Staatsblad 1919 No. 822 — the zelfbestuursordonnantie (self-government ordinance) or Zelfbestuursregelen 1919 — was the Netherlands-Indies statute whose article 15 sub I abolished the sovereign land levies of the Atjehnese oeléëbalangs and substituted for them a fixed civiele lijst.
Abolition of the sovereign levies
D. W. N. de Boer recorded that the older taxes levied by the oeléëbalangs as sovereigns — the boeët oemòng within the gampong boundaries, and outside them the adat glé with its three heads (the like levy on wet fields, the padi lintjah on dry fields, and the thiploeëh-tha tithe on gardens) — all of which left much room for arbitrariness, were brought to an end by article 15 sub I of the ordinance, “den oeléëbalang als recompensatie ‘n vaste, voor elk hunner afzonderlijk berekende, civiele lijst toebedeeld” — the oeléëbalang being allotted by way of compensation a fixed civil list calculated separately for each of them.
Restriction on alienation to non-indigenous persons
De Boer further cited article 15 sub I in conjunction with article 29 sub 3 of the Zelfbestuursregelen for the proposition that alienation of land to “niet tot de Inheemsche bevolking behoorende personen” — persons not belonging to the indigenous population — had since been taken in hand by the Gouvernement, referring also to Politiek Beleid, pp. 111 ff. and 233 ff.
Significance
The ordinance marks the fiscal turning point in the Atjehnese law of land: the territorial chief ceased to be a taxing sovereign over cultivation and became a salaried self-governing ruler, while retaining his share of concession revenues under Staatsblad 1919 No. 61 jo No. 281 and his export duties on produce.
See Also
- Boeët oemòng
- Adat glé
- Civiele lijst
- Oeleebalang
- Zelfbesturende landschappen
- Staatsblad 1919 No. 61 jo No. 281
- 1919
Source
Het recht op den grond in Atjeh, by D. W. N. de Boer, dated Scheveningen, November 1931, pp. 59-80. Offprint DLP-141, Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, ‘s-Gravenhage; Bibliotheek KITLV accession 0060 4460 60 081470 428.