Scherer’s lecture of 20 January 1891 — Hoe moet Atjeh gepacificeerd worden (“How Atjeh must be pacified”) — was the lecture delivered by the Assistent-Resident Scherer before the Indisch Genootschap at ‘s-Gravenhage on 20 January 20 January 1891, in which he set out, in its fullest public form, his doctrine that the centre of gravity of the Atjeh-oorlog lay not in Groot-Atjeh but on the coasts — the onderhoorigheden — and that the scheepvaartregeling was the principal means by which the Dutch could exercise political influence on the coasts at low cost and with decisive effect. The lecture is one of the most important strategic documents of the war, and its doctrine was confirmed by Van Teijn and by Van Heutsz in his brochure De onderwerping van Atjeh of 1898.
The Doctrine
Scherer’s lecture set out the doctrine that the resistance came not from Groot-Atjeh but from the onderhoorigheden (dependencies) — the East, North, and West Coasts. There the money was earned with which the costs of the war were met; there the young fanatical people were gathered to make incursions into Groot-Atjeh; and there the resistance retired in perfect safety when the Dutch put the fire too close to the shins of the guerrillas in Groot-Atjeh. “De meester van de kust is meester van het land” (The master of the coast is the master of the land), Scherer held.
Speaking of the then ten-year-elapsed period, Scherer said:
“Voor ieder die eenigszins over de zaak wilde doordenken moest het duidelijk zijn, dat het verzet niet van Groot-Atjeh maar van de onderhoorigheden uitging, dat dáár het geld verdiend werd, waarmee de kosten van den oorlog werden bestreden, dat dáár het jonge, fanatieke volk werd verzameld om invallen in Groot-Atjeh te doen en dat men zich derwaarts in volkomen veiligheid terugtrok als wij den guerilla’s (in Groot-Atjeh) het vuur te na aan de schenen legden.” (For anyone who would think at all about the matter, it must have been clear that the resistance came not from Groot-Atjeh but from the dependencies, that there the money was earned with which the costs of the war were met, that there the young fanatical people were gathered to make incursions into Groot-Atjeh, and that one withdrew thither in perfect safety when we put the fire too close to the shins of the guerrillas in Groot-Atjeh.)
The Scheepvaartregeling as the Means
The Scheepvaartregeling — the systematic Dutch control of the coastal trade — was the means by which the Dutch could exercise political influence on the coasts at low cost and with decisive effect. A few Dutch-controlled harbours for general trade were opened on the coasts. All trade had to pass through these harbours under Dutch supervision. Import and export clearance, visitation, and the levying of import and export duties took place there by Dutch personnel. The revenues came into Dutch hands. The Dutch sat on the money-chest. The Sultan’s share — formally the Dutch’s by right of succession to the Sultanate — came in regularly; the remainder was periodically paid out to the rightful claimants who had given no cause for complaint. To those who misbehaved, fines were imposed, deducted from their money; or, according to the gravity of their offence, the whole was withheld, or their harbour was closed to all import and export.
The Confirmation
The later Governor Van Teijn continued to urge the Scheepvaartregeling on the government. In August 1889 he wrote:
“Hoe meer ik kennis maak met den aard en het karakter van den Atjeher, hoe meer ik gevestigd raak in mijne overtuiging, dat wij steeds een middel in de hand moeten hebben om zonder veel bezwaar dadelijk te kunnen straffen, indien ons gezag niet wordt geëerbiedigd. Daartoe geeft de scheepvaartregeling gelegenheid. ‘t Zij door heffen van boeten, in te vorderen door naasting voor korteren of langeren duur van de in- en uitvoerrechten; ‘t zij door allen in- of uitvoer te verbieden. Zonder deze regeling zullen wij nimmer ons gezag op de kuststaatjes kunnen handhaven en zullen wij nimmer voldoenden invloed in Groot-Atjeh kunnen uitoefenen.”
Van Heutsz confirmed all these opinions in full in his excellent and clear brochure De onderwerping van Atjeh, published in 1898.
Significance
Scherer’s lecture of 20 January 20 January 1891 is one of the most important strategic documents of the Atjeh-oorlog. Its public articulation of the doctrine that the centre of gravity of the war lay on the coasts, and that the Scheepvaartregeling was the principal means by which the Dutch could exercise political influence there, gave the metropolitan audience of the Indisch Genootschap the strategic analysis that the colonial administration in Batavia and the governor in Atjeh could not provide. The doctrine’s confirmation by Van Teijn in August 1889 and by Van Heutsz in 1898 testifies to its enduring authority. The eventual Dutch victory under Van Heutsz after 1898 — which rested on the systematic application of the Scheepvaartregeling and the marechaussée campaigns — was the vindication of Scherer’s doctrine.
See Also
- Scherer
- Indisch Genootschap
- Scheepvaartregeling
- General van Teijn
- Van Heutsz
- De onderwerping van Atjeh (Van Heutsz)
- Onderhoorigheden
- Groot-Atjeh
- Oostkust
- Noordkust
- Westkust
- Sultan’s aandeel
- Pacificatie van Atjeh
- s-Gravenhage
- Aceh War
- Atjeh-oorlog
- 20 January
- August 1889
- 1891
- 1898
Source
De Atjeh-Oorlog: Kort Overzicht van Oorsprong, Verloop en Gevolg, door J. A. Kruijt. ‘s-Gravenhage: Loman & Funke, 1896. Chapter VII, “Scheepvaartregeling.” OCR-filename: 20260716_140310_DLP-101-De_Atjeh_oorlog_Nemotron-OCR-v2_OCR.txt, pp. 36–37.