The Atjehsche peper- en pinanghasil (“Atjeh pepper and betel-nut yield”) was the principal miscellaneous revenue of the landschapskassen (territorial treasuries) of the Atjeh and Dependencies residency — the most important such revenue of any Buitenbezittingen gewest. In the Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s account, the Atjehsche peper- en pinanghasil yielded f 125,000 (pepper) and f 55,000 (pinang) to the landschapskas in 1913 — figures that the Bureau singles out as “very important” among the miscellaneous revenues of the Buitenbezittingen landschapskassen.
Account from De Buitenbezittingen (1917) — Atjehsche peper- en pinanghasil
The Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s account of the miscellaneous revenues of the Buitenbezittingen landschapskassen notes that “many other revenues contribute in one or more landschappen, in more or less important measure, to the revenues. Very important are, among others, the peper- en pinanghasil in Atjeh (in 1913: f 125,000 and f 55,000), the licences for the bird-hunt in New Guinea (1913: f 65,000), the slaughter-tax levied in most landschappen (1913: f 18,000), the revenues from the issue of land for house-building, small-scale agriculture and horticulture (so-called erfpacht voor huizenbouw en grondhuur; 1913: f 65,000).”
The Bureau’s framing places the Atjehsche peper- en pinanghasil at the head of the list of “very important” miscellaneous revenues — ahead of the New Guinea bird-hunt licences, the slaughter-tax, and the erfpacht revenues. The pepper and pinang yields of Atjeh reflect the long-established commercial agriculture of the Atjehnese coast, which the Dutch had been taxing since the early years of the occupation and which continued, even after the pacification, to be the principal non-concession revenue of the residency.
The Atjehsche peper- en pinanghasil also appears, indirectly, in the Bureau’s account of the Aroe-baai-plannen of 1913. The Bureau notes that the defenders of the Aroe-baai-plannen hoped, by the laying of the Besitang–Pangkalan Soesoe–Telok Taboeban connecting link, to divert “the export of the Atjehnese products (pepper, rubber, etc.) — which increases steadily with the reclamation of the Tamiangsche moerassen — to be led via Arube Bay.” The pepper that yielded f 125,000 to the landschapskas in 1913 was thus the same pepper that the Aroe-baai-plannen were designed to divert through Arube Bay rather than through Belawan or Sabang.
Significance
The Atjehsche peper- en pinanghasil is, in the Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s account, the principal miscellaneous revenue of the Atjeh and Dependencies residency — the most important such revenue of any Buitenbezittingen gewest. Its prominence in the Bureau’s list of “very important” miscellaneous revenues reflects the long-established commercial agriculture of the Atjehnese coast; its connection to the Aroe-baai-plannen of 1913 reflects the central place of the pepper and rubber trade in the project to develop Arube Bay as a deep-water harbour.
See Also
- Landschapskassen
- Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden
- Aroe-baai-plannen
- Aroebai
- Tamiang
- Belawan
- Sabang
- Pacificatie van Atjeh
- Buitenbezittingen
- 1913
Sources
De Buitenbezittingen 1904 tot 1914, Deel I, bewerkt door het Encyclopaedisch Bureau, Mededeelingen van het Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen, Aflevering X (Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1917), p. 12 (Landschapskassen), pp. 69–70 (section “De Atjeh-tram”).