. of the leaf left the east coast during the first half of 1916. Another source of wealth is tobacco, and of this commodity no less than 14,037,417 kg. were dispatched from east Sumatran ports in the period under notice, the principal destination being Holland.

Following were the principal articles of export from the east coast of Sumatra in 1915:

Kerosene, 140,280,021 litres; benzine and gasolene, 84,600,762 litres; liquid fuel, 6,296,20 litres;

forest products, 6,006,621 kg.; , rubber: Hevea, 9,085,943 kg.; Ficus plantation, 441,222 kg.; Ficus jungle, 32,213 kg.; other sorts, 1,693 kg.;

Copra, 5,105,240 kg.; gambier, 2, 124,979; gutta-percha, 583,421 kg.; charcoal, 916,704 kg.;

Coffee: Liberia, 2,174,106 kg; Robusta, 1,188,552 kg. ; Java, 11,047 kg.; other sorts, 97,264 kg.;

black pepper, 1,487,555 kg.; Penang nuts, 4,006,294 kg.; rattan, 4,517,462 kg.: sago flour, 176,586 kg.; Deli tobacco leaf, 20,821,722 kg.; tea leaves, 638, I 18 kg. ; trass, 8,717,755 kg.; salt or dried fish, 26,092,005 kg.; fresh fruit, 47,092 kg.

During the last few years the rubber areas of the island have increased in the following manner: At the end of 1908 the acreage was 32,347; in 1909, 54,1700 in 1910, 73,826; in 1911, 127,000; in 1912, 213,000; in 1913, 239,650; in 1914, 245,000; in 1915, 255,000. As showing the extent to which rubber has expanded, there are now 216 estates on the east coast alone. The largest estate is the Kisaran, of the Holland-Sumatra Company, with an area of 5,055 acres and 611,655 trees.

Following were the totals in parcels, together with their values, of tobacco for the years named: . In 1909, 273,725 (F. 34,600,000); in 1910, 234, 133 (F. 47,8oo,ooo); in 1911, 280,704 (F. 62,200,000); in 1912, 282,920 (F. 60,000,000); in 1913, 251,689 (F. 49,000,000); in 1914, 246,543 (F. 35,800,000).

On the east coast of Sumatra there are 20 tea-producing estates, the largest properties being the Martoba, Naga Hoeta, and Simbolon, all owned by the Rubber Plantations Investment Trust Company.

As a result of the war, a great stimulus has been given in Sumatra to rice production. During 1915 there was imported to the east coast a total of 98,642,336 kg., of which 21,868,682 kg. came from Siam, 68,350,357 kg. from British India, 5 15,522 kg. from Saigon, 9£ kg. from Java, and 2,486,920 kg. from other places, also 681,929 kg. of paddy.

Labour on the Sumatran estates is a weighty problem, but the conditions under this head have improved of late. On January 1, 1916, there were 172,869 contract coolies. These consisted of 42,350 Chinese, 89,646 Javanese men, 37,380 Javanese women, 3,181. Tamils, and 312 of other nationalities. The total number of estates employing these workers was 268.

Pangkalan Brandan is noted for the refining and distilling of crude oil. From the Atjeh terrain the finished product in 1915 totalled 123,329 kg. tons, while the Langkat output was: Darat, 83,835 kg. tons, and Telaga Said, 13,091 kg. tons. The Royal Dutch Oil Company for the exploitation of oil wells in Netherlands India now has a capital of F. 100,000,000.

Today it owns, a fleet of between 60 and 70 ships, while at its various refineries over 1,000 Europeans are employed in addition to 25,000 Chinese and native workmen.

The Royal Dutch Company is, with the Shell Company of London, the largest holders of shares in the Batavia Petroleum Company. The duty collected on petroleum during 1915 totalled F. 395,463. The Standard Oil Company of New York has opened offices and depots in Sumatra for the sale of its oils.

Of late years much capital has been invested in the plantations of Sumatra. At the end of 1915 the total amount was estimated at over F. 200,000,000. Of this sum, tobacco claimed about 46,000,000, of which F. 40,000,000 represented Dutch money, and F. 4,665,000 British. Coffee and rubber absorbed about F. 124,000, 000, and of this Dutch investments aggregated over F. 62,000,000 and British F. 53,645,932. The money in tea stood at F. 7,170,000, nearly F. 6,000,000 of which British capital. Coconuts, coffee, gambier, and oil palms have also attracted foreign capital.

In 1915, the total amount was estimated at F. 200,000,000. Of this amount, tobacco claimed about

The principal industrial centres of Sumatra have Chambers of Commerce. The one at Medan, on the east coast, has a large membership, and is a very representative institution. There are 13 customs offices in the island, and the following were the figures in respect of import and export duties collected in 1915: East coast, F. 3,912,887; Belawan, F. 2,829.529.

The 1915 estimate gave the population of the east coast of Sumatra as follows: Europeans, 5, 127; natives, 680,291; Chinese, 131, 1 of ; Arabs, 33 I ; others, 13,859; total, 830,202. In Medan, with an estimated population of 36,280, the Europeans number 1,970.

The figures for the different districts show that Deli and Serdang lead with a population of 268,653, and then come Simeloengoen, 159, 189, Asahan, , 143,418, Langkat, 138,815, and Bengkalis, 120,027.

Income tax is paid by 3,304 individuals and 96 limited companies, and in 1915 it totalled F. 1,382,953. The personal tax realized F.146,436. The taxes on business and other sources of income amounted to F. 1,274,378, the number paying duty being 258,653.

The opium department receive F. 6,665,883 in 1915, against F. 6,968,688 and F. 6,823,794 for the two preceding years. The Government took over the opium farms in 1912, and its efforts to decrease the use of the drug are meeting with success. For 1913, 1914, and 1915 the consumption was as follows: 988, 178 tahils, 871,086 tahils, and 79 1,722 tahils. There were in 1915, 213 opium vendors in the district. The ordinary profit of a vendor amounts to G. 1,000 per annum, and the Government accepts the opium dross, paying G. 4 a tahil for the same.

In 1915 the number of Indian Netherlands vessels entering the port of Belawan was 927, with a total tonnage of 730,442 M3; Dutch ships totalled 53, of 618,461 tons M3; and British 284, of 296,786 tons M3. With other vessels, the grand total was 2,896, of 1,802,086 tons M3.

The post and telegraph services in Sumatra have been appreciably extended of late years. In 1915 there were 17 post and telegraph offices, 1 post office, 1 radio station, 3 branch post and telegraph offices, and 22 branch post offices.

MEDAN

MEDAN is the queen city of the island of Sumatra, and is, moreover, the chief trading centre on the east coast, which is the most important and progressive . quarter of the island. Until about 48 years, the site was wild, virgin jungle. Today there exists a charming city, brisk and bustling in its business quarters, sur- rounded by pretty suburbs, with a sanitary system equal to that of any English town. It has two fine hotels, a railway station of handsome architecture, a racecourse, a palatial club, sports
ground for football and lawn tennis, a cinema theatre, and all the modern attributes of an uptodate centre. The city itself consists of, first, the huge central square, which has, on one side, the hotels and leading business premises; on another, the railway depot; on a third, the Town Hall; and on the fourth, the General Post Office.

It is thought by some that the name Medan, which is pronounced Madan, has some relation to the Hindustani word maidan, which means an open space or park. In its earlier days was known as Medan Poetri, which means, in the Malay tongue, the Square of the Princesses, and it is a fact that before civilization came to Sumatra the territory on which Medan now stands was a private garden for the use of the daughters of the Sultans of Deli and the recreation ground upon which they played. The square now has its beauties heightened by the fashionable costumes of the ladies of Medan; in the morning equestrians and equestriennes trot or canter round it; at night a band plays cheerful music, and, altogether, Medan is a very pleasant place, a joy for ever.

Tobacco made Medan. When, nearly half a century ago, the Deli Tobacco Company (Deli Maatschappij) made its appearance, the town, with the coming of a new commercial enterprise, sprang into being, and tobacco growing progressed, until to-day it is one of £e staples of commerce in Sumatra. During 1915, 14,037,417 kilos of the fragrant weed left east Sumatran ports, mainly consigned to Holland, but some of it to Singapore and Penang.

Medan lies on the River Deli, at its confluence with the Baboera. Its port is Belawan, about 40 miles distant. As the tourist approaches Belawan in the dim, grey li’ of dawn he sees, far in- land, a range of dark blue mountain-tops, from w’. rise two finely delineated volcano cones. One of these, as the sun rise, shows out in a bright yellow tint, which has gained for it, some say erroneously, the name of the Sulphur Mountain. In front of these mountains is Medan, and in the intermediate country, between the mountains and the sea, is the wonderful stretch of productive territory that is responsible for Sumatra’s and Medan’s prosperity. All along the coast the forests seem to grow right out into the sea. The trees are the prolific mangrove, which support themselves above the water on a labyrinth of air-roots, between which the mud accumulates and hardens. In time it rises to the surface as a more or less solid plain, grows still harder, and can eventually be cultivated. As it pushes back the sea more mangroves spring up, those on the edge of the water throwing out long branches, which free themselves from the trunk, sink to the bottom in an upright position, and grow again.

Belawan itself is a busy port, the busiest in Sumatra. In 1915 it exported, in Dutch vessels alone, 675,068 silos of rubber, 1,522,311 kilos of coffee, and 28,820 kilos of tea, while 127,322 parcels of
tobacco were sent to the Netherlands. Rubber totalling 186,054 kilos went to the United States and 125,652 kilos to London, while the total supply of coffee was 3,218,331 kilos. Nearly 200,000 native employees are engaged on the estates. Practically all this vast trade, goes through the books of firms in Medan, so that it will readily be seen why that town has grown, so rapidly to its present important position.

Medan has now nearly 2,000 European residents, and a total population of 36,280. Among the sights of the city are the Sultan’s Palace, a new building erected in the Moorish style under the supervision of a European architect, the Chinese temple, bearing witness to the Vast Sums of money earned in Sumatra by the Chinese, a new Mahommedan mosque, the War Memorial on the Esplanade, the Residency, and the private zoological collection of the Chinese Capitan at Pulo Brayan.

Nor should the traveller miss visiting the tobacco plantations. In the middle of each plantation stands the handsome, airy bungalow of the planter. Near by is the gigantic fermenting barn, where the tobacco is taken every July to lie and ferment for six or nine months. Then come the quarters
of the Chinese employees, with their own shops and stores, and the houses of the other natives. There is much in Sumatra that is of interest to the tourist.