Stories from Deli

Deli COurant 24-05-1902

East Coast of Sumatra.
The brochure pointed to the poor quality of food, insufficient quantities of nutrients, and recounted physical punishment, illegal confinement, and the untimely death of innocent or barely guilty individuals in deadly prisons. It described how prostitution led to syphilis and how the separation of children from their mothers sometimes drove them to insanity; how desertion was punished with torture, and how overcrowded ships and poor hospitals caused many to succumb, with even the dead denied a proper burial; how mocking treatment drove some to suicide, the last resort for these defenseless people… And will anyone now dare to declare, hand on heart, that such crimes no longer occur anywhere? Or is it incorrect what I was told, that here an administrator forced coolies to walk back and forth with a heavy beam on their necks in front of his house; that there, another had women whipped on their bare buttocks; and elsewhere, many workers, severely injured by physical abuse, were only admitted to the hospital to remove all evidence of guilt.

Certainly, I readily believe that no actual case of abuse comes to the attention of officials or is rigorously prosecuted, but how many incidents never reach their ears, and even then, under what pressure are testimonies given or lies told? Would one think that the stick many employees carry is solely for measuring fields? Here too, the larger estates, at least some, form a favorable exception, and I was pleased to learn that any accusation of severe abuse against a supervisor was punished with dismissal.

Especially on the coffee estates, where coolies are poorly housed, inadequately fed, and often work poorly due to weakness, abuse seems more common than many seem to think. And when illness strikes them, what harsh treatment was sometimes their lot? The horrific way Mr. Elain on Dama Glaoe Kiri treated his contract coolies, in that hospital where corpses lay among the sick, is still fresh in memory. That gentleman escaped punishment by fleeing, a punishment that, due to the incompleteness of the coolie ordinance, would likely have been light. Further details can be read in the Soerabaiasch Handelsblad of January 3rd of this year.

In the trial against Mr. G. R. Bauman, administrator of the coffee estate Grea an in Serdang, on February 4, 1902, in Medan, it also became clear how some followed Article 13 of the coolie ordinance, “to provide adequate medical care.” Rather than sending them to the central hospital in Loeboek Pakam, which would cost some money, he let them starve and die like dogs. That same central hospital, which I believe was mentioned here, I personally visited on March 31, 1902, after some trials had drawn attention to it. The doctor, who must visit 25 estates and treat 5,000 coolies, is often absent; however, he was not absent during my visit.

What a trampling of all rules of hygiene I had to witness there, not to mention those of humanity! In one room, without any separation, lay syphilitic women, dying malaria patients, swollen beriberi sufferers, and lepers. A dysentery patient sat on a bucket, and water was drained from a swollen woman. A young, very young girl, covered in venereal sores, lay flat on her stomach and stared at me with her large, suffering eyes, as if pleading for help against the harshness of my fellow Europeans. Poor child, so far from Java, alone in the world, in such surroundings…

And meanwhile, in the government prison in Medan in 1901, up to 13 percent of the inmates died… And how, in earlier years, corpses were sometimes thrown into the jungle, we have often read. That even in recent years, burial leaves much to be desired, is evident from a circular of June 30, 1899, from the controller of Medan: the corpses of contract coolies were not buried according to custom, often there were no grounds reserved separately for Chinese, Hindus, and Javanese. The former were buried without a coffin and without a “pitjiok” or “pisak” (name tablet). This is a harshness for those who believe that greed in 1899 could still lead to such a circular! Here too, things are better on the larger estates, but would all these complaints really be rare exceptions? The investigation by Mr. Hoetink will, I hope, provide further data of more value than the assertions of those interested in maintaining the coolie ordinances…

VIII. Conclusion.
The existing coolie ordinances, both in recruitment and during the contract period and even afterward, are a source of various abuses. They should be replaced as soon as possible by entirely free labor. Against the abuses in recruitment or trafficking in Java, where proletarians often fall prey to the tricks and traps of unscrupulous human traffickers who rob and exploit them, an ordinance is in preparation, as is known, which contains much good; for only adequate help is possible when the government takes full control. The laukeh also deceives the propertyless Chinese, who must leave their land and families to earn a meager living in distant lands. All supervision in recruitment, transport, and medical care at sea seems to be lacking, and the safety of the mandarins even makes the existing laws a dead letter. The recruitment in China should also be studied more closely…

In Deli itself, better control over the implementation of the good contained in the ordinances is necessary, and as long as these are maintained, some improvements are needed; the supervision of the barracks, the care, the wages, and the termination of the contract cannot be assigned as extra work to the controllers. Article 4, which states that the coolie must perform his work regularly, is too flexible, and especially in the coffee gardens, often far too heavy labor is demanded, especially from women. All complaints should be investigated locally or at estate centers, and quick justice should be made possible; it is already progress that the folly of trying “slap cases” in Batavia has been ended since January 1st of this year. In cases of definite abuse, which is quite different from a slap given in anger, the penalties should always be severe, and dismissal from the position should be the inevitable consequence. Doctors who are guilty of gross dereliction of duty should immediately be stripped of their right to practice medicine…

It is a credit to Resident Steenstra that he withdrew the Scherer circular of November 15, 1886 (giving the administrator the right to 24-hour detention), although it had at least prevented even worse arbitrariness and abuse. The penalties of Article 9, stipulating 100 guilders for the rich employer and a month in prison for the worker, are unjust in their inequality. In a word: the ordinances have provided the European entrepreneur with many advantages and rights, but for the native worker, they have been a source of numerous injustices and nameless misery. It is contrary to the most primitive sense of justice to give private individuals the power to force natives to work. European employers, under the existing provisions, have great power over the coolies, who are always at their disposal. They hold the freedom of these people in their hands and, through more or less care in the hospitals, effectively control their life and death. It is therefore the duty of the government to vigorously guard against all abuses; it gave these private individuals such exorbitant power, and it is responsible for the proper enforcement of the ordinances, insofar as these measures contain protections for these defenseless people. Special officials will be necessary for this, and an inspection of labor must be established at the expense of the planters.

On various other points, the ordinance must be supplemented, and the responsibility of employers in cases of permanent disability due to accidents must be better regulated than is the case in Article 8. The ultimate goal, however, must be and remain the achievement of entirely free labor and the abolition of the contract system, toujours abusive et vicieuse (P. Leroy-Beaulieu, Colonisation chez les peuples modernes, p. 782). At the International Congress of Sociology, held in Paris under the presidency of the French Minister of Colonies and in the presence of the highest dignitaries of all colonial powers, it was branded without protest as “disguised slavery.” Rightly, Dr. Tshudnowsky wrote in his aforementioned work that in Deli, “planters of all nations wage an economic struggle with these free workers in name, but in reality the Modern Slaves of the 19th century, a struggle always waged stubbornly, not always honestly” (p. 47). And with indignation, the racial kin of the English colony Pahang cast aside our contract coolie ordinance with the winged words: “We don’t want slavery here!”

Perhaps as a transition, the duration of the contract could first be shortened, to give the planters the opportunity to learn to manage without this kind of bondage. In the long run, a settled population and better conditions must be achieved, but immediate protection of the weak is the sacred duty of the government, and in this struggle of interests, I openly side with the small against the great, even if the profits of some European capitalists should thereby decline somewhat.

About the Sultanate, I do not wish to speak yet, nor about the exaggerated power given to a useless prince, perhaps a usurper; the enormous income he enjoys in idleness without giving any of it for the benefit of the land and people, I will not judge now. Also about the Bataks and the government of Sumatra’s East Coast, of which I visited some settlements, I would rather, in the Netherlands, where more sources are available to me than here in the mountains of Bezoeki, share my travel impressions later. Now only a few figures about the interests that the Indian Government has in this Residency. Kendeng Mountains, May 2, 1902.

The Budget of Sumatra’s East Coast.
In round numbers, in 1901, expenditures of 22 tons were offset by an income for the government of 53 tons, or a surplus of 3,100,000 guilders. In the last three years, this surplus amounted to 12.5 million. There is therefore no legitimate reason to withhold the necessary tools for industrial development from this region: the road network must be further improved, the harbor at Belawan made more accessible to large ships; the expensive Deli railway should be nationalized, and freight rates lowered. Better care must be taken for native education, and in providing medical care, less reliance should be placed on the charity of private individuals. Where so much profit is made, one can afford to give generously, albeit wisely. Especially in public works, less stinginess should be practiced.

The main revenues of the Government consist of the opium lease at 1,678 thousand, Chinese gambling at 448, arrack at 244, pawnshop lease at 40 thousand, while import duties annually yield 1,143 thousand, export duties 223, excise duties 317.8, personal tax 65, patent tax 158, business tax 413, and the registration of work contracts 62 thousand guilders, all taxes together amounting to 5,321,934 guilders in 1901. A prosperous region, then, created by the energy of European capital, and where—provided the excessive greed is curbed and human rights are recognized for the workforce—a thriving region and a prosperous population can one day live. Deli is now only a gigantic “plantation”; may it one day become a land, justly governed for the benefit of all who live and work there.

H. van Kol.

5. Our readers will recall that we and others have also urged the appointment of labor inspectors and special commissioners for emigration. (Ed. S. H. B.)