Ethische Politiek

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tagsconcept, colonial, dutch, acheh, ethical-politiek, doctrine
aliasesEthische Politiek, Ethical Policy, the Dutch Ethical Policy, ethisch beleid, de ethische richting

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The Ethische Politiek — the Ethical Policy — is the colonial doctrine officially proclaimed in the troonrede of 1901 by which the entire Dutch government policy in the Indies was to be “doordrongen van het besef, dat Nederland tegenover de bevolking dezer gewesten een zedelijke roeping had te vervullen” — penetrated by the consciousness that the Netherlands owed a moral vocation to the population of these regions. The doctrine was the political seed of Kuyper’s anti-revolutionary Ons Program of 1878; its canonical liberal formulation was given by Snouck Hurgronje in his Nederland en de Islam of 1911. The conquest and pacificatie of Atjeh were conducted in its name.

The 1878 Kuyperian seed

The political seed of the ethical policy is Kuyper’s Ons Program of 1878, in which the relation of the Netherlands to its colonies was framed for the first time in political form as that of “de voogd tot zijn pupil” — the guardian to his ward. The guardian’s first duty was to bring to the Indies the blessings of security and order that the Netherlands had itself received with the Gospel. The second duty — preparing the Indies for greater autonomy — was more acceptable to the non-confessional parties than the first.

The 1901 proclamation

The troonrede of 1901 gave an ereplaats — place of honour — to the “staatkunde van zedelijke verplichting” — policy of moral obligation. The doctrine was soon adopted by the other political parties; “het zou trouwens niet denkbaar zijn, dat ze was afgewezen” — it would not have been conceivable, after all, that it should have been rejected.

The Snouckian formulation

The canonical liberal formulation of the ethical policy was given by Snouck Hurgronje in his Nederland en de Islam of 1911: the task of the colonial state was “een actie, die bedoelt de inlanders op veel steviger wijze dan tot dusver het geval is, bij ons staatsverband en bij onze nationaliteit in te lijven” — an action intended to incorporate the natives far more firmly than hitherto into our state-association and our nationality. Snouck hoped that, with a proper associatiepolitiek, the Indonesians would of their own free will remain as equals within the realm.

The formula of Pleyte — quoted by Vermeulen as the canonical liberal statement of the ethical-policy mission — defined the task as: “Indië’s hulpbronnen zoveel mogelijk door Indische volkskracht te ontsluiten, de bevolking geschikt te maken tot het behartigen van eigen belang en het bestuur van eigen land en daarmede de grondslagen te leggen voor een volledig zelfbestuur” — open up the resources of the Indies as far as possible through Indies popular strength, fit the population to look after its own interest and the government of its own land, and thereby lay the foundations for full self-government.

The material program

The material program of the ethical policy comprised three principal components. The first was irrigatie — irrigation — the construction of large-scale irrigation works on Java, of which the Solowerken were the type-specimen. The second was onderwijs — education — both European and indigenous, with the Ministry’s expenditure on indigenous education rising sharply in the post-1901 period. The third was migratie en emigratie — migration — the proposed (and largely abortive) relocation of Javanese farmers to the Outer Territories, including the post-pacificatie lands of Atjeh.

The relation to Atjeh

The ethical policy was proclaimed at the very moment the Atjeh-oorlog ([[1873-1904)|Atjeh-oorlog]] was being brought to its crisis. In 1901 the Dutch also undertook expeditions to Djambi and Korintji; in 1904 Van Daalen’s expedition to the Gajoe- and Alaslanden would complete the conquest of the sultanate. The conquest of Atjeh and the proclamation of the ethical policy were thus two faces of a single program: subjugation in the name of civilisation.

The Bergsma-Limburg Stirum counter-current

The ethical-policy consensus had its critics. Bergsma — minister of Colonies 1897-1901 — “nadrukkelijk niet wilde poseren als hervormer” — emphatically did not wish to pose as a reformer — and posed the indigenous thought-experiment: if one were to ask 20 million inlanders whether they wished for municipal councils and regional councils, they would reply “och, geef ons geen nieuwe bevelen … laat ons werken voor ons zelven … laat ons dan verder ons zelf kalm ontwikkelen en tot rust komen” — oh, give us no new orders … let us work for ourselves … let us then further calmly develop ourselves and come to rest.

Van Limburg Stirum formulated the moral paradox: “Zij leggen straten, spoorwegen aan en doen allerlei wonderbare dingen die het land rijk maken. Maar feitelijk maken zij hen rijk aan wensen en arm aan tevredenheid” — they lay streets, railways, and do all kinds of wonderful things that make the land rich. But in fact they make them rich in wishes and poor in contentment.

The Vermeulen retrospective

Vermeulen’s closing verdict on the ethical policy is mixed. The colonial civil servants trained at Delft and later at Leiden in the ethische ideas were men of good will; but most “opheffers” — uplifters — “onderschatten het gevoel van ‘zijn’, dat zij bij de inheemse bevolking teweeg brachten, noch beseften zij hoe weinig hun idealen pasten bij de oosterse levensopvattingen” — underestimated the sense of selfhood that they provoked in the indigenous population, nor did they realise how little their ideals accorded with Eastern conceptions of life. The colonial state “bijna steeds iets te laat [kwam], zodat het psychologisch ogenblik gemist werd” — almost always came a little too late, so that the psychological moment was missed.

See Also

Source

Schets eener parlementaire geschiedenis van Nederland van 1849 tot 1901, by Mr W. J. van Welderen baron Rengers, 4th rev. ed., Vol. IV: Oost-Indië 1891-1918 by Dr W. H. Vermeulen (‘s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1955), pp. 279-282, 351-355.

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