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JAVA.

(Nedeelandsch Indie.)

Constitution and Government.

Java, the most important of the colonial possessions of the Nether- lands, is governed in an absolute manner, under a system established by General Van den Bosch, in 1832, and known as the ' culture system.' It is based in principle on the forced labour of the natives, which is directed to produce not only a sufficiency of food for them- selves, but the largest possible quantity of colonial produce best suited for the European market. To carry out the ' culture system,' there exists a complicate bureaucratic administration, the functions of which descend into the minutest details of public and private life.

The whole of Java — including the neighbouring island of Madura

is divided into twenty-four provinces, or residencies, each governed by a Resident, who has under him an Assistant-Resident and a number of inspectors, called Controleurs. All these functionaries must be citizens of the Netherlands, and the higher class must have gone through an examination at the college of Delft, near Rotterdam. The Resident and his assistants exercise absolute control over the province in their charge ; not, however, directly, but by means of a vast hierarchy of native officials, who receive either salaries or per- centages on the amount of produce cultivated by the natives. The latter are controlled by these means in all their actions, and incited to labour ; and the better to ensure such control, a register is kept by the Resident, of the number of people in each village, with the names and condition of each, and the minutest particulars affecting their character and occupation. No person is allowed to move from one place to another without a passport, and no occupation of any kind can be engaged in without the permission of the authorities. There is a regular and unceasing personal intercourse between the native chiefs and the Controleurs, who act as the immediate agents of the Resident.

The superior administration of Java, and executive, is in the hands of a Governor-General, who is at the same time governor of all the Netherland possessions in the East Indies. He is assisted by a Council of five members, who, however, have no share in the executive, and can act only as a Court of Advice.

Governor-General of Java. — Baron P. Mijer, appointed Governor- General of Java and Netherlandsch India, Sent. 18 ; 1866.